I'm Not a Bad Person, So Why Do I Need Anything Else?

This is a case where “not bad” isn’t good enough. In fact, “pretty good” isn’t good enough.

If someone were to offer you a glass of crystal clear, distilled water with just a tiny drop of arsenic in it, would you drink it? Probably not. How about a drop of red food coloring? You might drink that, if you were sure it was safe. But just one drop of arsenic, food coloring, or any other substance would change the purity of that glass of water.

It’s the same with you. You say you’re not a bad person, but are you a perfect person?

“Nobody’s perfect,” you might say.

That’s true. Nobody’s perfect except God. The problem is that just because you’re a good person doesn’t give you a ticket to heaven. In order to live forever in the presence of the perfect, holy God, you must be pure—totally without sin. You must be perfect and without blemish.

“That’s impossible for anyone,” you might say.

And you would be right. It is impossible, and that’s why you need a Savior. Even your smallest sins must be paid for and forgiven before you can hope to enter heaven. You also must rid yourself of the inborn sinfulness we all inherited from our father Adam.

Jesus, the only human who never sinned, already paid the penalty for your sins on the cross. But you must ask for God’s forgiveness. You must admit that you are a sinner and turn your life over to Him. Even if your sins seem small and insignificant, they are an affront to the holy God who created you. And they will keep you out of heaven.

You can never be perfect in yourself, but when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you become a new creation in Him. He replaces your inherent sin nature with God’s nature and helps you to live a better life. After accepting Christ, you still will not be perfect. But if you confess your sins, He will forgive you and make you pure again (1 John 1:8–9).

Almighty God will not taint the crystal clear perfection of heaven with even a tiny drop of sinfulness. You must be covered by His Son’s perfection. Then God will see you as His beloved child, and you won’t need anything else.