Just yesterday, I’m having a casual conversation with a sharp young man of about 25 when he tells me that he believed he would get into heaven because he “tried to treat people right.” He assured me that he was a “good person,” and although he couldn’t stand all that “holy roller stuff” and actually “hated” reading the Bible, he was sure God wouldn’t send him to hell. When I asked him about Jesus Christ, he made it obvious that he didn’t understand the “relationship” part of the equation.
I think you get the message… and here’s my only retort. If it was possible for a man to get himself into heaven, why would God sacrifice His Son? The “good people” would simply go to heaven, and all the “bad people” would go to hell! If you’re betting your eternity on your best guess of what God thinks, and whether or not you die with more good deeds than bad, you’d better think again. All the cards are face-up on the table… all you have to do is look at them. And one more thing… Eternity is a very long time!
“As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.'” Romans 3:10-12