25. Don’t all good people go to Heaven?

Key Verses / Passages

Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.   John 14:6

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. Mark 10:18

————————————————————

Discussion

When Jesus was asked a question by a “rich, young ruler”, Jesus responded with, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone," as reported in both Mark 10:18, Luke 18:18-30.

The young guy had it all.  He was in his prime years, had plenty of money, he was a respected leader of the local Jewish community. He was in earnest, wanting to know from the revered teacher the answer to life, to everything.

Jesus gives him an unexpected answer. Jesus wasn't denying His own goodness but prompting the rich young ruler to understand the profound meaning of "goodness" and realise that only God is perfectly good. He was challenging the man to look beyond human labels to God's true nature and His commandments. 

The man thought he was doing good… but, in essence, Jesus used the man's simple compliment to initiate a deeper spiritual conversation about true goodness, God's law, and the path to eternal life.

God declares that no-one is inherently good.  Just look at children playing, some are greedy, or selfish, or just want to tease… children don’t need to be taught how to do that, they just do. Children need to be taught how to be good either by their parents, teachers, or society.

Jesus statement in John 14:6 makes it very clear that there is only one way to get to heaven.  Through Him!  By this, he meant belief in him and acceptance of his gift of salvation, submission to his ruling over our life and forgiveness of our “sins”, or wrongdoing, in trying to run our lives our own way.

So, the short answer is… no - good people don’t go to Heaven because they are good. Only those who believe in and are forgiven by Jesus go to Heaven.

————————————————————

Reflection / Questions

•       The answer to this question can be very hard to accept, just as the rich young ruler found it hard to accept what Jesus asked him to do.  You probably know people who you consider to be good.  If they don’t know Jesus, they won’t be going to heaven. So this is a great subject to sit with a mentor and discuss.

•       What do you consider “good”?

 ————————————————————

Prayer

You make it up… Think about this for the moment, before commencing. 

How will you ask God about this?

Say the words out loud “God help me” and then just have a conversation with Him.

Think about that!!!  You can have a conversation with the Lord of the Universe.  There are no special words, no special protocol, no formal greeting or stuff, no shopping list … just you and God alone having a conversation about what’s on your heart.  And don’t hog the conversation.

When you have a conversation - you listen for a response from the other person.  Sitting quietly, after you have spoken, wait for a response.  There is no need to fill the silence.

How long?  For as long as you are comfortable. 

How will you know?  Some people hear his voice in their head.  Some get a feeling that they need to read a piece of scripture. 

Be assured God always hears our prayers and it may take some time for you to become accustomed to His responses.