Is being a good person enough to get to heaven? Hell, no!

Is Being A "Good" Person Enough To Gain Heaven?

AKA - Universalism Kills Evangelization
AKA - Why Many Christians Don't Evangelize

Surveys now show us that most Christians actually operate as Universalists - that is they believe that being a "good person" will get you to heaven. Thus, many Christians now believe in what could at least be described as a quasi-universalism, which is that the default setting of our souls is that most people are "saved". According to Pew data, from 2008, "70 percent of Americans with a religious affiliation say that many religions - not just their own - can lead to eternal life."  If this is the case, then the question becomes - why evangelize, grow in holiness, decide to intentionally follow Jesus, etc? If you believe all the "good" people are going to heaven anyway, why would you evangelize and seek conversion? If all religions are the same, why would you follow Jesus? 

For the majority who self-identify as a Christian, who would say that being a "good person" is enough to gain heaven, there are many implications of this belief - many of which go unexamined. Unfortunately this is not a correct understanding of the evidence from Christian theology/history or from the Biblical understanding of salvation. Thus, if one holds such a view, they have seperated themselves from a Biblical Christian understanding of salvation and grace. So, it is not an unimportant issue.

Yet, this isn't the first time such a false understanding of salvation has come up in the history of the Church.  A heresy called Pelagianism really kicked it all off. Pelagius was a British monk who taught that man can obtain salvation through our own free works and choices. In other words, it is a denial that God's grace is necessary and that we can work our way to heaven. In many ways, our modern culture is really a modern form of Pelagianism, and this mentality has once again seeped into the Church. Pelagius also denied original sin and it's consequences. His teachings were strongly opposed by St. Augustine and other Bishops - who clearly taught that he was wrong about almost everything in regards to salvation, grace, and free will.

If many Christians don't completely hold the views of Pelagius, they probably hold a form of semi-Pelagianism, which started in France in the 5th century. It was an attempt to be an in-between compromise between 2 positions - Augustine on grace and Pelagius.

Semi-Pelagianism attempted to balance things between Augustine and Pelagius - but is still wrong! It teaches that our initial assent to faith is not necessarily impelled by grace, we can merit salvific grace by our good deeds, and once we have been justified, we con't need any other graces - we are saved. All of these ideas were clearly condemned in 529 at the 2nd Council of Orange and then again in 1546 by the Council of Trent.

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