DanielYKL

 

This morning I was driving behind this car with a sticker on the back windshield that reads “ANYBODY Can Get To Heaven - Just Be Good” And there is a picture of the statue of the founder of the religion on it. Now this got me thinking. Be good and you can get to heaven? It simply means that we don’t need God to get to heaven. All we need to do is be good or do some good deeds. The issue here is about achieving what we see as spiritual competency. It is about doing good or being good. Well, we don’t need God’s help anymore to get to heaven.  Ironic isn’t it? We can do so well in our good works, that we depend upon it rather than God to get to heaven.

Many people go through life with the mistaken notion that they must be good enough to go to heaven. While being good is necessary if we desire heaven, but just being good will not get us there.

Is it possible to be good? Can a man do good works or being good by himself? And what is being good?  To what degree is good? How do we measure good?

A young man asked Jesus a question that many people today are still asking. “What good thing must I do to get eternal life?” In other words, what do you have to do in order to go to Heaven when you die? This rich young man  was a very good man, he had kept all of the commandments from his birth, yet he still felt like there was something else he needed to do in order to make it to Heaven.

The question I want to pose is this: Is being a good, moral, upstanding person enough to get you to heaven? Obviously it is better to live that kind of lifestyle than to be an immoral and unethical person. But is it enough

If you were to die today and God were to ask you why He should let you into Heaven, what would you say? If asked that question, most people would say something like this: “Well I’ve tried to be a good person. I’ve tried to live by the Golden Rule. I’ve tried not to treat other people badly. I’ve tried to do good. I’ve tried to avoid sinful situations. I’ve tried to live by ethical and moral standards in my own personal life and in my business life. I haven’t intentionally hurt people. I’ve tried to be a good person. Oh sure, I’ve done some things that were bad, but I think the good things that I’ve done would probably tip the scales in my favor so that I would be able to make it in.”

I believe that most people today believe that their good works will get them into heaven. What do you think? What or who are you trusting in to get you to heaven?

Men by nature are sinful. And God knows that and he understands our struggle to do good. As it is we can never do good on our own no matter how hard we try. The only reason we can do good is if we believe in God.  If you believe in God then you should be able to maintain that good works. In other words, it means that your faith will results good works in every kind. It is God who works in you and through you to do good. We cannot stand before God on our own merits.

Some said he gave his riches; could he prove that God commanded him to give? Perhaps not. He said he fasted and prayed so many times a week; could he prove that God told him to fast and pray? If not, his fasting and praying were no obedience. If I do a thing that I am not commanded to do, I do not obey in doing it. All are in vain, all are the pretences of men, that by mortifying their bodies, by denying their flesh, by doing this, that, or the other, they shall therefore win the favour of God and get to heaven, No work is good unless God has commanded it. A man may do charity works, but if he does without reference to the commandment of God, he has performed no good work.

Nothing is a good work unless it is done with a good motive; and there is no motive which can be said to be good but the glory of God. He who performs good works with a view to go to heaven, does not do them from a good motive, because his motive is selfish, he wants to buy his way to heaven. He who does them also to gain the esteem of his fellowmen and for the good of society, has a admirable motive, so far as man is concerned; but it is, after all, an inferior motive.—What end had we in view?

If for the benefit of our fellow-creatures, then let our fellow-creatures pay us; but that has nothing to do with God. Work is not good, unless a man does it with a view to God’s glory, and he has been brought into subjection to God’s divine will, so that in everything he has an eye to God and works in order to promote his glory and honor in the world. And even, when our works are done from the best motives, nothing is a good work unless it is done with faith; for “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Good works only come from God through men. So can men really be good or do good without God?

Some may ask: How do you know you are going to heaven? I don’t but I believe in the promise of God. I believe in His Word. And God is faithful to His word. There is hope in God. Our only hope is in accepting the grace and mercy of God. A hope is better than no hope.

Being Good Will Not Get You To Heaven, Believing In God will!