A similar question was asked of Jesus while he was on earth. A wealthy young religious leader approached Jesus and asked "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Now this young man was by all counts what we would call a "good person." He was religious to the point of being a leader and had, by his own words, kept God's commands to not murder, not commit adultery, not steal, not lie, not to cheat others, and to honor his father and mother since he was a boy. He had a fairly impressive resume.
But when he approached Jesus, and called him "Good teacher", instead of taking it as what we might think is a compliment, Jesus answered, "Why do you call me good? No one is good -- except God alone." Jesus was challenging his notion, and our notion of what "good" really is. He raised the bar on "good" and said that no one is good, except for God. Similarly, the Bible says in Psalm 14:3: "There is no one who does good, not even one."
So in answering the original question, according to Jesus, there are no "good" people. Good is a relative term that has to have something to be compared to. So when we normally use the word good, we are comparing to other people and are really saying, "Compared to other people, this person is perhaps not a Billy Graham or a Mother Theresa, but he is no Hitler either." The problem is that when asking about heaven, the standard of goodness is God, and to that standard, neither Billy Graham nor Mother Theresa is even close.
Consider the following hypothetical situation: There is a man who is a charitable person in the community known for giving money to help others in need around him. He volunteers his spare time to raise money for widows and orphans in the area. He doesn't cheat on his taxes, he doesn't break the speed limit, he doesn't park where he shouldn't, he never calls in sick to get time off, never spends time at work doing anything except working his hardest at the work tasks he has to do and is completely honest in his dealings at work and away from work. Then one time, this man murders a girl. Do any of his good deeds and lack of misbehavior make him not guilty of these crimes? No. Should they keep him out of jail? No.
Have you ever lied? How often would you say that you've done so (cheated on taxes; called in sick at work to get a day off; not been completely honest when talking to a customer or boss at work or to a spouse or parent at home)? The Bible explicitly says that liars will not be in heaven (Rev 21.8).
You may not have ever committed murder, but Jesus says that whoever is angry with his brother is subject to judgment just like a murderer. And what about adultery? Jesus also said "whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Mt 5:21-28).
And these are just the "bad" things. In order to be "good", God's standard is to do to others what we would want them to do to us - to love them as we love ourselves. Do you always look out for the good of others around you above yourself, even to the point of dying for them? Do you do this for everyone, even for your worst enemies?
According to the Bible, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and if we are honest with ourselves, we can admit that not only have we not lived up to God's standard of sinless perfection, but also we have not even lived up to our own standards at times. And as a result, the Bible says, "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). This death is both physical and spiritual and represents eternal separation from God, which is hell.
So then, what hope is there for anyone? By ourselves, there is none. After Jesus talked to the wealthy young religious leader, he remarked that it is impossible for men and women to get to heaven by themselves.
So, according to the Jesus, good people do go to hell, but they don't have to. He has offered a free gift of eternal life. All we have to do call on the name of Jesus Christ, recognizing that we are desperately in need of God's help, and ask Him to forgive us and change us. That is the first step.
But this is not just a game, nor something trivial or light; a decision that we can make like deciding what to wear for the day. No this is a decision that will change the way we live and why we live. And when Jesus responds to our call, He brings us into His family and into the kingdom of light from the kingdom of darkness.
If you want to take this step of giving your life to Jesus Christ, and actually asking, for yourself, for Him to make you His son or daughter, you can do it right now!
Romans 3:10-12
As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 - there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
Psalm 14:2-3
The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Ecclesiastes 7:20
There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.
If I'm wrong, so what, but If I'm correct it is a big deal, Hell is a big deal.
Make sure you tell the Good people that think they are going to heaven based on the fact they are good people they are sadly mistaken. Even Jesus says, "NO ONE IS GOOD"
JESUS IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE!
