Good People Don’t Go to Heaven

¹⁶ And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

¹⁷ And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

¹⁸ He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

¹⁹ Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

²⁰ The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

²¹ Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

²² But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Matthew 19:16-22 (KJV)

The Orientation

If you ask most people what you have to do to get into heaven (assuming they believe in heaven or an afterlife), the overwhelming response will be some form of “be a good person.” Most, if not all, religions and worldly philosophies are ethically or morally based. Whether it’s Islam, Judaism, or secular humanism, the teaching is common that getting to heaven, or some other form of it, is a matter of being a good person—following the Ten Commandments or the precepts of the Quran or the Golden Rule. We have an inner instinct that says bad people deserve punishment and good people deserve a reward. In addition, most of us tend to self-evaluate and give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. We think we aren’t that bad.

People will generally say that a good person deserves all the best in the world, merits some form of reward, and, therefore, earns their place in heaven. This belief, the orientation, is skewed or crooked and they don’t even realize it. This orientation is problematic because this is not aligned Biblically.

Heaven is God’s dwelling place (Psalm 115:3). Therefore, if we want to go there, God must set the requirements, Himself, on how to get there. We must not rely on human intelligence, logic, assumption, or even tradition. So, this mainstream orientation is not something we should simply embrace. The majority is not always the winner, after all.

…narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Matthew 7:14 (KJV)

The Disorientation

Good people don’t go to heaven. The simple truth is that no matter how good you are, you are not assured of heaven. In our main text, the rich young man looks like a “good person,” isn’t he? But Jesus revealed something in him. Surprisingly, if you read the Bible, a “bad person” can still go to heaven. How so? Let’s turn into the Word of God.

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Romans 3:10 (KJV)

The synonyms of the word “righteous” are moral, blameless, honorable, decent, and more importantly, “GOOD.” Romans 3:10 says there is none “righteous.” This verse from the Bible simply says that no one is actually good. Good based on what? We can continue in verse 23:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 3:23 (KJV)

This does not mean that we are always actively engaged in doing evil or participating in immoral acts all the time. But it does mean that in our very nature we are “fallen,” in rebellion against God and incapable of saving ourselves.

In our main text, the rich young ruler approached Jesus and used the word “good,” perhaps without giving it much thought (Matthew 16:16). Jesus then confronts the young man’s self-righteousness. He tells him that, if he wishes to be perfect, truly good person, he must sell all that he has and come follow Him. Jesus has perfectly diagnosed the man’s “lack”—his attachment to his wealth. The man’s great wealth has become an idol in his life. He claimed to have kept all the commandments, but in reality, he couldn’t even keep the first one. Do you remember what the first commandment of the 10 commandments is? “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” The young man turned his back on Jesus and walked away. His god was his wealth, which he chose over Jesus.

So, why can’t “good people” go to heaven?

• God’s judgment is not based on comparison. (Romans 2:1)
• God judgement is more than actions. (Romans 3:23)

None of us can claim innocence before a Holy God who judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12-13). When our secret sins are exposed by the light of His truth, we are left naked and condemned, utterly devoid of any moral high ground.

This truth is quite disorienting. It reveals our true nature and how filthy we are in the sight of a Holy God. So, if good people don’t go to heaven because none of us are good enough next to a Holy God, how then? This leads us to our last point:

The New Orientation

If we go back to our main text, we can see that the rich young ruler has been living a moral and good life based on human perspective. But this is not enough to earn him eternal life. In verse 21, Jesus revealed what was lacking:

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Matthew 19:21 (KJV)

He was lacking Christ, Himself! (2 Corinthians 5:21) God did not wait until we somehow learned to be “good.” God knows we cannot do it on our own, and so He sent His Son. In Romans 5:8, we can see that while we were in our sinful state, Christ died for us.

Jesus’ purpose for coming was so that He could live the perfect life we couldn’t live, and then lay down that life as payment for our sins. Jesus Christ is the only truly good person who ever lived. (Hebrews 2:14)

Christ took part of our humanity by having flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. This is the great transaction at the heart of the gospel.

The greatest miracle is that Jesus rose from the dead. And because He rose from the dead, the resurrection of Jesus authenticates everything that He said and everything that He did. That’s the most important thing.

Salvation is not based on our own goodness but on Jesus’ goodness. If we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Romans 10:9). This salvation in Christ is a precious gift, and, like all true gifts, it is unearned (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8–9). We did not earn this; we did not work for this. It’s a gift of God but we must accept it through faith.

God wants you to fully understand this new orientation.

Good people don’t go to heaven, forgiven sinners do!

Have you been forgiven?