Why is it that sins get you into Hell but good deeds don't get you into Heaven?

Question

If a person sins their entire life, and murders and rapes and does horrible things and then repents they go to heaven, or considering that they may not repent, they will go to Hell. But a nonbeliever does wonderful things their entire life and puts the wellbeing of others above their own, and yet, they end up in Hell. Why do sins matter so much more that selfless acts to help others? Shouldn't good deeds have some effect on your afterlife? Otherwise, what's the point of living?

NOTE: I don't care about Bible quotes.

Answer 1

I don't know where you're getting your info... who says good deeds don't get you favor from those who decide your fate?

Answer 2

In the classic protestant view, neither good nor bad personal acts affect the destination of the soul; all have sinned through Adam and so are damned. The solution to this and thus entry to Heaven, lies in the sacrifice of one who is sinless, and thus able to pay for the entire bulk of Humanity's sins in one fell swoop. The sinless one is known as Jesus, and his sacrifice on behalf of humanity is effective in canceling the debt.

At this point, the issue is no longer acts of the person or the group; all have the opportunity to be saved. Two main streams of thought arise at this juncture. One is that, since all sins are paid for, the debt only need be cited as paid -- belief in the work done to remove the debt -- for salvation. The other holds that even belief in the paying of the debt is unneeded, and that all are saved from Hell.

In fact, this classical, and somewhat theologian's approach to the matter, is not overly popular, as it hamstrings much of religion's hold on the morals and pocketbook of humanity. A loving and nurturing God seeking relationship is difficult to reconcile with policing human activity for the benefit of society as a whole. It does little or nothing to reinforce the power of already powerful elites, and by logical extension calls into question all which those elites hold dear.

Answer 3

Ok. I respect your wish for no Bible quotes.

Heaven is perfect, perfection without blemish. Nothing gets into heaven (and stays) that is not perfect. Not a single blemish, not a single imperfection. If something imperfect was allowed to remain in heaven, then heaven would no longer be perfect. That is not allowed.

That is why a single sin precludes a person from being able to enter heaven. And there is no points system, where a good cancels out a bad. Once a sin is on your record, that is it. No amount of good will erase that sin; it is there. The only way to remove that sin is through Jesus Christ.

Now, the other part of your question that I want to address is the idea of good deeds or works having some effect on your afterlife. I believe that good things that are done here will be rewarded in heaven, provided a person gets to heaven through Jesus. We are to store up our treasures in heaven so that we can enjoy them later. Many parts of the Bible refer to being rewarded for our actions here. Jesus talks of bringing a reward with Him when He returns so that people will be paid back according to what they have done.

So good works do have an effect on what happens to you after you die, but only if you are saved. No amount of good works will save a person. If a person dies and they are not saved, all of their good works will count as nothing. The first sin they committed was enough to earn them eternity in hell, because heaven is perfect and they are not, so they cannot enter.

Answer 4

Sins do not get you into Hell any more than Good works get you into heaven.

That is something that needs to be understood point blank before any more can be explained to you.

The only difference between who is in heaven and who is in hell is acceptance or rejection of God and what he has done, what he is doing, and what he will do.

That being said, once you have truely accepted (not for show) in your heart, you will want to live differently than you have been. You will want to cast off your bad habits and weaknessess.

There are many that claim to have accepted, but only God knows if they truely have done this, and this is why we cannot make that judgement.

But in answer to your question, can someone live horribly in our eyes for years and years and come to know and accept later on in life? The answer is yes, and if in our heart we are angry or jealous about that, we need to take another look at what God wants from us, because we arent doing it.

Answer 5

We all are sinners and have done bad things. The difference in the true repenting and acceptance of the Gift of Grace of Salvation. "Things" won't get you into Heaven. You can't buy your way in with money or good deeds.
God sent His only begotten Son to come to earth to die for all our sins. It's that simple. If we could buy our way in, why did Jesus have to die? And, if we could buy our way in, would someone who had more money get in first, or into a better Heaven?
The great equalizer is that it's all about believing, asking forgiveness and accepting Christ Jesus as our Savior. Period. Rich, poor, black, white, genius, challenged - we all have equal opportunity! Pretty cool, huh?

Answer 6

of course "good deeds" will help you. First of all in this world they give you a relief, and in the other world (afterlife) they will again be with you. In islam, not only doing a good thing but also only deciding about doing it will return to you and help you in a way that you go to heaven.

Answer 7

Great point. The answer is none of it gets you to heaven because there is no heaven. Would heaven really be heaven if you were there with murderers and rapists? It's not a place I care to be. If people like that make it in, I don't want to go anyway.

Answer 8

God loves you and wants you to do good things for people. But God can't look at sin. So in order to cover His eyes from our sins, he sent his only son Jesus to die for our sins. If you believe in Jesus you will be saved. It is God's grace that saves you. I understand that you don't care about Bible quotes. I used to be that way too until I understood the wisdom the Bible had to offer.

Answer 9

If you 'DO NOT CARE' about 'BIBLE QUOTES'... May I please ask 'WHY' you have asked this question: or how you expect a proper informed answer to it: seeing as how… like it or not: it’s a ‘BIBLICALLY’ based question??

Sorry but it has to be done: & Said!!

Ephesians 2:7-9 (New American Standard Bible)
7so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing (A)riches of His grace in (B)kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8For (C)by grace you have been saved (D)through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is (E)the gift of God;
9(F)not as a result of works, so that (G)no one may boast.

The ‘Bottom Line’ is… You can’t ‘WORK’ or ‘BUY’ your way into God’s good books or Heaven!!

There is far more involved in the ‘Salvation’ of our Lord… than Just being a ‘Good’ guy: kind hearted: generous: etc!! God is not into… “well I gave £/$1,000,000,000 to charity” … “So I gave £/$500,000,000… & a building to the church”… “Well that’s nothing… I gave ……………….”!!! It does not work like that!!
As the little league: scouts: cubs: FBI: CIA: Police: Soccer: football: baseball: etc, etc, etc, all have there rules & criteria for membership clearly laid down for all prospective members to follow, and adhere too… so does God!!

It is each individuals ‘CHOICE’: as to whether he/she ‘CHOOSES’ to accept membership of the ‘Club’ under those rules: or not!!

The 'POINT OF LIVING' is whatever you 'CHOOSE' to make it!!

Answer 10

Because everyone sins and even one tiny sin sepperates you from God. God is Holy and we are not, so our "good deeds" are not impressive to Him. What He wants is for us to get the sin covered so we are not destroyed in His presence. We are created to do good, like a a drinking glass is created to drink from. It doesnt matter how many good drinks that glass gives you, as soon as it gets the smallest crack it's unusable. UNLESS, it has something to fix the crack. Consider Jesus the Super Glue that keeps us from being useless.

Answer 11

Because Heaven is perfect. We can never be perfect.

All of us are sinners and there is a penalty for sin. Just like you wouldn't respect a judge who lets criminals walk free, God is perfect in justice. How would it be if you killed someone but told the judge 364 days out of the year you are honest and do good and you should be let free.

Doesn't work, right?