Much of religious thinking and theology has led people to believe various things about this question. Perhaps this is the most commonly held belief among all other religions, that good people do in fact enter eternal paradise with God. As Christians we must think deeply about this belief system because the Bible has much to say about it. In fact, when we read through the New Testament, it is overwhelmingly apparent that good people are not in fact good enough to make it to heaven. Let us discover why this is the case.

The Great Misconception:

The greatest misconception about being in a relationship with the God of Christianity is that we think He only desires good works or good deeds from us. Many people (even Christians) imagine that God is constantly looking down and weighing our good choices against our bad ones. In this belief system, God is simply reduced to some kind of cosmic Santa Claus looking to punish the bad the children and reward the good. If we think this way, we will be motivated to constantly behave in a paranoid state. When “bad” things happen in life we will immediately assume God is punishing us for our bad behaviour. When “good” things happen in life we will assume God is rewarding us for our good choices. Therefore, we will only then adjust our behaviour depending on how good or bad life seems to be.

There is a huge problem within this model of Christianity. It makes faith all about us and our own preferred lifestyle. God is only relevant when life is seemingly bad enough or even good enough for our own personal preferences. The goal of this false sense of Christianity is not God but rather a good or better life. We must stray away from this sense of dead religion at all costs. It will never exact any transformation in our lives and most importantly, it will not lead to heaven. What is the right perspective then?

A Biblical Perspective:

Before we try to create our own model of Christian morality, we should firstly listen to what the Bible tells us. When we read the scriptures, it becomes evident that there is a flaw in thinking along the lines of being “good” and “bad”. Jeremiah 17:9 states that “the human heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” This notion firstly proves that there is an inherent problem within the human heart. It is not bent toward good but rather evil. Jeremiah paints a picture of the heart being plagued with a deadly disease that is beyond cure. This runs contrary to the popular belief that deep down; humans are naturally good people. According to the Bible, this will never be the case. 

The Bible paints another picture of humanity in Romans 3:10-12: Paul quoting the Psalms writes, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Is the Bible telling us that humans have never accomplished any good deeds at all? Not necessarily. It is simply stating that no one, in of themselves, is capable of perfectly achieving God’s standard of good. This would be considered God’s standard of righteousness. Why does this matter? To most people this standard does not matter much. However, it does matter if humans are living with the hope of entering God’s heavenly paradise because this is the place in which His righteousness dwells fully. Therefore, the question “can good people get to heaven?” is flawed. There is no such thing as a “good person” in the eyes of God. And if this be the case, then in reality, no one on their own is capable of entering heaven without some sort of divine intervention from God.

At this point, many are discouraged and even angry at God Himself. This is because they believe that they have lived “good enough” lives and that they deserve heaven regardless of their relationship with God. However, we have learned that our own attempts at being good in this life will never earn enough merit to gain heaven. Why is this the case? Why won’t God accept our own personal goodness and merit? It is simply because this has never been the only thing God has desired from us.

How Will God Accept Us?

To think that all God needs in order to let us into heaven is good works, misses the entire point of Christianity. God is after the human that has sought to cure the disease not the one hiding their symptoms. He is after those that do not attempt to deceive Him with mere outward actions. They are not trying to win Him over with money donated to the poor, good humanitarian efforts nor kind actions toward others. They know better than that and seek to be completely honest with God. They want Him to do the first things first. That is, to dramatically change their heart.

This is precisely the genuine plea of the followers of God in the Bible. In Psalm 51, David pleads with God that He grant to him a clean heart. He desires a deliverance from the evil inclinations buried deep within. He is not petitioning for heaven but rather a washing and a cleansing of his sin-stained heart. He is not making a case to God of why he is such a good and deserving person. He makes the opposite claim. He says, “surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Further, David tells us exactly what it is that God wants from us. Verse 16-17 states “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” It is undeniably clear, good works and sacrifices will not earn anyone a seat in heaven if our hearts are filled to the brim with evil.

Therefore, it is impractical to hope that we, or our family and friends, will make it to heaven on account of good deeds. If God has not cleansed our hearts from above, He will not accept us into His presence. The question remains, how will God cleanse our hearts perfectly and eternally so that we can make heaven? The answer lies only in the person of Jesus Christ.

Whenever a person comes to God with a broken heart over their own sinful state, He will never reject that person. In fact, God has called all of humanity back to Himself through the shed blood and death of His son, Jesus Christ. In Christ, every person has the opportunity to receive a cleansing great enough to merit eternal life in heaven. All we have to do is leave our lifestyle of darkness and walk toward the light of Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:7-10 is the clearest representation of this reality. Verse 7 states “but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” Verse 9 states “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Therefore, the only way into heaven is through a genuine confession of our sins through the person of Jesus Christ. Make no mistake, Jesus is not just someone to use for our own heavenly benefit. Jesus Christ Himself is the benefit. He is the reward. He is what makes heaven so heavenly. He is the sole prize of this life and even the next life. So ultimately, we should not be seeking to just be “good” in this life but rather, we should be seeking God. And in seeking God, we find Jesus. In finding Jesus, we find heaven itself.

Conclusion:

We ought to be very clear about the answer to this question. We cannot say that God will let everyone into heaven at the end of the day. All religions and all ways of life will not ultimately lead to the same place. Only Christianity offers the surest path to eternal paradise with God. We must declare with all our hearts that there is only one way into heaven, and it is not through our good behaviour. We only gain entrance by grace, the grace of Jesus Christ. And it is His transforming grace that empowers us to do good works for the glory of God. Without His grace, our good works are but filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6). I think no better words express this reality than Paul’s writing in Ephesians chapter 2. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:8-10).