You answered:
Yes, you believe that God exists, and
Yes, you believe you have broken God’s moral standards… But
No, you believe you can be good enough to earn my way into Heaven.
Heaven
Our good deeds and efforts should count for something, shouldn’t they?
If our good deeds outweigh all of our bad deeds, we should be good enough to earn our way into heaven.
It sounds reasonable, even fair, but…
Let’s first define heaven.
There are many versions and ideas of heaven. According to the Bible, heaven is God’s domain, a kingdom over which God rules and reigns as King. Since God is love, life, and life, the domain of His Kingdom is indeed a beautiful and wonderful place to be.
Because heaven is under God’s rule, He alone has the authority to decide who can enter it. We cannot choose how we enter His domain any more than we can enter someone else’s house and behave like it’s our own home.
If God had said, “You can enter my Kingdom if your good deeds outweigh your bad ones,” that would be the way to enter heaven. But Jesus tells us a very different story.
“Now this is eternal life —that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.” (John 17:3)
Jesus defines eternal life—life in heaven—as knowing God and Jesus.
Being good or good enough is not the way to heaven.
To enter heaven or God’s domain, we need to have a relationship with Him. But there is a problem—our sins.
What the Bible calls sin is far more than doing bad things. If you are not familiar with it, we recommend the article, “Sin That Has Destroyed Humanity” to continue your spiritual journey.
Because of our sins, our relationship with God is severed. We have turned our backs on God. We have disrespected our loving heavenly Father. We have rebelled against our King. We have made God our enemy!
As long as we remain God’s enemy, we will not be welcomed into His domain no matter how good we are.
Because God loves us, He has provided us with His solution in Jesus for this human dilemma. We invite you to start your day with Daily Inspiration on the dashboard. In Daily Inspiration, select “Glimpses of Jesus” (blue panel) and read more about Jesus.