Good Enough For Heaven?

I’ve entitled our message this morning “Good Enough for Heaven?” with a question mark. Is anyone really good enough to go to heaven? An article from the Los Angeles Times says, “An overwhelming majority of Americans continue to believe that there is life after death and that heaven and hell exist . . . [and] nearly two-thirds think they are heaven-bound. On the other hand, only one-half of one percent said they were hell-bound.”(1) You see, most people believe they are going to heaven when they die, and they base their conclusion on being a morally good person.

One time when I was trying to witness to a non-Christian, he said, “I know I’m going to heaven when I die. I’m a good person. I would give you the shirt off my back if you needed it,” and there’s no doubt in my mind that he would; but would that really get him to heaven? I once sat in the home of an elderly church member and listened to her tell me, “All that really matters is that you have a sincere heart in whatever religion you worship and that you do good things for others. I go to church and help people in need, so I know I’m going to heaven when I die.” But, let me ask you again, “Is anyone really good enough to go to heaven?” Well, let’s look at the Bible and find out!

Are We Really Good Enough? (vv. 17-18)

17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.”

We see here “what seemed to be an earnest young man who came running to [Jesus]. The man humbly knelt down, complemented Jesus on being ‘good,’ and asked how he could obtain everlasting life,”(2) obviously thinking eternal life must be related to someone being good. So, let me ask you something? “Would you consider yourself to be a good person?” I think most of us would, and there are a lot of people who believe they’ll go to heaven simply by being good; but by whose standard are we measuring our goodness? Are you really good enough, and are you willing to stake your life on it?

Notice that Jesus corrected this young man concerning the word “good.” He said, “No one is good but One, that is, God” (v. 18). His reply seems kind of strange, because if anyone were good it was certainly Jesus. He was the incarnation of God Himself (John 1:1, 14), and He was perfect and lived a sinless life. Hebrews 4:15 says that Jesus “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus later died on the cross as a sacrifice, as the perfect Lamb of God, to pay the penalty for the sins of all mankind. He could do this because He was without sin. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that being without sin would certainly make Jesus a good person.

We need to keep in mind, however, that Jesus was more than good; He was righteous. Perhaps, because righteousness seems akin to goodness, Jesus could have let this man’s acknowledgement slide without getting technical; but Jesus didn’t want the young man to relate salvation and eternal life to one’s goodness. He didn’t want him to be fooled and led astray, and so He began shifting his focus toward the truth. The truth is that no one is good enough, and no one can make it to heaven through their own goodness; and we’ll discover this truth as we continue along in the Scripture.

The True Standard is the Law (vv. 19-20)

19 “You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother’.” 20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”

This young man’s “earnest and humble heart would seem to make him a prime candidate as a potential convert. Modern evangelism would give this man the message of God’s love and have him pray a ‘sinner’s prayer’ . . . [but that’s] not what Jesus did in such a case. He didn’t [immediately] share the message of God’s grace. Instead, He reproved the man’s understanding of the word ‘good’ by opening up God’s standard of goodness,”(3) and God’s standard of goodness is the Law; or simply put, the Ten Commandments.

I earlier said, “There are a lot of people who believe they’ll go to heaven simply by being good; but by whose standard are we measuring our goodness?” We should be measuring ourselves against the perfect Law of God. There are many Christians who will say that Jesus came to do away with the Law in exchange for grace, but Jesus didn’t say that. In Matthew 5:17, He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Jesus came not to abolish the Law, but to show that the Law points toward Him. In Galatians we read, “Therefore, the Law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (3:24).