That is a question that many people across the country ask?  In fact, it is the belief of many people that God will look upon the good things they have done and grant them entrance into His eternal kingdom.

On the surface that sounds logical.  After all, in America, we are rewarded for doing good things and punished for doing bad things.  So it appears to most that if they try to be good citizens, pay their bills, help feed the poor, and love their neighbor and do other good things that they should be in right standing with God Almighty.

Nothing could be further from God’s standard for being good enough to get into Heaven.  Actually, it is a lie that is perpetrated by the Prince of the power of the air to delude people into thinking they will be fine when judgment day arrives.  Unless we go to the source for our answer, we might come up on the short end of the stick and that decision lasts for eternity.

May I respectfully say that none of us can be good enough to get into God’s kingdom on our own without providential help.  It is just an impossible task for anyone, no matter who you are, how much money you have, or how good you try to be.

The only source available with the answers is an ancient text called Scripture.  That may sound too religious for your taste, but please keep reading because I am about to reveal to you what God said long ago about our good works.  You may have never heard what I am about to tell you, but it is a message about your life.

Concerning our good deeds, God says in Isaiah 64:6 “We are all infected and impure with sin.  When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.  Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.  Yet no one calls on Your Name or pleads with You for mercy.”

You can see that God does not see our good deeds as appropriate for gaining anything in heavenly currency.  We just cannot be good enough.  Why?  Because we have nothing that God says will satisfy His standard for good deeds.  He relates our trying to be good to filthy rags that cannot clean anything.

So, how can we gain His favor?  We must come to Him in humility and do things His way.  Otherwise, we don’t have a prayer!  Listen to what Paul said:  “God saved you by His grace (unearned favor) when you believed.  And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

Did you get it?  We must come to God His way, not our way.  Our entrance into His kingdom is gained by a gift from God through believing in His Son.  There is no good work that you can do!

You must put your pride down and humbly do things God’s way.  Don’t let Satan deceive you into false beliefs about your being good enough to go to Heaven.  He is a liar and the father of lies.  John 8:44 reveals this.  “He (the devil) has always hated the truth because there is no truth in him.  When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

In conclusion, we find that God’s standards for getting to heaven are different than most people we meet on the street who think that somehow God is going to weigh their good deeds and their bad deeds and somehow, possibly, God will see that they really were good people after all and deserve to get in.  Sorry.  That is not truth.

Who are you going to believe in order to secure your eternal destiny?  The average man or woman on the street?  Or the God of the Universe?  It is all up to you.  No one will stand in your place on the Day of Judgment but you.  You will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and give an account of your life to Him.  The last book in the Bible, in the last chapter it says; “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.  And let him that heareth say, Come.  And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

God is waiting on your choice.  What will it be?  Are you trusting in yourself or Christ Jesus?  The end results of your decision last forever.

Ken Lewis