Nearly ninety percent of Americans believe in heaven, while only thirty percent believe hell is a real place. Moreover, only a small percentage of the thirty believe they’re actually going to hell.

Most people believe that being a good person is sufficient to get them to heaven. Most religions teach that good works will earn you a place in eternal bliss. When you read the Bible, however, you quickly discover that the truth is quite the opposite.

Author and speaker Andy Stanley wrote a book entitled, Since Nobody’s Perfect, How Good is good enough? In it, he addresses the widespread belief that good people go to heaven. Stanley wrestles through the inconclusive standard of good and evil, the guilt-ridden human conscience, the impossibility of fully obeying the law, and more.

He argues that most people put hope in a belief system that is untenable. Performing good works in order to cancel out the bad ones presents many problems. A major one is the brevity of our lives.

Jesus blew the hypothesis that good people go to heaven out of the water while hanging on the cross and pardoning a condemned thief on the brink of death.

“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!’ But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ’since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong’” (Luke 23:39-41).

Here’s an excerpt from Stanley:

Notice anything about what the second criminal said that is particularly relevant to our discussion? As horrible a death as crucifixion was, the second criminal readily admitted that his life was so horrible that he was actually getting what he deserved. ‘We are getting what our deeds deserve.’ In other words, ‘Stack up our deeds and you won’t find a good one in there anywhere.’”

Then the convicted criminal did the unthinkable: he asked Jesus a favor. He asked Jesus to have mercy on him in spite of his worthless life. He said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).

Keep in mind this man was in no position to bargain. There was no “from now on,” no turning over a new leaf. The opportunity for doing good had come and gone. This was a dead man talking. He had come to the end of his miserable life and there was no chance to make up for lost time. He lived his life exactly the way he wanted, with no concern for doing the right thing, and then, he suddenly gets religion and asks for mercy.

Now if Jesus, like most people, believed that good people go to heaven and bad people don’t, what would you expect him to say to a guy who, by his own admission, had lived a life worthy of crucifixion? What would you have told him? What if he had raped your sister or murdered your brother? What if you had been maimed for life because of this man’s reckless behavior?

Pushing up on the nail that pierced his foot for leverage, he managed to utter these words: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Do you realize what that means? It means that not only did Jesus not believe that good people go to heaven, he believed that bad people do! One of his final acts before dying was to promise a criminal a spot in paradise!

God’s grace and mercy is sufficient where works fall far short. Only forgiven people can and will enter God’s rest.

As you watch this video, consider David Platt’s convicting question: “Do we really believe what we’re saying?”