If you asked the average non-Christian why should God allow them into heaven when they die, I have found that the most common answer is because they believe that they are basically good people. But that begs the question what is goodness. When we ask these same people why they consider themselves good most respond that they don’t murder, don’t steal, and try to generally be nice to people.
It is sad to say but in the economy of God goodness is something that the Scriptures say none of us in our unredeemed state possess. The Bible is quite clear on this point for we read in (Romans 3:10-12): “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’” While this is indeed a scathing indictment on mankind and his lack of inherent goodness the good news is that God is able to transform us into being good because of His awesome love for us. I think C. S. Lewis showed great insight here when he said: “The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”1
Thankfully God doesn’t wait to love us until He sees our goodness for if that were the case none of us would ever receive His love. Instead, God does everything possible to open our blind eyes so we can see how none of us possess this wonderful trait of inherent goodness. Before I became a Christian I did lots of so called “good” deeds. However, the motive behind why I did those good deeds was to be well-liked and to hopefully obtain deep meaning in life; which I desperately was seeking. Yes, people benefitted by my so-called “goodness” but I needed to benefit too in order for me to show this goodness.
To me the type of goodness that God is looking for is akin to agape love. This type of love is selfless and something we can’t manifest on our own. Only when we are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit and born again can we manifest this unique Christian love. This type of love or what I consider supreme goodness, is defined wonderfully in (1 Corinthians 13:4-7): “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
Looking back on my time before I accepted Christ into my life, I can now see how far short I fell in the category of goodness. I believe that helping the unsaved see what true goodness is and just how far short they come to meeting its definition can play a pivotal role in opening their blind eyes to their need for Jesus. And in the last analysis what can be a bigger blessing than this!