Will There be any Good People in Heaven (April 2019)

As we celebrate Easter weekend, I hope you find this post below encouraging. Happy Easter and Blessings to you and your families.

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Will there be any good people in Heaven?

Seems like a crazy question. Most people would initially think of course there will be good people in Heaven. Heaven is for the “good” people. In fact, If I were to walk around almost any neighborhood and ask people “If you died tonight, would you go to Heaven?” most people would tell me yes. If I followed it up with “So then, if you are standing before God and He asks you why should He let you into His Heaven, what would you say?”. The vast majority of people would say because I have been a good person.

At first glance that just seems logical as to how it would work, but is it really logical to expect that simply being a good person is the main requirement? Seems like an important question. We all have to come to our own conclusions here, but I would like to share some of my own observations and conclusions as we all wrestle through this. I hope you will find this interesting and even encouraging. Feel free to share if you do find it interesting.

What I observe, 1:

Let me ask a question. Let’s say a complete stranger shows up to your house with several moving boxes, several suitcases and announces to you (uninvited) they are moving in with you. They give you a list of references who will all attest they have done many good deeds. They have walked old ladies across the street, volunteered at soup kitchens to feed the homeless, they were members of the PTA, boy scout troupe leader, tirelessly helped out their neighbors and others in need, and the list goes on and on.

Would you let this complete stranger move in with you?

I am sure a few might say yes, but the vast majority of us would say no. Why? Because first off we did not invite them and without our invite they can’t simply earn their way in, and second despite all their good deeds, we have no personal relationship with them. I do not care how many little old ladies you walk across the street, if I do not know you and you do not have or want any type of relationship with me, there is no way you are moving into my home to permanently live with me.

If that is true, why do we think doing a bunch of “good” deeds, but not having or desiring any personal relationship with God has any impact on His decision to accept us into His Heavenly home and to go on to live for all of eternity with Him in Heaven / On the New Earth?

What the Bible says:

Isa. 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Eph 2:8,9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

What I initially conclude: The bible lines up with what I observe. Our good deeds may seem wonderful when comparing ourselves to other humans, but compared to the Holy character of God, our good deeds do not stack up. We can’t earn Heaven, the only way we can get there is through God’s grace and through his generous invitation (Which He has made to all of us in the form of Jesus).

What I also observe, 2:

Now, conversely, let’s say there is someone you do know personally, you care about them and desire to help them. You clear out a room for them to stay in and invite them to come live with you. Now, let’s say you have kids, and you had some general rules in your home. Rules like No Smoking in the house (health reasons, Smoke outside if you need to), no strangers allowed to come in and stay over (to Protect your kids and keep them safe), No getting drunk at our house (again, protecting everyone, go elsewhere if you want to do this) , Clean up after yourself, etc.

Suppose the person you invited says “I get you like your rules and you think your rules are helpful and good, but I determine what is good for myself and I do not want your morality or rules imposed on me.” Let’s say they say “I plan to get drunk in your home in front of your kids whenever I want as I see nothing wrong with it. You just need to teach them this is a natural part of life. It is a good stress reliever and makes life more enjoyable. I also plan to smoke wherever and whenever I want to in your house as again to me there is nothing wrong with it. My uncle Bennie lived to be 95 and smoked like a chimney so I think this is all overblown. Also, I will invite whoever I want to stay over regardless of your thoughts on the matter as if they are my friends, that should be good enough for you. Finally, I am fine with the house being a little messy and full of clutter, so if it bothers you, seems like that is your problem, not mine. However, I have no issues if you want to clean up after me.” Now they say, “So what date should I move in”? What would be your answer?

I think almost everyone would be appalled at the lack of respect you are being treated with to not honor your authority to set the rules in your own home and the entitlement mentality of your invited guest as they are not being appreciative at all of the generosity of your offer. Speaking for myself, the offer would be pulled immediately and I would tell them sorry, this is not going to work out for you to come and stay with me if you will not submit to my authority to run my house as I see best.

In the same way, when we love the idea of an abstract God, but we reject a personal God’s authority and guidance as layed out in the bible, and we insist on determining solely for ourselves what is good, regardless of what God thinks, is it not a bit of an entitlement attitude to think God “owes” us eternal life and to come live with Him in His eternal Home? Yes, God wants us to be with Him forever, but it has to be on His terms, not ours.

If humans alone determine right vs wrong without regard to God’s standard, then Heaven will be no better than earth. We will have to lock our doors as some will believe there is nothing wrong with stealing, we will not be sure if we can trust people as some will consider lying “no big deal”. We will have greed, bitterness, unforgiveness, lack of

compassion, pride, strife, gossip, slander, selfishness, violence and war set free in Heaven unchecked. Is that the type of Heaven you long for? It is not one I long for.

What the Bible says:

Mathew 7:22 (Jesus said) Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Mathew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

John 14:15 (Jesus says) If you love me, keep my commands.

What I conclude: Again, The bible matches up to what I observe. If you want to live with Jesus in His home in Heaven (and then later with Jesus on the new Earth), then it only makes sense you will ultimately have to submit to His authority as the ruler of His Kingdom while you live there and let God run it as He sees best. Either God is going to be God or we are. We all have to choose.

Other Observations:

Luke 23:39 to 43 When we examine this passage on the thief on the cross that was saved, I note several things.

1) There were not a lot of steps and hoops Jesus required the thief to go through. He did not have to perfectly learn some church’s theological doctrine. It did not matter if he liked praise music or hymns. The thief was never baptized (though He did publicly profess his faith), so while I believe Baptism is a good thing to do and a command Jesus gave us, it does not seem an absolute requirement for salvation and I believe God has honored many death bed confessions through the years, similar to the one uttered by the thief on the cross. For the few verses on salvation where baptism is mentioned I can quote 10 times as many where it is not listed as a requirement, like for instance John 3:16. The thief on the cross was never baptized with physical water, yet He was clearly saved to spend eternity with Jesus.

2) Knowledge alone is not the path to salvation. I believe God does call us to study the bible to know God’s commandments that we not sin against him, to teach us how to best live our lives, to give us wisdom and a foundation for our faith that can withstand the storms of life, and to develop our personal relationship with God as He reveals Himself to us through His word. However, being able to quote verses out of the bible and display deep knowledge is not required to bring us salvation and eternal life. In fact, Satan knows the bible better than any other human being alive, yet Satan is bound for Hell, not Heaven as Satan will not submit to Jesus authority. I doubt this thief knew much scripture at all.

When in doubt, it seems obvious God’s desire is to show Mercy and Grace.

3) Being perfect and cleaning ourselves up before coming to Jesus is not required. The thief had not cleaned up his life. The fact is he was not really any more capable of doing that than any of us are. He went to Jesus to help clean him up and Jesus started right where this thief was at.

4) So, what did the thief actually do that was needed?

A) He acknowledged he was a sinner, unworthy of God’s grace

B) He acknowledged that Jesus was a King that was about to be coming into his Kingdom and believed Jesus claim that He was the Son of God and would rise to eternal life and would do the same for us.

C) He asked Jesus to remember him as Jesus came into his kingdom. He thus desired a personal relationship with Jesus, with God and wanted to be one of Jesus subjects and submit to His lordship.

So, it seems the most basic keys for our salvation according to the bible are to acknowledge in fact that apart from God, we are not the great and good people we think we are when comparing ourselves to a Holy, perfect and righteous God. Like the thief, We too are sinners that need God’s forgiveness and Grace. We have not earned Heaven and so we can’t boast in our Pride and entitlement that God owes us eternal life, rather we need to humbly ask for God’s grace and be thankful and grateful for this gift He offers us.

We also need to believe God loves us and is looking out for our good. The thief obviously believed this about Jesus else there would be no point to reach out to Him.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

The key to Heaven is our faith. Not our faith in our faith, but our faith and trust in Jesus and in the character of our Heavenly Father, that God is indeed good, God does care about us, and God will Honor His promises.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but will have eternal life.

(Note: God does not ask for blind trust, but if we are honest, God has given us plenty of evidence He does love and care about us to take us most of the way there, so the remaining steps we take in trust are built on this starting point of the clearly observable goodness of God.)

Jesus did not provide for any other way by which we can be saved, except through Him.

John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus alone is the way, the truth and the life. If we could be good enough on our own to earn Heaven, there was no point in Jesus dying on the cross (which I personally believe is clearly a Historical fact, if interested read “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel).

If we acknowledge that Jesus died on the cross to pay the eternal price for our sins, that Jesus rose from the dead to purchase a place for us in Heaven, and that He is the risen Son of God and we willingly submit to Jesus authority and Lordship in our lives than through our Faith we are saved. It is that simple.

We are not saved through our perfection or our good deeds, but rather through our Faith in Jesus, our trust in God’s good character and our submission to His authority.

Conclusion:

We all must come to our own conclusions here, but I believe compared to a Holy and perfect God, Heaven will not be filled with “good” people. It will however be filled with forgiven people who have been made Holy through their faith and trust in Jesus. You can’t get to Heaven based on your own good deeds and your own righteousness. However, if you put your Faith and trust in Jesus, follow and submit to Him, then God will credit you with Jesus perfect righteousness and you can be adopted as one of God’s children to live eternally with Jesus. That is the biblical answer, and that answer matches up with what I observe and is logical to me.

Happy Easter to you and your families. Today we celebrate when Jesus rose back from the dead, breaking the bonds of sin and death over us once and for all. Jesus can clean you up and make you day by day more like Him if you will let Him as you grow closer to Him through reading and meditating on the bible, prayer, worship, etc., but the first step is simply to reach out to Jesus to save you, like the thief did. If you honestly will do so, I believe Jesus is waiting faithfully to reach back to you.

In the Calm, and in the Storm, God is good. Always