The Gospel
Good people don't go to heaven, sinners do
How do you know you’re going to heaven when you die?
It’s an important question. Yet few have contemplated it.
I sat across from a gentleman in Chick-fil-A. We were having lunch, a break from an event we both attended. He and I were acquainted for years but we didn’t really know each other. Somehow that question came up.
He replied, “I’ve got nothing to worry about. I’ve always lived my life being good to others. So, if there’s a god, I’m ready to meet him when I die.”
I was alarmed by how certain he was, not knowing God, that he’d earned a passing grade. I guess I shouldn’t have been because, culturally, that’s what most people think. I’m basically a good person. I’ll make the cut.
The Bible paints an altogether different picture.
No one is good. God calls the good we do “filthy rags.” According to Him, no one is even close—especially the one trusting in himself. The Bible is clear in that Jesus alone lived a life which God found pleasing and acceptable. He alone merited heaven.
The bad news is that means you merit the other place.
The good news is Jesus voluntarily splilled His blood on the cross to take upon Himself the punishment your unrighteousness deserves. He bought the right to give His righteousness as a free gift to you.
You see, a holy God can’t overlook sin. That He would, would mean He wasn’t holy. But He is holy. The many wrongs you do, even things you may think are “no big deal,” are grievious in His eyes. That’s why Jesus had to go to the cross. He died in your place to satisfy God’s perfect holiness.
Sin affects your standing with God. Apart from Jesus you have no hope. When you trust in what Jesus did on your behalf, you’re made clean in God’s sight. Your new heart testifies you’re born again. Although you’ll still sin, you leave that lifestyle behind.
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” ~ Acts 4:12
Why delay in making that choice? You can be saved right now.
Put your confidence in Jesus, not yourself.
🕵️♂️ Explore further?: What kind of Christianity won’t get you to heaven?, If Christianity were true, would you become a Christian?