Do Good People Go to Heaven?

Do good people go to Heaven? Yes, they certainly would go to Heaven... if there were any people good enough!

People often say, "If I do the best I can and treat everyone fairly, I'll go to Heaven." But have any of us done the best we can or treated everyone fairly?

A religious leader in the Bible once asked Jesus Christ: "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?"

Without hesitation Jesus answered, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 22:36-39).

Has anyone fully kept this supreme law of God? The Bible answers that no mortal can keep God's law, nor can one reach Heaven by trying: "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no one be justified in His [God's] sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20).

When we compare our lives to God's holy standards, all our good works--our morality, religion, charity, pleasing personality--fall far short of His absolute righteousness. The truth is: "There is none righteous, no, not one ..." (Romans 3:10). We stand condemned by a holy God who must judge our sin. We are sinners in need of a Savior.

It is impossible then for anyone to be good enough for Heaven. That is why the Son of God came to earth. The Lord Jesus said, "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matthew 9:13).

On the Cross of Calvary Jesus opened the way for sinners to stand before a righteous God. There He suffered for our sins as the Prophet Isaiah wrote: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).

The Lord Jesus took the punishment for our sins so that we could be declared righteous before God. He "who knew no sin" bore our sins on the cross being made "sin for us... that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Do "good" people go to Heaven? No! But through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, sinners like you and me can be sure of Heaven as our final destination.

Come to Jesus Christ today. Don't try to prepare yourself for Heaven. Let Him prepare you and give you His gift of everlasting life.

If you believe that Jesus Christ died in your place and rose again from the dead, you can come to Him now by praying something like this: "Lord, thank you for taking the punishment for my sins. I know that I could never be fit for Heaven without you. So I invite you into my life to be my Lord and Savior."

© 2003 Good News Publishers. Used by permission.
Translated by permission of Good News Publishers
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