Question 5: How could a “good” person go to Hell since God is such a loving God?

Answer: While it is true that God is truly a loving God, but it is not Him who sends us to Hell - each one of us make that choice ourselves. Additionally:

§ The Bible says that your good works are not good enough.

o In Ephesians 2:8-9, the Bible says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

o The Bible also says in Titus 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

§ The Bible also says that there is none good.

o Psalm 14:1,3 “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

§ The Bible says that you are not good enough because you have sinned.

o Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”

o Romans 3:9,10 “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; ¹⁰As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one”

§ The Bible says that you face a penalty for sin, and that penalty is death

o Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

§ The Bible says that we can avoid Hell by repenting of our sins and receiving Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour

o Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

o Romans 10:9-10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

o Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

It is a mistake to try to compare our “goodness” to that of another person because we can always find someone who is worse off than we are. God’s standard for good is perfection – a standard that no one, other than Jesus Christ, has ever achieved. If we were to get to heaven (or avoid hell) by our works, we would have had to live up to God’s perfect standard, which is something we could never do. When we refuse to accept Jesus’ free gift of eternal life and try to depend on our goodness, we are essentially making a choice – and that choice is ultimately an eternity in hell!