I've had a discussion today with my half-sister (who is an atheist but somehow still believes in the existence of an afterlife) about what kind of people are going to heaven. I said that in order to enter God's presence one has to put his faith in Jesus Christ who paid for each one of our sins on the cross because we can't pay for themselves or we'd have to spend an enternity in hell.
She responded to my statement by calling it nonsense because she believes that anyone who acts like a ''good'' person and does good deeds will enter heaven, believer or unbeliever, and anyone who acts like a ''bad'' person will up in hell. I insisted that this was not true but my mother jumped into the conversation telling me kindly that I cannot decide who goes to heaven or not and that I shouldn't judge people on that because God looks in everyone hearts, but she agrees with me that Jesus is the only way.
I know I cannot decide who goes to heaven or not but I just want to point out to people that being a good person is not enough to earn you a ticket because of Romans 3:23 and that they need to put their faith in Jesus Christ. I would also like to convince my sister and other relatives of this which I tried to do multiple times but it just feels like I'm talking to brick walls.
Hi Jacob Black,
Hopefully these "articles" will help. There is information in each one that deals directly with your sisters objections or questions. I have Scriptural references for all articles, but it's too lengthy to post. So let me know which article you'd like those for:
Jesus Christ: The Only Way to God
There is only one way for an individual to be saved from sin and reconciled to God, and that is through a personal relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible says that there is only one path that leads to eternal life, and that is through the shed blood of Jesus. It also declares that there is only one name given to us in all of creation through whom we can be saved: the name of Jesus Christ. This completely excludes everyone and everything else as a means for forgiveness and salvation.
Because God’s holiness demands perfection, because His justice demands that sin be punished, and because His righteousness requires that justice and judgment be rendered, His great love for us sent Jesus to this earth to meet and satisfy all of those righteous requirements on our behalf, through His own sinless life and atoning death. This is what makes it possible for sinful man to be saved.
Therefore, those who place their faith and trust in Jesus, believing that He paid the debt of their sin in full, will receive God’s forgiveness and eternal life. Those who reject Jesus’ atoning sacrifice will be left with no other means of obtaining forgiveness and salvation, and as a result will reap the full measure of God’s righteous judgment for their sin, which is suffering eternal death apart from God, forever.
God
God is loving, just, holy and righteous. However, the most commonly misunderstood aspect of the combined, unfathomable attributes of God is that they all operate concurrently and in perfect harmony together at all times. Many people attempt to separate God’s attributes, and embrace only those which suit their own desires or beliefs to the exclusion of the rest, thereby creating their own god rather than trusting the only true God for who He has revealed Himself to be. For example, when many people are confronted with the reality of sin and hell, they will often cite God’s loving nature as their defense against such things, as if His love would compel Him to overlook or accept sin. The problem with this skewed perception of God is that because He is holy, just and righteous, He cannot close his eyes to sin; otherwise, He would not remain holy, just and righteous. One attribute of God does not, nor can it, cancel out or supersede any other attribute; instead they must function together and in perfect harmony at all times.
Therefore, because of God’s great love for us, and because His holiness demands perfection, His justice demands that sin be punished, and His righteousness requires justice and judgment to be rendered, God sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to meet and satisfy all His righteous requirements on our behalf through His own sinless life and atoning death. This was the only way to reconcile a sinful human race to a holy, perfect God without violating any of His nature or attributes. This is what makes it possible for sinful man to be saved. Therefore, those who place their faith and trust in Jesus, believing that He satisfied the debt of their sin in full, will receive forgiveness and eternal life. Those who reject Jesus’ atoning sacrifice will, as a result, reap the full measure of God’s righteous judgment, and suffer eternal death apart from Him because they rejected the only means of forgiveness and salvation available to them.
Sin/Sinful Nature
The word “sin” can be defined as “anything that falls short of God’s holy perfection.” This definition brings into clear focus just how sinful humanity is on every level; which is why the Bible declares, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
“Original sin” is a term used to describe Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden and its effects upon the rest of humanity. Because of Adam’s sin, every human being has since been born with a sinful nature, except for Jesus. In addition, Adam’s sin brought death into the world and therefore brought death to all men, both physically and spiritually, because everyone has committed sin, for “there is none righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10b).
In order to better understand the difference between the sinful nature and actual sin, the sinful nature (or the flesh) can be thought of as the default operating system of man, whereas sin is what is committed because of that sinful operating system. In other words, man is prone to sin because he is sinful by nature (i.e., a bad tree bears bad fruit). When people sin, they are doing what comes naturally to their flesh. Although they have a choice in whether or not they will sin, they choose sin more often than not because of their sinful nature and spiritually dead state.
Being sinful by nature does not excuse anyone’s sin before God, nor does it render them exempt from sin’s eternal consequences; but rather it assures certain spiritual death. In fact, the Bible says, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). As such, sin cannot dwell in God’s holy presence, nor can sinful man. This presents a serious and eternal dilemma for mankind. The good news is that Jesus has already paid the price for sin, and offers forgiveness and salvation freely to those who will come to Him by faith, having turned from their life of sin to follow Him. Those who receive His free gift have therefore died to sin, in the sense that they are not pursuing or being controlled by sin the way they were before. They have turned away from sin in order to follow Jesus by faith, walking in obedience to Him through the empowering Holy Spirit. This does not mean, however, that their sinful nature has been done away with or removed. In fact, as long as believers are in a physical, earthly body they will always contend with their sinful nature. The Bible says, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please” (Galatians 5:16-17). This verse makes it clear that the struggle between the sinful nature of believers and their new Christlike-nature is very real, each nature constantly competing against the other. This is why Paul urges us to walk by the Spirit, so that we will not gratify the desires of our flesh.
Old Testament Law
Many people struggle to grasp the significance and role of the Old Testament in the life of a born again believer today, given its laws, rituals, holidays and sacrificial systems. Some groups claim that the Ten Commandments must be obeyed in order for one to be saved; others insist that the rituals and dietary laws must still be adhered to in order for God to be pleased; others adamantly declare that the Old Testament system is obsolete and therefore plays no part whatsoever in the lives of believers today; and many others have no idea where to begin.
When we look at the Old Testament as a whole, one thing is abundantly clear: God earnestly desired to have intimate fellowship with mankind, yet man’s sinfulness kept that from being a reality. It is because of this that Jesus went to the cross: to redeem us from our sin and reconcile us to God; in other words, to do for us what we could never do for ourselves.
In the Ten Commandments, God has revealed His perfect standard of holiness, while at the same time exposing how far short we fall of it. Yet, as perfect as the Law was in defining the standard, it was weak and unable to bring about righteousness or to make anyone perfect. Therefore, God sent His one and only Son to earth to provide the solution for that terrible dilemma, since He was not willing for anyone to perish but for all to come to repentance through Him (2 Peter 3:9). Jesus accomplished this incredible feat by living a sinless life, and then dying sacrificially on our behalf. Coming to earth as God manifest in the flesh, He lived a perfect life in our place. This satisfied all of the holy, righteous requirements that God established in the Law, which we could never fulfill on our own. He then took the sin of the entire world upon Himself and suffered the consequences of it by shedding His own blood on our behalf. Uttering the words, “It is finished!” before taking His last breath on the cross, Jesus emphatically declared that His sinless life and sacrificial death was accepted by God as payment in full for sin, which then made it possible for sinful man to be reconciled to God through faith in Him.
Therefore, those who trust Jesus by faith for forgiveness and salvation are no longer under the Old Testament system of regulations, rituals, restrictions and laws since that system was made obsolete in favor of the New Covenant which Christ established for us. The demands and requirements of the Law have been satisfied by Him on our behalf; He redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us. He is the fulfillment of the Law in every way, the end of the Law Himself; for, “if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain” (Galatians 2:21). So, having been set free from the bondage of the Law, being dead to the Law because of faith, believers now live under the law of grace through faith in Him. This is a life of obedience to God in response to His love and grace, following “the Law of Christ” in the New Testament, which is summarized in Jesus’ command: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).
Hope this helps!
