---

I am a good person, so I can count on going to Heaven, right?

By whose standards are you measuring your goodness?

 Romans 3.23: "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."

This verse very clearly says that all people are unworthy of God's goodness. Being a good person can help us get through this life. It can attract some good friendships and cause people to trust us and lean on us in difficult times. However, it is not what God requires of us. If God held us to the standard He requires no one would ever make it into heaven. God has known since the beginning of time that Man is incapable of perfecting himself, so He has been trying to show us our need for a Savior through our own weakness. It is through Christ and Christ alone that we are made righteous.

1 John 1.9: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." The first step is recognizing that no one is good enough. Second, we need to repent of sinfulness, especially the sin of pride--believing that we have somehow done something to make us worthy to spend eternity in the presence of God. Only then can God cleanse our hearts. Isaiah 1:18b says, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow."

Heaven is a holy place requiring salvation in Christ before entrance is allowed. It is not an automatic right for just anyone. It is a gift given to God's children—people who have come to a faith in Christ and who have made Him Savior and Lord of their lives.

Many denominations and cults believe that there are many roads to heaven. Scripture clearly teaches that only through Jesus Christ can anyone enter the kingdom of heaven:

[Jesus said,] "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).