I often hear the question, “What about those good people who give up their possessions and/or help others?” And they’ll usually give some examples of people they know who do nothing but good in the world, yet reject Christ. “Why wouldn’t they go to Heaven?” Well, first, we know from John 14:6 that Jesus is the ONLY Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that nobody gets to the Father but through Him.
Second, we know that only those who have accepted Christ have the Holy Spirit inside of them, for Jesus is the one who sends Him. We also know this because of the incident in Acts 19 where the previous disciples of John the Baptist were asked about having the Holy Spirit and they said that they were not familiar with it. So Paul explained to them about their baptism, then baptized them in the Trinity and laid hands on them. So, though they had repented of their sins and improved their lives, they never accepted Jesus Christ, whom John the Baptist had spoken of.
What are the characteristics of those who live according to the sinful nature?
- They have their minds set on what the evil nature desires
- The mind controlled by such is death
- They’re hostile to God
- They do not submit to God’s Law
- They cannot submit to God’s Law
- They do not belong to Christ
So what I’m trying to get at here is that there are people out there who the world may recognize or claim as good people, above and beyond, or exceptional among the rest, but that doesn’t mean that they have the Holy Spirit. They may not have even accepted Christ. And according to what Paul’s saying in Romans 8, if they don’t have the Holy Spirit living inside them, then they’re still living according to the sinful nature, for if not, then they would have accepted/given their lives to Jesus.
So even though they appear to be good people, above and beyond, or exceptional among the rest, there’s still nothing they can do to please God, for they neither will nor can submit to God’s Law, their minds are still set on evil desires, their nature is still hostile towards God, and they don’t belong to Christ (also, as you can see, they don’t bring glory to God, but to themselves).
But those who hve accepted Christ and have the Holy Spirit:
- Live in accordance with the Spirit
- Have their minds set on what the Spirit desires
- Their minds are life and peace because of righteousness (Romans 4:1-5)
- God will give life to our mortal bodies
- Are Children of God (through adoption).
“But wait!” they say, “He’s a good person, for he does this and this, he helps here and there, he gives money here and there and everybody respects him…”
So who’s being glorified by all he’s doing, him or God? I’m going to say this guy because he’s all you’ve talked about. In fact, you’ve already said he’s not a Christian, so he’s doing it all according to his own will and desires. That’s still sin. He neither accepts nor belongs to Christ. He’s not a child of God, for only those who know Christ and have the Holy Spirit are children of God, and only children of God get into Heaven.
I don’t think people understand this.
Being sent to Hell is not always a punishment for what somebody did in this life, but also for what they did NOT do, which is accept the One and only free ticket to Heaven, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the door, the doorman and the ticket to Heaven. There are no other doors, no other ticket and only 1 guy who will let you in. The doorman’s giving out free tickets! Yet, many choose to either not receive one, or they try to work for it. But neither will give you a ticket/free pass in.
In fact, they’re actually committing the same sin that kicked humanity out of the Garden of Eden in the first place, remember? The serpent enticed them into desiring to do everything on their own, without God’s help. Do you see? Wanting to help others, love them, be seen as good, be good, be a hero, do nice things for others, etc. are all good, but when they’re done without God as your focus, you’re actually committing the same sin that kicked all of humanity out of paradise and started up the cycle of life that leads to death. You want to do it on your own, and don’t want God in the picture. Instead, you want to be your own “god” in a sense, or independent from God in your good deeds. That’s why they can’t be seen as good, though, because anything that doesn’t include God, can’t be good.
If you don’t know/have Christ, then you neither have the Holy Spirit nor are righteous in God’s eyes. If you don’t have the Holy Spirit, then you’re still living according to the sinful nature. And if still by the sinful nature, then not by God’s nature and you won’t be getting into Heaven (unless you change this status by accepting Christ). And if you don’t change your status, then you also have no hope because you’re not saved.
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