Written by Pastor Gardner Thursday, 12 October 2006 00:00

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How Good is Good Enough?
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Many people that I have talked to over the years tell me they think that they will go to Heaven when they die because they are a good person. They will usually go on to explain how “good” they have been. Typically, it goes something like this: “I’ve tried to live a good life. I’ve never hurt anyone. I’ve provided for my family. I’ve raised my children the best that I know how. I think I’ve lived a good life.”

This type of statement always raises questions in my mind. What is a good life? What do they mean that they've never hurt anyone? Haven't we all hurt someone - if not with our fists, at least with our words? How good is good enough?

If being a good person is enough to get you into Heaven, how good do you have to be to get there? What if you have hurt someone? Do you have a chance at Heaven? What if you have done things in your life that haven't been so "good"? Do you have any chance to redeem yourself? When do you find out for sure whether you've been good enough? When you get to Heaven's gate? If that is the case, isn't it too late then? What are you going to do if you find out you haven't been good enough?

The Bible has the answer to all of these questions. According to the Bible, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.[1]" It only seems right to most people that you have to be a good person to get to Heaven. After all, isn't Heaven an eternal reward? But the Bible clearly tells us that just because it seems right doesn't make it right.

The Bible tells the story of a person who came to Jesus and asked Him, "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered the person - a lawyer - with His own question, "What is written in the law? How readest thou?" The lawyer answered and said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God will all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." Upon hearing this, Jesus said, "Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.[2]"

By answering "this do, and thou shalt live," Jesus was saying this: If you want to inherit eternal life - if you want to earn your way to Heaven - then according to the Law of Moses, you always have to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and you always have to love your neighbor as yourself. In other words, if you want to earn your way to Heaven, you have to be perfect! No, you say, I don't think that that is what Jesus was saying here. I think he was saying that you just have to do these things to the best of your ability, and that will be good enough. My friend, the Bible clearly states, "For whosever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.[3]"

You see, we tend to classify people as "good" or "bad." On the "good" side, we place people who have never been in trouble with the law, people who have held jobs and provided for their families, people who don't openly engage in immorality. On the "bad" side, we place the axe murderers, the rapists, the dregs of society. But God says this, "For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." When we understand the perfect holiness of God, and place ourselves against that standard of perfection and holiness, we see that God tells us the truth in His Word when He says, "There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.[4]" When we see ourselves as God sees us, we can see that there is no way that we can be good enough to earn our way to Heaven.

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[1] Proverbs 16:25

[2] Luke 10:25-28

[3] James 2:10

[4] Romans 3:10-12