Does Living A Good Life Get You To Heaven?

[2] The title of the sermon: “DOES LIVING A GOOD LIFE GET YOU TO HEAVEN?”

• Let’s think about this question for a few minutes. Does living a good life get you to heaven?
• Must you be good to get to heaven? Do you have to change your life to be saved?
• So, many preachers out there today are teaching that you must live a good life to be saved.
• They are teaching that “your life must change” to get to heaven. I call these people clowns.
• Why would I call them this name? A clown is a comic entertainer, especially one in a circus.
• Churches now are filled with comic entertainers just like the circus.

Let me explain to you why these people who say “living a good life gets you to heaven” are clowns.

• What is the definition of living a good life? What is the definition of changing your life?
• What must you do to live a good life? What must you do to change your life?
• Most every one of them will have different answers. Please tell me exactly what living a good life means.
• If you want the truth, these preachers would have to give us Scriptures for this. Right?
• You can’t just make up anything you want as if you are God Almighty.
• Where are the Scriptures that tell us you must live a good life to get to heaven?

I search the Scriptures daily. I read the Scriptures daily. I read the Bible from cover to cover often.

• I am sure many of you do the same thing. If not, why not? God commands us to search the Scriptures.
• If we don’t do the things God command us to do, we aren’t living a very good life. Are we?

Do you know what I find when I search the Scriptures about a requirement of living a good life for heaven?

• There are no Scriptures that say you must live a good life to get to heaven.
• There are no Scriptures that say you must change the way you live in order to get to heaven.
• God doesn’t say ONCE that your life must change for you to reach heaven.
• Jesus Christ NEVER says this once throughout the entire Bible. He never preached that once.
• Where are the Scriptures? THERE ARE NONE. If they were there, I would show them to you.

When we preach the Gospel to people, we’ll ask: “Do you know how to make it to heaven?”

• Some people will say that you must live a good life to make in to heaven.
• What does that mean? There are many people out there who aren’t saved who don’t live horrible lives.

They go to work. They come home. They eat dinner. They watch TV. They go to bed.

• They aren’t lying all the time. They aren’t stealing all the time. They aren’t murdering people.
• They live a quiet and simple life. Some are teachers. Some are fire fighters who save people.
• Some are Emergency Medical Technicians who some would call heroes for saving lives out there.
• Some people would call this living a good life. Some people have died for their country in wars.
• This doesn’t get you to heaven, though. The Bible never says this once. What does the Bible say?
• Believe ON the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe IN the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are 14 Scriptures in the Bible that say “believe on” Jesus Christ. There are 15 that say “believeth on” Him.

• 14 Scriptures say “believed on.” 13 more say “believe in” Jesus Christ for salvation. Believe in God.
• 10 more say “believed in” the Lord.
• I just quickly found 66 Scriptures that say something about believing in Jesus Christ saves you.
• I’m going to show you a few just in case you may have forgotten the way to heaven.

[3] John 1:12-13 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

• “Even to them that BELIEVE ON His name.”
• “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
• To live a good life, this would be the will of the flesh and the will of man.
• “Hey, I want to live a good life.” Yes, you should want to live a good life for God.
• But this doesn’t save you. It’s not okay to live an evil life. Sin is evil and wicked. We should stop sinning.
• But a good life or evil life is not what saves you or sends you to hell.

Living a good life would be a life full of good works. Saving the lives of people would be a good work.

• Giving food to people truly in need would be a good work. Going to a good church would be a good work.
• Preaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, such as you find in this sermon, would be a good work.
• Repenting of sin would be a good work. Being baptized in water would be a good work.
• The Bible is very clear that we are not saved by our works. We are not saved through ourselves.

[4] John 6:28-29 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

• If you want to live a good life to get to heaven, you would do the works God says.
• That’s where you would start if you think you’re going to live a good life to get to heaven. Right?
• In your mind, this is where you should start if you think this false way would save you.
• So, you would ask Jesus: “What should I do that I might work the works of God and live a good life?”
• Jesus will answer you and say: “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.”

In other words, believe on Jesus Christ if you want do the works of God so badly. Your works won’t save you.

• There’s your exact answer to the question in this sermon: “Does living a good life save you?”
• Jesus says over and over again, “No, but believing on me will save you.”

[5] John 7:37-39 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

• If you want to go to heaven, the truth is you go to Jesus Christ to be saved.
• You don’t’ start with yourself. “Well, I better change my life so I can go to heaven.”
• That’s called starting with you. You’re trusting yourself to live a good life.
• You think your good life will get you there. You are wrong. You’re starting in the wrong place.
• Jesus says, “Come unto me. He that believeth on me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of LIVING water.”
• If you want to be saved from death and hell, you need everlasting life. Jesus says, “I HAVE IT.”
• “Which they that believe on Him should receive.”

I just showed you 3 Scriptures that tell you directly to believe on Jesus to be saved. Remember, there are 63 more.

• I am not going to go over all of them in this sermon. We have been over all of them before, though.
• There isn’t more clear Scripture in the entire Bible than what you must do to be saved.

[6] Acts 16:29-31 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

• The Bible never says you must live a good life or be a good person to be saved.
• There are hundreds of Scriptures that say otherwise. How many will it take?
• Remember, 66 Scriptures that are just like this one.

I only looked up phrases like “believe in” and “believe on.”

• You won’t find any that say “believe in yourself to be saved.” None.
• Jesus Christ is the way to heaven. Very simply, you believe in Him to be saved.
• If you want to go to heaven, stop thinking that all these other things save you. Believe in Him.
• What other words or phrases are directly related to salvation? Faith.

The words faith, faithful, faithfully, and faithfulness are in the Bible 356 times in 332 verses.

• You should read them. You should study them if you think living a good life will save you.
• Let’s just go to the first time a word like faith is used in the Bible. This is a great example.
• Numbers Chapter 12. Do you remember what happened in Numbers Chapter 12. Listen to this.

[7] Numbers 12:1-3 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)

[8] Numbers 12:4-6 And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. 5 And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. 6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

[9] Numbers 12:7-8 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. 8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

• There’s the first time a word related to faith is used in the Bible.
• “My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.” God spoke mouth to mouth with Moses.
• God spoke face to face with Moses. Moses was faithful to God. Let’s think about Moses.
• Was Moses a perfect man? Did Moses always have faith 100% of the time? Did Moses live a good life?
• Did Moses have to weigh his actions on a scale to see if the scale of his life tipped towards good?
• Where is this imaginary threshold? It’s not in the Bible. Do you really know about the life of Moses?

[10] Exodus 2:11-12 And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

• Moses murdered a man. Call it what you want. Most people today will say that murder is unforgiveable.
• Is this the definition of a good life? Was Moses always a good, perfect, and faithful servant? Always?

[11] Exodus 4:24-26 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. 26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

• Moses wouldn’t circumcise his own son as God commanded him to do.
• Because of this, the Lord met him, and sought to kill him. His wife saved Moses.
• You know the Ethiopian woman who Miriam and Aaron spoke against? She saved Moses.
• She circumcised the child for Moses. So the Lord let Moses go on living. Do you not see this?
• This was a horrible sin. One that almost made Moses lose his life.
• But, would Moses have went to heaven if he had died right there? He just broke God’s law.
• Would Moses have went to heaven? Of course he would have went to heaven. He had faith in God.

He didn’t have faith perfectly all the time. He gave excuses on how he couldn’t be the leader God chose him to be.

• He didn’t get to go into the promised land because of sin. He wasn’t perfect.
• Did he live a good life to get to heaven? No, he didn’t. He was a sinner.
• When God looks at the life of any of us, He will see sin. This includes Moses.
• If you are trying to be good and live a good life to make it to heaven, you have already failed.
• And you, YOURSELF, can’t fix it. Jesus Christ can fix it, though. That’s why you need Him to be saved.

[12] Psalm 31:23 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

• Saints are sanctified or saved by God. The Lord preserveth the faithful.
• People who think they must live a good life to get to heaven also teach that salvation can be lost.
• Salvation is equal to everlasting life. And they teach that everlasting life can be lost. Makes no sense at all.
• They love to make everything about themselves. I did this. I did that. Proud and arrogant.

[13] Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

• Remember, I am looking at just a few of the Scriptures about faith. We looked at believe.
• Now we’ll see what faith in Jesus Christ will do for you. Jesus saw their faith.
• Only God can see faith in someone. Because of that faith, Jesus says: “Thy sins be forgiven thee.”

[14] Mark 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

• Jesus never says to have faith in yourself or to have faith in your works.
• He never says to have faith in your goodness. He actually says, “There are none good.”
• If Jesus says “there are none good,” why aren’t you hearing His words? You don’t have a good life.
• You can’t offer up your good life to God in order to make it to heaven. If you do, hell is your destination.
• If you say, “Jesus, look at all the wonderful works that I’ve done in this great life that I’ve lived, ” then you will go to hell.

The truth is that the tiniest drop of faith in Jesus Christ will save you and give you everlasting life. That’s the truth.

• Then, after you’re saved, you can choose to live a good life by following God’s commandments or not.
• The choices you makes after you are saved do not affect whether or not you’re going to heaven.
• We all walk in the flesh at times because we are in this flesh that is sinful and dirty. Flesh is from the dirt.
• This is what God is trying to teach us throughout the Bible. We are dirty, filthy, and not clean.
• We are not good. There is none good, no, not one. This is what the Bible teaches us.
• If our goodness can’t save us, what will we do? We have nothing left to do but put our faith in Jesus.

[15] Acts 3:11-12 And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering. 12 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

[16] Acts 3:13-14 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. 14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

[17] Acts 3:15-16 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. 16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

• Faith makes your soul perfect before God. Faith in God forgives your sin. Not your works.

[18] Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

• We are only sanctified by faith that is in Jesus Christ.

[19] Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

• God has righteousness. We don’t. We will only live on by faith in Jesus Christ. FAITH TO FAITH saves us.
• Your good life is not in the equation. Your life is not good. You have broken God’s laws. You have sinned.
• Therefore, your so-called “good life” that you live will not save you.

[20] Romans 3:22-23 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

• Listen, we could keep going with verses about faith. Hundreds and hundreds of them.
• The entire Bible teaches we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. We can only be saved this way.
• Why? For ALL HAVE sinned and come short of the glory of God. Moses came short.
• His life wasn’t so great. His faith saved him. That’s it.

[21] Romans 3:26-28 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

• These are all Scriptures talking about man being saved by faith. Look up faith, and you will find this.
• Now, why in the world would anyone think salvation is all about living a good life?
• A conclusion in the Bible says, “A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
• Clowns say, “Oh no, that’s not right. You must have more than faith.”
• “You must be good. You must live a good life. You must be holy like me.”

[22] Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

[23] Romans 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

• We can keep going, and going, and going. Why would anyone preach that living a good life saves you?
• They don’t go by the word of God. They go by their own wisdom which is 100% foolish and idiotic.

[24] Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

• Living a good life, doing good works, being a good person is defined as WORKS by the Bible.
• Following the laws of God is how you would be a good person. His laws are good.
• Follow them and you will be good. But no one has followed them all the time. No one is good.
• We are only saved by faith and NOT by the works of the law.
• “For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

The clowns will say, “Well, being baptized is not a work of the law.” What is it then? Is it faith?

• Is it believing in your mind only? Or do you actually have to do something? This is called a work.
• Jesus commanded us to be baptized so being baptized after you’ve put your faith in Jesus is a good work.
• But the actual work of being baptized in water doesn’t save you. It’s a work AFTER you’re saved already.

[25] Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

• How much clearer can you get? If you don’t have faith in Christ Jesus, you aren’t a child of God.
• If you think it takes faith PLUS works, then you don’t have faith “IN” Christ Jesus.
• This means you are not a child of God. If you think it takes water baptism to be saved, you aren’t saved.
• If you think it takes repenting of all your sin to be saved, you aren’t saved.
• If you think you must stop sinning, you aren’t saved because you will never stop sinning in this flesh.

[26] 1 John 5:4-5 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

• What are you going to say to all these Scriptures? Will you keep preaching lies?
• Will you continue to say that living a good life is what gets you to heaven?

[27] Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

• Every righteousness you think that you have on your own, without Jesus Christ, is a filthy rage before God.
• To prove this to you, how did God design this life for you? “For the wages of sin is death.”
• You’re dying slowly. You are fading as a leaf slowly. That’s a reminder to you that you aren’t good.
• That’s a reminder to you that you can’t even save your body, the least of you, through your goodness.
• Is that not enough proof that you aren’t so good?
• But still, the so-called “Christians” attack me for preaching faith.

[28] Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

• God commands us to preach faith alone for salvation. “The word of faith, which we preach.”
• If you preach anything else, you are preaching a false Gospel. LET HIM BE ACCURSED.
• This is what the Bible says. I called a false preacher a clown and he told me I better apologize.
• If I didn’t, he says I will be considered a fake Christian because I cannot call him a clown.

[29] Galatians 1:8-9 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

• Jesus will call you a serpent and a viper when you teach lies about the way to heaven.
• I call you a joke of a preacher and a lying scumbag.
• If you decide to change your mind, I will not call you that any more.
• And you can apologize to God for teaching lies about Him and His words.

So, we have 66 Scriptures about believing in Jesus Christ to be saved.

• We have hundreds of Scriptures about faith in Jesus Christ saving you.
• And then we have even more about “trusting in the Lord” saving you.
• There are 19 Scriptures in the Bible with the phrase “trust in the Lord.” Here’s some of them.

[30] Psalm 125:1-2 A Song of degrees. They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. 2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.

• They that trust in the Lord abideth forever. Jesus says, “Believe in me and I give you everlasting life.”
• This says to trust in the Lord and live forever. Once you’re saved, it’s important to do what God says.
• But doing what God says and living a good life is not a part of salvation AT ALL.
• In the equation for salvation, it goes like this” Salvation = everlasting life = believe in Jesus Christ.
• There are no other variables. Salvation = faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation = trusting in Jesus Christ.

I have an entire sermon on all the words related to trust in the Bible. God tells us to trust Him.

• He doesn’t say to ever trust in anyone or anything else including ourselves. NOT ONCE.
• Look up the sermon, “Trust in the Lord,” and I’ll prove that to you with Scriptures.
• You can look up Scriptures about calling upon the Lord for salvation.

[31] Psalm 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.

• You aren’t putting your trust in yourself and your great life filled with wonderful works.
• You are saying, “Lord, please save me. I can’t do it. I can’t be good and perfect all the time. I need you.”
• We call upon Him and Him alone to be saved.

[32] Romans 10:13-14 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

• You can look up the word salvation in the Bible.
• You’ll find 164 matches in 158 verses. Salvation is always about the Lord. It is only through Him.
• Maybe you aren’t hearing me. Salvation ONLY comes through the Lord. NOT THROUGH YOUR LIFE.

Does God ever say that you must change your life to go to heaven? NOT ONCE.

• You SHOULD change your life. You SHOULD stop doing evil and wicked things such as taking drugs.
• You SHOULD stop drinking alcohol and getting drunk. You should stop lying, cheating, stealing.
• You should get baptized in water. You should study the Scriptures. You should read your Bible often.
• You should go to a good church. You should do your best to die to self daily and not lift yourself up.

Does living a good life get you to heaven? All of these people will say that you must repent of all your sin.

• They say that you must be baptized in water to go to heaven. They say you must speak in babble.
• They say all of these things that do not match the word of God at all. They aren’t there.
• They will say that you must change your life in order to be saved. How much change?
• Listen, these people who say these things are 100% without an ounce of doubt LIARS. Big ones.
• I’ve showed you many Scriptures today. I could keep going for hours with Scriptures.
• I could keep going for hours with examples of people in the Bible.

The thief on the cross didn’t have time to change his life. How long do you have to live a good life?

• Is there some rule to that? 1 week, 6 months, 3 years, 50 years. Which is it? It’s all a lie.
• The thief on the cross wasn’t baptized even though Jesus, His disciples, had already been baptizing people.
• The clowns will say, “Well, that was a different dispensation.” It was? What are you talking about?
• How was the thief saved then? Was he saved by works? His works were evil. He was being put to death.
• Jesus died before the thief. So when did this dispensation start and end that you made up?

We could talk about king Saul. He made it to heaven because he was saved by believing in God.

• He did very evil works. But he had faith in God in many moments of his life. He didn’t live a good life.
• He killed himself. Samson made it to heaven. He had faith in God. He killed himself.
• David committed adultery and had the husband murdered. His works caused his children to die.
• That’s not a good life. That’s why David talks about calling upon the Lord for salvation.
• He didn’t trust in his life to save him. He knew he didn’t live a good life.

Solomon worshipped false gods when he was old. He built places of worship for these false gods.

• NOT A GOOD LIFE. He went after many things that killed him and cursed the people after him.
• Rahab was a harlot but faith saved her. Noah got drunken. Lot sure wasn’t perfect.
• He had children with his own daughters because he was drunken. All of these things are sin.
• Sin will hurt you and kill you. It is not okay to sin, but we are all sinners. We are not good.
• Paul persecuted the church of Jesus Christ. Paul consented to the death of Stephen who loved God.

[33] 1 Corinthians 15:9-11 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

• Paul says that he worked more abundantly than all but that was after he was already saved.
• He was saved by the grace of God NOT OF WORKS. Grace means you don’t deserve it.
• Living a good life would mean that you deserve it. THEN CHRIST DIED IN VAIN if you could save yourself.
• And if you were good enough to save yourself, there would be many others that could do it too.
• And we wouldn’t have needed Jesus Christ to save us. We wouldn’t need His perfect sacrifice for our sins.

If we could just repent of all our sins and be forgiven, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to die.

• If we could just be baptized in water, we wouldn’t have needed Jesus to die for all of us.
• If we could be good and righteous, we wouldn’t sin constantly and wouldn’t need Jesus.

Paul, arguably, is one of the greatest Christians to ever live. He laboured more abundantly than all the apostles.

• Yes, he did more work than all of them for God. But ye, he says he is the least of the apostles.
• Why? Because he persecuted the church of God. He sinned greatly against God.
• He didn’t live a good life before he was saved. He did these things ignorantly and in unbelief.

[34] 1 Timothy 1:12-15 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; 13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

• In other words, Paul was not saved by his great life filled with good works.
• He did all the good works AFTER he was saved by grace through faith. Do you understand this?
• Don’t get salvation out of order. Once you believe in Jesus Christ, you are saved at that moment.
• You have everlasting life that cannot be lost at that moment you trust Him, at that moment of faith.

Paul says that Jesus came to save sinners, and that he is a CHIEF SINNER or first in sinning.

• Paul didn’t lift himself up and say that his greatness saved him. The grace of God saved him.
• Grace is the opposite of works. You can look it up in the Bible for yourself.
• Paul was not saved by his works. He says so over and over again. Are you better than Paul?
• Is the life you have lived better than the Apostle Paul’s life? How many people have you won to Christ?
• Do you want to put your numbers up against the Apostle Paul? YOU LOSE.
• But none of this saved the Apostle Paul. You aren’t an apostle. Jesus did come talk to you face to face.

[35] Romans 7:18-19 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

• As long as we have this flesh, we will sin. We need to fight against our flesh through the Spirit of God.
• You only have the Spirit of God once you believe in Jesus Christ. Then you can put up a fight.
• Walk in the Spirit and not the flesh. Then you start to live a good life through the Spirit of God.

Living this good life does not save you. You must have already been saved to receive the Spirit of God.

• You can only live a good life if you’ve been saved but you still don’t have to live a good life to be saved.
• All of what I am saying is supported by the words in the entire Bible.
• If you don’t believe me, why don’t you actually read it for once?

Jesus says you are not good enough to make it to heaven. He says there are none good.

• Goodness won’t get you to heaven. He says that He died for you because of this.
• He says that His soul went to hell for you. His body was buried for you.
• He arose from the dead after 3 days and 3 nights. He is alive. He is the Son of God Almighty.
• He is God Almighty. He says that He alone has the power to save you.

[36] John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

• That’s what Jesus says. Now, you can believe Him or not. NOT and you’re just like the Pharisees.
• They were children of the devil. Those Pharisees are burning in hell right now.
• Living a good life does not save you because you haven’t lived a perfect life without sin.
• You’ve broken God’s laws, and you are guilty. You will still break His laws after you’re saved.
• So you aren’t saved by a good life. You are only saved by the goodness of Jesus Christ.

You can think of any words related to salvation that you want, and you will never find anything about living a good life to go to heaven.

• For example, look up the phrases “everlasting life” and “eternal life.”
• You’ll find 37 matches in 37 verses. You’ll find many more that tell you believing in Jesus saves you.

I’ve showed you many Scriptures today. We are not good. We don’t live good and perfect lives.

• We sin in this flesh. No good thing dwells in this flesh.
• We aren’t always perfect in choosing to walk in the Spirit. We mess up often.
• We ask forgiveness. We repent of our sin. We try to do better. We try to live a better life.
• This is hard work. And we are not saved by works at all. This is the truth.
• So, if you have believed that living a good life gets you to heaven, it’s time to change your mind.
• This is repentance for salvation. Change your mind about everything else and believe on Jesus.

Let’s pray.