Good People Don't Go to Heaven... But Saved People Do!

“By nature, sparks fly upward, but the sinful souls of men fall downward.” – C.H. Spurgeon

I recently had a conversation with someone who questioned my Calvinist beliefs. Whereas I am not a hard-and-fast Calvinist in some areas, I certainly agree with most of the main tenets such as the total depravity of man. After all, if man wasn’t depraved and forever lost in his sinful condition, why would we need a Savior? Couldn’t we just work our way to heaven?

The truth of the matter is that God the Father sent God the Son to earth to live a perfect life and then to die in our place on Calvary’s cross. The Bible makes it crystal clear in John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 that personal faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.

And yet, my well-meaning friend seemed to take offense at the idea that God didn’t consider him to be a good person. Good, maybe, but not sinless… and a holy God cannot tolerate sin nor be in its presence.

I hope and pray that my friend will come to the humble realization that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23) and – apart from Christ – deserving of eternal death and damnation (Romans 6:23). Thanks be to God that He provided a cure for my sin disease and yes, His name is Jesus.

As John Newton wrote in his classic hymn, Amazing Grace…

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch; like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6 (NKJV)

“As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one.’” Romans 3:10 (NKJV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President