On several occasions, I have come into contact with someone who believes that they are a “good person” and that the good works they do will “earn” their way into heaven. Certainly, their intentions are sincere. But what we think is the path to heaven and what God has determined may be two different things. Our justification, or right to enter into heaven, is not based on what we do because we are imperfect beings. We cannot accumulate enough good deeds because the threshold is so high that it requires perfection, not imperfection. That is why Jesus Christ is our advocate in this case. When we confess our sins and trust Him and His Word as the most important thing in our lives, God the Father sees the perfect Jesus Christ living in us rather than our imperfect selves. We are then justified by faith in Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul instructed the people in Galatia using these words, “So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16). We have to get this right because Jesus Christ is the only way for us to go to heaven.

The works of the law that Paul mentioned here refers to the Old Testament law as recorded in the Torah, or the first five books of the Old Testament. The Israelites lived according to these laws (which included animal sacrifices for the remission of sins) since they were a new nation of people, carefully protected by God. God’s plan always has been to regard the nation of Israel as His people. He fed them, He protected them, and He disciplined them. However, God had a plan for the entire human race and the implementation of this plan was Jesus Christ. Now that faith in Jesus Christ results in justification for sin and a path to heaven, the Israelites are no longer under justification by animal sacrifices. Paul further instructed the Galatians as follows: “So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian” (Galatians 3:24-25).