Why Good People Don't Go To Heaven

There's a very common misconception today that as long as one is a good person or does a lot of good things or leads a generally good life, they go to heaven when they die.

This conclusion, however, presupposes two false assumptions.

1) That our standard of good and God’s standard of good are the same.

Now, our standard of good and God’s standard of good are NOT the same. Infact, they're incomparable. God’s standard of good is so high that no one, absolutely no one, can attain it in and of themselves. I didn’t say that, Jesus did. In Matthew 19:26, Jesus basically says to His disciples, “You can’t do it”. As good as we may think we are, we are only as good as our definition of good goes, but when we are weighed against God’s standard and definition of good, no one is 'good'.

Imagine you and a friend are in a building with a 500 ft ceiling and you're both asked to jump and touch the ceiling. Now you may be much taller and able to jump much higher than your friend but that won't do you any good when the ceiling is that high. You'll definitely get closer to the ceiling than your friend, but both of you will fall flat on your faces. Likewise, you may be very good compared to the next guy, but compared to God’s '500 ft ceiling', Jesus, who is His standard of measurement, we all 'fall short of the glory of God'. (see Romans 3:23)

Paul says it is foolish to measure ourselves by ourselves and compare ourselves among ourselves. (see 2 Corinthians 10:12) You might look good compared to other sinners, but who wants to be the best among all the sinners who go to hell? You ought, on the contrary, to compare yourself to Jesus and if you're truly honest with yourself, you will realize just how bad you are and how badly we all need Him. It's only in Him that you measure up and attain God's standard of good. God credits His (Jesus) goodness to you freely when you get saved. This is what differentiates Christianity from all the other religions. All other religions try to approach God based on their personal goodness. Christianity recognizes that your personal goodness can never be enough! That when your goodness is compared to Jesus, you don’t stand a chance! The truth is, no matter how good you are, you’re bad enough to miss heaven!

2) That entrance into heaven is based on merit (how good we are or the good we do).

Whether or not you go to heaven is not dependent on your goodness or badness, wherein you hope your good acts outweigh your bad ones. That’s Hollywood, not Holy Word. Whether you are a good person or a bad person has nothing to do with it. Heaven is not a reward for being good or doing good things in the world. Paul says it's a gift from God and not a reward for being good or doing good things in the world. (see Ephesians 2:8-9) A man who thinks they can go to heaven by their good works is no different from a man who thinks they can climb to the moon on a rope of sand. They're both delusional.

Imagine you’ve been invited to a free party and they spell out a strict dress code for the party such that no one will be allowed in unless they adhere to the dress code. Now let’s assume you disregard the dress code and show up at the party dressed the way you want. They'll definitely NOT let you in and trying to argue how much of a 'good' guy you are won’t cut it. Whether you’re a good guy is not the prerequisite for entry, whether you're dressed for the occasion is!

Well, it’s the same with heaven. Jesus actually uses a similar analogy in the parable of the banquet in Matthew 22.

The dress code to the glorious heavenly reunion is the 'robe of righteousness' (or what the king refers to as the wedding clothes in Matthew 22:11-12). You CANNOT buy it, you CANNOT earn it, you CANNOT merit it or deserve it, you can only receive it from God free of charge when you receive Jesus as Lord.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21:

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

In Zechariah 3:1-4, there is a powerful scene that unfolds, where Joshua, the high priest, is accused by Satan.

Zechariah says:

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the Angel. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”

Now, the ‘filthy garments’ here refers to man’s state in Adam. The 'rich robes' on the other hand refer to man’s new state in Christ when they get born again.

Without the 'rich robes', no one can enter and endure heaven’s radiating glory.

Just like you need an 'earth suit' (your body) to operate on earth, you also need a 'heaven suit' (the rich robes/robe of righteousness/wedding clothes) to operate in heaven.

And you receive this 'robe' when you believe in Jesus unto salvation.

Only Jesus' goodness can qualify you to stand before a holy God. (NOT your goodness..never!)

I heard a story of this man who went up to heaven and on getting to the gate, the angel told him he had to score 100 points on the "how good were you on earth" test, to get in. "Easy enough!", he thought. "I was pretty awesome!"

The angel began...

"Were you a good husband?"

"Yes ofcourse!", he confidently responded, expecting a bunch of points.

"0.001 points!", the angel awarded, to his utter shock and dismay.

A few hours into the test and yet to get to one point, the man had lost all hope and confidence of getting in on his good works.

Dejected, the man burst out..

"My goodness! I'll never get to a hundred points!!" and right then, the angel said, "Come in!", as he ushered him into heaven with a big smile.

The man was absolutely right! 'My goodness' would never have got him in.

You see, it's only when you come to the end of yourself and realize that your goodness or good acts can never get you in no matter how good you are or how many good things you do that you can receive the grace of God!

Jesus is the grace of God and without Him, all your goodness and good acts count for nothing as far as getting to heaven is concerned.

The truth is, being good doesn’t take you to heaven and being bad doesn't take you to hell.

Going to heaven or going to hell is not a matter of merit or demerit, but simply a matter of accepting or rejecting Christ as Lord.

There’s only one thing that takes you to heaven (believing in Jesus) and there's only one thing that takes you to hell (rejecting Christ as Lord).

“This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)

So, good people don’t go to heaven, saved people do!

God bless you.