“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
If you were to ask 10 people on the street, “how do you get into Heaven?” 9 out of 10 would tell you “by being a good person.” Ask them if they think they’re going to Heaven and most would say ” Yes” or “I think so.” If you ask them why they think that they will say “because I’m a good person.” Here is the real deal according to God. Psalm 14:1-3: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Romans 3:20: “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
As we can clearly see here, the title “good person” cannot be achieved. Go back to Ephesians (it is the gift of God, not by works.) The only “good person” who walked the earth was Jesus Himself (2 Corinthians 5:2, Hebrews 4:15). Romans 5:9 says: “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” In Romans 10:9-13 we read, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” If we could get into Heaven by being a so-called “good person,” then God would not have needed to sacrifice His Son on a cross.
If it took being a “good person” PLUS believing in Jesus to get into Heaven we would then be able to say to Jesus, “We did it, You and I,” which would be as Ephesians declares, “lest anyone should boast.” After death, if God asks us, “Why do you think I should allow you into Heaven?” and we answer Him with anything other than, “While I was on earth I put my faith in Jesus’ death on the cross to pay my sin debt in full,” we would be in for an eternity of regret. Don’t gamble on eternity. Make sure you’re trusting in what Jesus did for you, not in what you did!