The other day someone was sharing with me about the loss of their loved one. They described the merits of their deceased loved one’s life and then commented, “If there is anyone in Heaven, it is him.” Given that this person had shown signs of being a theologically sound believer, I was surprised by their comment. I left the conversation thinking to myself, “She must still think that good deeds determine who is in Heaven.” If indeed that is what she thinks, she is far from alone. Many people think that a person who does wonderfully good deeds all their life should be the poster-child for who gets into Heaven. Some, who are way off theologically, hold to the belief that really good people become angels when they enter through the “pearly gates”. It is easy to see how people would hold such thoughts. They probably support such thinking through a basic and sequential group of thoughts:
- God is good
- God likes good
- God likes when people do good
- God likes people who do good
- God really, really likes people who do lots of good in their life
- God rewards people who live really good lives and takes them to Heaven, where they become angels
The phrase, “He is such an angel”, is a reference to who some people believe angels are – really good people. It is not hard to follow the train of thought I laid out. It even kind of makes sense. Unfortunately, another phrase that is born out of this really bad theology is, “God would never send a good person to Hell.” The idea that people who spend the majority of their days doing beautiful, self-sacrificing, selfless and kind acts could end up in Hell is offensive to many. So much so, that if you even suggest this to them, they become very angry and dismissive. Many will leave the conversation saying, “Well, if God would send such a person to Hell, then I want nothing to do with God.” I often wonder how we ended up here. As you read the Bible, you will find no statements which support such thinking. Amazingly, what we find is the total opposite of such thinking. It is fair to say that God has gone to great lengths to dispel any notion that we are sufficiently good to earn a spot in Heaven. The cross of Jesus Christ is His strongest statement that there is no one righteous, no, not one, and that believing in Christ’s atoning sacrifice for the forgiveness on one’s sins is the only way that a person can be with God in Heaven when they die. I don’t know if you have ever read C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters”, but in the book, Lewis wonderfully portrays the delight of those in the satanic world who strive to get people to believe in their own self-earned righteousness before God, and how those who do Satan’s bidding rejoice when they succeed. The interesting thing is that these evil minions often don’t have too far to go to get people to embrace such notions of their own goodness before God. The satanic beings find such thinking already present and easily kindled into “truth” in many human beings they encounter. Of course, once someone has signed on to the idea that they can earn their way into Heaven, Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection becomes insignificant. After all, if humans can earn their way into Heaven, than why was the cross of Christ even necessary? I remember challenging my mom with this idea during one of our many theological discussions, and the best answer she could come up with was that a person’s eternal destiny was determined by a mix of good works and God’s grace. She was wrong. Going back to my friend’s comment about her loved one, I would have been much happier if she said, “My loved one has just joined the countless others in Heaven who have been saved by the blood of Christ.” I am hoping that my friend’s words were just an attempt to express that her loved one was a good person, and not representative of her core beliefs. There is no question that God likes us to do good. We should keep on doing it, even though such deeds will never be the impetus for us being turned into angels. God has prepared good works for us to do in order that Christ would be glorified. This too is an expression of His grace to us. As a matter of fact, there are a few Bible verses that beautifully address what I have shared today (and are actually part of the inspiration for this blog). I will end with them. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Rob