If Being Good Won't Get You to Heaven, Why Be Good?

Now, Contending for the Faith…. Here is this week’s question: “Dear Sirs, I’m confused. I’ve long believed (I’m 76) that I was and am a Christian. But when I listen to you, I get the idea that all the church-going I’ve experienced and all the good things I’ve done (which certainly outweigh the bad), don’t count for anything regarding my getting to heaven. Isn’t that what everyone needs to do to get to heaven? If not, why should anyone go to church or do anything good?”

Tom: Dave, I mentioned in an earlier segment, I saw the film The Gladiator, and it was a very religious film. The hero of this film, he prayed to his little idols, carried them around with him. The theme of it was “Getting to Heaven.” They didn’t call it heaven, but it was this place after death, and they were going to, if their loved ones preceded them in death, they were going to be with their loved ones, and…but, I imagine lots of people who left the theaters after seeing that film—because of the way it ended, he is joined with his loved ones, the hero of the film, is joined with his loved ones in kind of a very earthly heaven.

You had to think, “Hey, why did this guy get there?” Because he was a good guy. He was…he just did good things. He had integrity, he did all of these kind of things, and…boom! He got the big payoff at the end.

So, it doesn’t surprise me that this gentleman’s a bit confused here.

Dave: I suppose many people that go to church, that’s why they go. They have that idea. It’s rather simple, Tom. We call this program Search the Scriptures Daily. Why do we want to search the Scriptures? Because this is God’s Word. If anybody knows about heaven, I guess God does! If anyone is going to make the rules of how to get there, I guess God has the right to do that, and, in fact, He has. And He has told us about it.

So, there’s no point in human beings, or churches, or whatever, discussing the possibilities of getting there, or maybe trying to gather membership by claiming that they have an inside track, or that they have the way to get there—scapulars, for example, as we mentioned earlier, that promise you that if you die wearing this scapular, you won’t suffer eternal fire. You will eventually get to heaven, and so forth.

I think we’d better God about this. I don’t care what the Jesus Seminar says. I don’t care about what the great theologians say at some of our seminaries or in the Vatican, or wherever they are or whoever they are. That’s not going to help.

What does God say? And also, you know, what God says isn’t logical. It’s a matter of justice. We’re sinners. So the gentleman that wrote this letter said that he’d “done more good things than bad things.”  Try that out with a court. Even if you get a ticket—we’ve mentioned this illustration many times, but I think it’s helpful—even if you get a ticket for speeding, and you tell the judge, “Look, I know I’ve driven that section of the highway more times within the speed limit than I have exceeding it. Won’t my good deeds outweigh my bad?”

Well, you know, that’s not going to work. Or you tell him, “I promise you, Scout’s honor, let me off this time, and I’ll never, ever, ever break the law again.” He says, “If you never break the law again, you’re only doing what the law requires! You don’t get extra credit for that.

Now, what are we going to do about the fact you already broke the law? You cannot make up for breaking the law in the past by keeping the law in the future. And God has said we have broken His laws! This is a very serious thing! This is not like breaking some laws set forth by some human legislative body. These are the laws of the Creator of the universe, who said that when you break His laws, when you disobey Him, you are a rebel! No matter how slight the disobedience is, you are a rebel! You are not allowing God to be God. He can’t govern His universe. He can’t govern your life. You’re going to make your own way through life—that of course is a big thing we want: control. “I want to have control of my life!” and “I wanna do my thing,” and so forth.

God says, “Sorry! You’re not going to be in My universe any more. You’re certainly not going to be in My heaven!” The only way you’re going to be there is if the penalty is paid. Even God himself can’t make a bookkeeping entry in heaven. He can’t just forgive us. The penalty had to be paid. That’s what we were talking about earlier. Christ paid the penalty that God’s infinite justice required for us. It’s the only way God can be just—Paul argues that in Romans, chapter 3. The only way God can be just and yet justify sinners—how can God forgive sinners? Only if the penalty’s been paid.

So, we must accept that penalty in our place. And if we don’t accept Christ, believe that I’m a sinner—I acknowledge I’m a sinner—I repent of my sins, and I believe that Christ died for me, and I accept His penalty on my behalf—there’s no forgiveness! And it’s a gift. I have to take it as a gift. I can’t earn it. You can’t pay for a gift, you can’t merit a gift—we’ve been over all of these things before. You can’t earn a gift. I must accept it as a free gift, unworthy that I am, I don’t deserve it.

Tom:  And then he asked, “If not, why should anyone go to church or do anything good?” For the love of God! The love of God would compel us to not only fellowship with others who love Him, but in Ephesians:2:10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
See All..., talk about we’ve been saved “unto good works.” There are plenty of things that we can do to please God and to experience the joy that He provides for us as we please Him.

Dave: Why should we do good things? It’s Christ living in us who’s doing it. And, as you said, we do it to His glory, we do it out of love for Him. I know there are some people who knock on doors—Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons—in order to earn their way to heaven. No! A much higher motive! I’ve knocked on thousands of doors out of gratitude to the One who paid the penalty for my sins and out of love for others, wanting to bring this good news to them, that they can have this salvation as a free gift also.