Aren’t We All Basically Good?

                A common argument I hear against the gospel of Christ is that people are good enough to get along without God. They go to work, take care of their families, are civil with their neighbors, and only occasionally curse out the person who just cut them off in traffic. Now obviously the list I provided is made up and a caricature of what I have heard, but hopefully you get the idea. These people believe that by being good according to the standards of the people around them and the government; that of course they are going to Heaven! Unfortunately, I have to say that these people are wrong for a few reasons, and I would hope to be able to elaborate on these reasons here.
They believe  they are good enough: Something I see quite a bit is that people will claim that there are worse people than them, so by comparison they are good enough and that God will accept them on the basis that they are better than most. Unfortunately, we are all equal in the eyes of God being guilty of sin, not matter what we have done. Sin itself is the deviation from the laws that God has laid down for us, and when we have sinned in one aspect we are guilty of breaking all of God’s laws (James 2:10). Since we are guilty of all sin for failing in one aspect at our best, we deserve the wages of sin, death (Romans 3:23).
They believe their works will save them: People who believe that they are good enough to get into heaven are perhaps the most prideful people I have ever seen/talked to.  While they may not realize it, they are spitting in the face of a God who came down here to rescue them from their sinful nature and ultimate death. They think that their works will be able to save them, and while some religions will say this is true, but Christianity states that we saved through grace, not works (Ephesians 2:8).
They are glorifying themselves instead of God: Say you run into someone who is claiming that they are forgiven because of something they have done or because God had some special favor in them are boasting in themselves instead of boasting in God. Paul wrote may he never boast in anything except the cross of Jesus (Galatians 6:14). If anyone says that they have some sort of special salvation and also claim to be a Christian, I would be suspect of their preaching. While in one sense our salvation in Christ is special, we are all saved in the same way, by admitting our sins and accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior. There is no extra level of salvation that is available only to a few.

                There are probably multitudes of other reasons that people think they are going to heaven, but I think I got the more common arguments that I have heard during conversations with people and watching street preaching videos on youtube. If you are not a Christian, and are wondering about how to be saved, you must first confess that you are a sinner who has rebelled against God, and then accept the gift of salvation that is given to you through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. This is the only way to salvation, at least for the Christian worldview, which the writer obviously takes to be true. God bless and have a good rest of your week. 

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