If you put three swimmers on the coast of California and ask them to swim to Hawaii, the Olympic swimmer might swim 500 miles before she dies. The second swimmer might be a good swimmer and swim 25 miles before he dies. The last swimmer does not know how to swim very well and swims only one mile before he dies. So you might say that the Olympic swimmer is 500 times better as a swimmer than the third one. Who is more dead? Nobody can get to Hawaii on the basis of their own swimming ability. The Bible says we are supposed to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves.
Nobody gets there. The unique message of Christianity is that you “get there” not because of your own effort, or your own good works, but because you put your trust in what Jesus did for you on the cross.
Tim Keller, "The Reason for God: Conversations on Faith and Life." Discussion guide. Zondervan publishers. Michigan. 2010 page 24