24 of 138

No

Write now Article Tools

"I believe that if you're basically a good person, you will go to heaven". How many times have I heard someone say that? And what a wonderful, feel-good idea it is. But it's wrong!

Many people would love to believe that being good will get them to heaven. In fact, some part of me would like o believe it as well. But you see, the Bible, which is the Word of God, tells me different. For example, "all have sinned nd fall short of the glory of God"(Romans 3:23). That means everyone: every human being who has or will live on this earth. Sin is part of our human nature. We can't help but use our God-given free will to make selfish choices. Inevitably, those selfish choices result in going against the will of God; and that's sin.

So now, we have a problem: how can we "make up" with God if we're all sinners? Something inside of us desperately wants to patch things up with our Creator. Surely there's a way to make things right? What if I start doing good things? Will they not outweigh the bad? Unfortunately, no, because "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags"(Isaiah 64:6).Nothing we do is enough to make up for our sins. At the same time,"whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it"(James 2:10). In other words, even one tiny little sin in God's eyes is the same as a million huge sins. There aren't big sins and little sins. That's a man-made idea. To God, sin is sin, because to God, sin is more of an attitude of rebellion than it is a list of "Thou shalt not"s. God has identified certain things as sinful, but it's the underlying rebellious attitude that's the real problem.

So what can we do? Nothing. There's nothing we can do, but God can do anything. In fact, even before God created us with our free will, He knew we use that free will to disobey Him. And He knew our disobedience would separate us from Him. He also knew a sacrifice had to be made to set things right. But there's no sacrifice we can make, in our sinful nature, that would be good enough. That's why Jesus Christ came and was crucified, and later rose from the dead. Only the perfect, sinless Son of God qualified to make the sacrifice that would make up or our sins and reconcile us to God. It's not about what we do, but what Christ has already done. All that's left is for us to put our faith in Jesus Christ: asking forgiveness as well as asking Jesus to take control of our lives. After that, doing good things will result because we love Jesus and are thankful for being saved; not because good things will get us into heaven. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life"(John 3:16)

So if you're still trying to work your way to heaven, stop. Put your faith in Jesus and let Him do the work. Let Him transform you into a person who does the right thing just because it's the right thing to do, rather than trying to earn a reward you can't possibly earn on your own.

Learn more about this author, Thomas Bailey.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Can you get to heaven by being good??
We want to hear your view. Write now!