How would you answer this question, “If you would die today do you believe that you would go to heaven?” Would you answer: “Yes,” “No,” or “I’m not sure but I hope so.”
The majority of people who believe in an afterlife say that they’re going to heaven. After all, that’s where we all want to be isn’t it? But why do you think you’ll go to heaven? In other words, why would God let you into heaven?
I’ve talked to a lot of people and the majority of them respond with a variation of, “Because I try to be a good person. I try hard and I try to help others out.” In all honesty, I said something like that for many years. I thought I was a good person, but then I came across the Good Person Quiz. It’s not long and there aren’t any trick questions. I’ve never passed the quiz but maybe you will.
- Have you ever told a lie? Don’t hedge. Even a “white” lie is a lie
- What do you call someone who tells a lie? A liar.
- Have you ever taken anything that’s not yours? Again, no hedging. For example: How about downloading music? Taking something from your sibling?
- What do you call someone who takes something that isn’t theirs? A thief.
- Have you ever used God’s name as a curse word? By the way, this also includes using OMG! in a text message.
- That’s called blasphemy. It’s taking the Almighty and Holy God’s name as a curse word.
- Have you ever disobeyed your parents?
- This one is a no-brainer. We’ve all disobeyed our parents. That’s called rebellion.
How are you doing so far? If you failed all four questions you not just a liar, you are a thieving liar who is blasphemous and rebellious at heart. There are six more questions in the quiz, but I’m pretty sure we can stop at four.
If the Good Person Quiz questions sound familiar it’s because they are from the Ten Commandments. When we measure ourselves against God’s standards, we’re not “good” at all and that conclusion makes us very, very uncomfortable.
Some people try to squirm out of that conclusion by saying, “Well, I’ve never killed anyone!” The fact is that most people haven’t physically killed someone. But how does that make you good? It makes you average at best. You see, we rationalize and justify our behavior and create our own standards of being good or at least good enough. We grade ourselves on a curve and believe that God grades that way as well. Besides, Jesus is all about love, right? He wouldn’t judge us, would he? Well, here’s what Jesus said regarding murder:
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. Matthew 5:21-22
Coming face to face with God’s standards makes us squirm as well it should. We are all guilty of breaking His laws. None of us are good enough to deserve being with Him in heaven.
If we can’t be good enough no matter how hard we try and none of us deserve heaven, is there any hope?
In Part 2, we’ll cover what God has provided so that we can all say with assurance, “Yes, I’ll be in heaven.”
Pastor Clayton Wilfer 