Christians: Do you have to be a good person?

Question

Do you have to be a good person to go to heaven? I was with my friends in the mall and a man stopped us and asked us why we would go to heaven. I said that I thought I was a good person. It is a given that I was a Christian, so doesn't being a good person have anything to do with it? Or do you just have to believe in Jesus Christ as your savior? I am a Catholic by the way. =)

Answer 1

Being good will not get you into heaven.
Believing in Jesus Christ as savior is the only way provided by God for us by which we can be saved.
His love, and our love for Him and others, changes us.
We become more than just a good person, and the good we do is the result of the love within us... God's and our own.

Answer 2

Not an easy question to answer, and you're going to get a lot of differing opinions...

Here's mine:

You are known (as a Christian) by your works. One of the most popular charges against Christians today, at least in the US, is hypocrisy. (Beats the heck out of being charged with cannibalism, doesn't it?) But the whole point is, we're all sinners. No matter how good we are in the eyes of man, we still sin in the eye's of God. That's why having Jesus as our savior is so important. We cannot get to heaven by our good works, but after accepting Jesus as our Savior, we should do all we can that is good. In other words, you cannot earn your way to heaven by being good; you should be good because Jesus already bought your ticket for you.

Hope this helps. God be with you.

Answer 3

Our goodness is a by-product of servng the Lord because it is He, alone, who is good. As Scripture states "Our righteousness is as filthy rags before God." We were all born sinners in need of a Saviour. Doing kind deeds or being good isn't enough to save you or me. Jesus is the only one worthy enough or good enough to make a way so that we can even be in God's presence forever. There will be many good people in hell because they rejected the Lord and chose to live their lives by their opinions and not God's teachings. And there will be many people in hell that believed in God because they never allowed God's Word to take root in their hearts and bear righteous fruit in Galatians 5. To confess you believe is saying more than just acknowleging the thought of God, but that you are willing to turn away from sin and align your life up with God's way of thinking. Very few believer's in this life actually will do this
( Matthew 7:13-14 ). God could care less if you are Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, etc. the one and only thing that is going to matter is "are you covered by the blood of Jesus?" And being covered and making sure you stay covered is a daily process, not a one-time confession.

Answer 4

If you are a true Christian and follow Christ, you want to be a good person, don't you think?

If a man stops you at the mall and asks that, I would RUN. You don't know who he is. He could have abducted you!
Be careful.

Don't talk to strangers. He could have been a pedophile.

Answer 5

We must do good to go to heaven.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
King James Version

Faith alone is not a passes to heaven.

Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
James 2:22
King James Version

Answer 6

Ro 3:10
As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;

Which is why you need to believe that Jesus died to save you. The only way to the Father is through the Son.

Answer 7

Hello,

I am always perplexed by the fact that alot of churches teach their members that all one has to do to be saved at the end of life is to "Call upon the name of Christ and you will be saved". Romans 10:13.

When you think about this, would this really be a fair God who will allow the most loathesome people, who have murdered little children, spread disease and disaster everywhere, and have had little to no regard for the lives of others or themselves, to just call out Christ's name and gain eternal life; just like the person who had denied himself or suffered in the name of Christ, worked really hard to follow the commands of God and Christ and helped others to do so. This would be an unfair God that I could not serve personally, and that's why he's not this type of God, and why I choose to serve him.

People are always taking verses out of the Bible and trying to infer judgement upon them without knowing the whole truth.

You will find that this is the main reason for so much confusion between churches and the religious sector in general. For in the passage below, you will see that not all people who have preached in Christ's name will be recognized by Christ:

Matt 7:22 "Many will say to me on that day , 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

If you will read the whole passage pertaining to these verses you will get a clear understanding of what's being said, because you will have the whole truth.

If you read the entire chapter in Romans, you will see that the writer is discussing a very important issue of the day; 'Who has the right to call upon Christ in order to gain salvation?' Starting with verse 1: "Brother's, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.'

In the passages just above Romans 10:13, you see a statement declaring that anyone can call on the name of Christ including Jews and Greeks or anyone, thus the statement made just after that is related to this discussion of who has the right to call upon Jesus. Thus, making it very clear that Jesus is available to anyone who will call upon his name, not that you ONLY need call upon his name before you die to gain salvation. He can provide salvation for anyone regardless of their nationality, gender, etc., providing they are worthy.

So, the statement is not saying infactically that all one has to do is call upon Christ before you die and 'wahlah' you're saved. It's telling a group of people who may not have (and still may not think so) that Christ is there for everyone. One component of salvation now, is that you must call upon Christ, you can no longer gain salvation by practicing the law only.

Plus in Matthew you will see a clear answer to your question about being good in the previous passages, mainly in Matt 7:15-20. Especially 7:20 "Thus by their fruit you will recognize them."

So, never take a verse from the Bible at face value until you have read the entire passage for yourself. You will find that the answers are right there to all the questions you may have about your Lord.

Answer 8

Romans 10
5Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them."[a] 6But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'[b]" (that is, to bring Christ down) 7"or 'Who will descend into the deep?'[c]" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,"[d] that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."[e] 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."[f]

14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"[g]

Answer 9

You can try to be and no one has the right to judge each other as to good for we are all sinners and full of sin, your chances of everlasting life is equal to any body else

Answer 10

a man stopped you in the mall and asked why we would go to heaven? are you sure the heaven he was talking about was the same thing as heaven you go to when you die HAHAHA