What a surprise when this lady returned her Hope for the Wobbly book I gave her. “It’s a really great book! But I’m 91, and I don’t need it because I’ve lived a good life. I’ve always been good.”
And on she went about all the good things she has done, so of course God would gladly welcome her into heaven.
Hmmmm.
Sounds logical. And also a pretty common assumption, along with the flipside that says, “I’ll never make it to heaven because of all the bad things I’ve done.”
When confronted with a challenge to my faith, after I wobble a bit (lol), I go straight to the Bible. We have to be careful not to assume God is like us (or we are like God), or to define Him in terms from our severely limited perspective.
What Does GOD SAY About Being GOOD?
- Just one SIN SEPARATES us from Him forever. No matter how many good things we have done.
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23 NLT)
As humans, our standard of comparison tends to be horizontal: I am not as bad as others, so therefore I’m okay. Whereas God’s standard is vertical: No human will ever be sinless and innately holy, and therefore can never be with Him in His glorious heaven.
Unless…
He provides a way for us to be forgiven and justified and holy in His sight.
- Eternal life is a GIFT from God only through Jesus Christ.
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” (Titus 3:5 NKJV)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 NKJV)
In case you haven’t noticed, we’re all dying. Just a really hard fact. Death is the result of sin. No matter how “good” we think we are.
But note the GOOD NEWS: Eternal life is a GIFT from God only through Jesus Christ!
Our sin needs to be paid for! Nothing—no matter how many good works we’ve done—can ever pay that price! The price is the blood sacrifice of our sinless Savior and Redeemer. ❤️
- Good works are the RESULT of His salvation and new life in us.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV)
God truly does love good works! But it is His Holy Spirit in us who bears that fruit in our lives once we have chosen to believe and receive Jesus by faith. (See Galatians 5:22-23)
It’s not “being good” to try to gain His approval and pay for our own sins—which must anger and grieve Him after all He did to send His only Son to suffer for us, and then to have people proudly reject Him. But these good deeds now are an amazing outflowing of His grace, goodness and new life in us.
Looking back, I think it wasn’t the book that dear lady needed after all. What she needs—like all of us—is a Savior. I hope she reaches out in faith to receive His loving forgiveness and salvation, now while she still can. 💜
