If I’m good, do I go to heaven?

If I live my life to the best of my ability, when I die, I’ll be going to heaven, right? Unfortunately, that’s not right.

None of us can live perfect lives. We can never be good enough to enter heaven. We read in the Bible that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) So while good works are important, “Works, through faith, are good and profitable for all people” (Titus 3:8), it is only through faith in Christ Jesus (John 14:16) and His sacrifice for us that we are saved, not by our works, otherwise we might think too highly of ourselves and devalue Jesus and His life.

Getting to heaven demands atonement for our sins–a sacrifice that is great and costly. That sacrifice is beyond anything that we can do, that’s why God did it for us. He sent his son, Jesus to earth to become that sacrifice. In John 3:16 we read, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Does that mean that good works are worthless? Absolutely not. Faith in Jesus Christ is what saves us, but faith without works is dead (James 2:20-24). Works are the fruit of our faith and obediently done for the glory of God (Matthew 5:16). God wants us to good. Within the Bible we read, “…what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)