Riff's Christian Journal

How Good Is Good Enough?

Like most people, I always felt that I was basically a good person. Yeah, I know, I’m not perfect, but I just knew that when I died and stood before God that He would weigh my good points and then weigh my bad points and the good would outweigh the bad, and for that reason He would let me into Heaven.

Then it just came to me one day, what if I had too many bad points, you know how all of those little things can add up. So, I got to asking myself “how good is good enough”? I did some research from the Bible and boy was I surprised at what I found.

How about you, are you good enough to go to Heaven? Maybe you are like me and you are not. If it turns out that you are not, What then? Well, you should know this, straight from the Bible it is written.

From Isaiah 13:

Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand!
      It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
      Therefore all hands will be limp,
      Every man’s heart will melt,
      And they will be afraid.
      Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them;
      They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;
      They will be amazed at one another;
      Their faces will be like flames.

Are you good enough?

Behold, the day of the LORD comes,
      Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,
      To lay the land desolate;
      And He will destroy its sinners from it.
      For the stars of heaven and their constellations
      Will not give their light;
      The sun will be darkened in its going forth,
      And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
      I will punish the world for its evil,
      And the wicked for their iniquity;
      I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
      And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

Are you sure?

Therefore I will shake the heavens,
      And the earth will move out of her place,
      In the wrath of the LORD of hosts
      And in the day of His fierce anger.

But won’t Jesus come with love to gather everyone together to be His own?

From 2 Thessalonians 1:

since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe…

So, how good are you?

Consider these verses:

1. Psalm 14:1
   The fool has said in his heart,“There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.
2. Psalm 14:3
   They have all turned aside,They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.
3. Psalm 53:1
   The fool has said in his heart,“There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good.
4. Psalm 53:3
   Every one of them has turned aside;They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.
5. Romans 3:12
   They have all turned aside;They have together become unprofitable;There is none who does good, no, not one.”

Now, consider these words by Jesus:

• Matthew 19:17
  So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
• Mark 10:18
  So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
• Luke 18:19
  So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.

After reading all of these passages that are written in the Word of God, do you still think that you are good, let alone being good enough?

If you answered “NO” then you have answered correctly. If you, then, are not good, would that not mean that you are not, and cannot, be good enough to go to Heaven. Think about that for a moment. If you are not good, how can you be good enough to go to Heaven? You can’t. That being the case, then how does one get to Heaven? Simple, read this and then do the same:

Romans 10: 9

If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead you will be saved.

Can you do that? Will you do that? There is no other way. You cannot rely on your goodness, as you have seen, and you cannot do anything to be found worthy of being allowed into God’s Heaven. Your only alternative is Hell, and it is not a place where you want to be.

As we read in Titus 3: 5

“not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”

Salvation can only be obtained by repenting of your sins, that is by confessing to God that you are a sinful person, and by submission to Jesus as being Lord of your life, that you will follow Him and do His will as He gives direction, will you be saved. There is no other name, given among men, by which we can be saved.

Unless God forgives you of your sins and makes you alive in your spirit, that of being “born again”, to be a new creature in Christ and to be a child of God, you will not be allowed in Heaven and you will only find yourself spending eternity in Hell. There really is no other way.

Is that what you want? Will you now bow your knee to Jesus as Lord and call out to God for forgiveness of your sins and so receive God’s blessing of forgiveness and of a new life in Christ. By doing so God will give you a key to Heaven based on what Jesus has done and not on your goodness.

For you have no goodness in and of yourself, as we have seen, and your only hope is to be accepted on the basis of the finished work of Christ on the cross and in his resurrection from the dead. Only then will you be able to spend eternity in Heaven.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;

it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2: 8-9