During the Christmas season many people choose to do good things and that is wonderful. But can you get to heaven by doing good alone? I have heard preachers say at a funeral that they know the person who died is in heaven because they were a good person. Many people believe this, but is it true?

Matthew chapter 7:21-23. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ 

These people all did good things for Jesus and thought they would get into heaven. But Jesus emphatically says here that just doing good things will NOT get you into heaven.

People like to think that just by being good will get you into heaven because they think that God must let them in because they have done so much good. Two big problems with that are first. How do you know when your good has outdone your bad? Second and more importantly what does God say? Ephesians 2:8-9, 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. Salvation is simply a gift from the Lord. Romans 10:9 is the salvation formula, that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Aren’t Christians supposed to do good things. Yes, they are, but not to be saved but to show God that we love Him. Jesus wants to have a relationship with us. When you are in a relationship people do things for one another to show that the words I love you actually mean something. With Jesus this is the same concept.

If you are in a relationship with someone, and they say they love you, then they never do anything for you. Would you think they appreciate your love? Would you then wonder if they really loved you? Of course, you would. A real relationship is always 2-sided and that is no different with Jesus.

Ever heard the phrase talk is cheap. It sure is, and Jesus thinks that too. Yes, Jesus wants to hear you say you love Him, but He also wants to see that you love Him. First John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. Look at the 10 commandments (they are not the 10 suggestions). Put God first, and then guess what God will put your first, don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, don’t make fun of it, if you did that to some human you said you loved things would not go well, don’t make an idol which means have another lover, basically says don’t cheat on God, you all know when someone cheats on earth it does not go well, give Jesus one day a week, that is not asking much, don’t kill, lie, steal, covet, commit adultery all of these make sense and bad things happen when we do those things.  Honor your parents, this is great because one day you will be a parent and then your children will honor you and this one then goes on and on and on for generations.

All of these will help you have the best life you can have. Jesus wants to show you love, and He does every day. The fact that you are alive. The fact that you still sin, but He still forgives and wants to spend eternity with you. All good stuff.

We chose to be good to say to God, Thank You, in the best way you can. If you are doing good to try to get into heaven, you are fooling yourself. Realize you cannot pay for what you have done, but Jesus loves you and wants to have a relationship with you no matter what! Jesus wants to give you a chance to enter into a relationship with Him and start over. Say this prayer. Jesus, thank you for choosing to come to earth and die for me, when I did not deserve it, and then for coming back to life, not to punish me, but because you wanted to save me and have a relationship with me. Jesus, I want to have a real relationship with you, and I give you my life today, Amen!

If you do your life will change and become so much better because being in a relationship with Jesus is absolutely amazing. Then follow Jesus and do good not to earn your salvation, but to show Jesus in a meaningful way you love Him for real. Also don’t forget to say I love you Jesus often.

When you are in a relationship things happen and they will for you. Jesus will do things for you and the good news is He can do so much more for you than you can for Him and that is great news! Also get yourself into a church that believes in a relationship with Jesus not a religion and you then find people who will help your relationship with Jesus and others go to the next level!

When you hear that someone say, I am going to heaven because I am a good person, show them love by asking them if they have a personal relationship with Jesus, because if not they are fooling themselves and love is showing them the way to heaven. They need to know. That is love.

Remember Jesus loves you; I love you, and you are awesome.