Do good people go to heaven?

Do we all go to heaven even if we're not religious but good at heart? Can we be a 'good person' even if we don't go to church?

I am going to assume that the reason the question is worded like this is because the person who wrote it knows that Christians are made "good" by having the bad stuff they've done paid for by Jesus, and is asking if there is a second way to heaven for those who manage to be good enough on their own part and therefore don't need Jesus.

The short answer is that Jesus said "I am the way...No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) In other words, no there is no second way.

This may seem unfair on those who live "good" lives without being Christian. But it's actually much more unfair on people to say that if they live good lives they might get to heaven. Everyone has a different definition of a "good" life. It's all about pressure to perform. It's destined to fail. Because get this: God is perfect. Heaven is perfect. The moment you do one tiny screw up, you're imperfect. Name one person who's perfect by that definition. No, I can't think of anyone either (except Jesus, but He decided to take on our imperfections). There can't be imperfection in heaven. This isn't because God thinks He's too cool for imperfect people. He doesn't. He loves us all. Simply put, the nature of heaven is perfect and imperfection can't exist there.

For want of a better example, let's look at vomiting. When you vomit, it's not because your tummy feels like being a snob towards your food. It's because the food was imperfect and by its very nature could not remain in your stomach. The same thing happens with imperfection in heaven. God's not a snob. He simply created a heaven where imperfection, by its nature, can't exist (and when we get there, we'll enjoy this feature). Furthermore, just to make sure we know He isn't being snobby, He sent Jesus to pay with His life for every bad thing we've ever done so that anyone can have the option of being perfect and going to heaven. All you have to do is choose to go there.

Let's look at what Jesus said about this. This verse you may know: "For God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16). I like this verse. It says that if you believe that God sent Jesus to pay for your sins then you're going to heaven. Sounds good to me. Beats trying to be perfect all your life. Of course this is only one thing Jesus said. So just to prove I'm not a heretic who takes things out of context and makes his own theologies, let's look at what else Jesus said so we can have a holistic view of His teaching.

Jesus also said, "do to others what you would have them do to you..." (Matthew 7:12). If we all did to others what we'd have them do to us, we'd be living in a pretty sweet world. Is Jesus saying "try as hard as you can to be perfect"? No! He's just saying treat others the way you'd have them treat you. Common sense!

Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength ... Love your neighbour as yourself." (Mark 12:30). These are also common sense. If you believe God sent Jesus to pay for your sins so that you could go to heaven then it's natural that you would love God! Who wouldn't love someone who enabled them to go to a perfect heaven? And loving your neighbour is the golden rule all over again. More common sense.

One more thing Jesus said. "Go and make disciples of all the nations ... and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus is saying, "Okay, so you guys know that to go to heaven, you need only believe God sent me to pay with my life for you to go there. You know that the best way to live is to love God and to treat other people the way you want them to treat you. Now go tell other people about this so that they can do it too."

So that's what I'm doing. I'm telling you about it cause you're asking if there's a second way to heaven, which is actually harder than God's way! Why spend decades working at being perfect (and still failing in the end) when God made sure that all you had to do to get there was believe that Jesus paid for your ticket? God did this on purpose. There's a good reason it takes a single decision to get entry to heaven and a lifetime to treat others the way you want them to treat you. Because we're not in heaven! Apart from the decision to believe Jesus paid for you to go there, you're actually supposed to think about Earth. You can enjoy heaven when you get there. In the meantime, rather than wasting your life trying and failing to be perfect, just treat others the way you want to be treated and tell them that they can live the same way. Yes, as a result you will spend a lot of your time being "good", but with a completely different approach! As a Christian, you do good things out of love for God and others, rather than doing them in order to get to heaven. Talk about a weight off your shoulders!


Josh Thompson (edited slightly)