Good person going to hell simply for not believing?

Question

The scenario is as follows:

1. Believer, average life, many mistakes/sins. Asks forgiveness and tries everyday to be better. Goes to heaven.
2. Non-believer, better life than the believer, fewer mistakes than the believer, tries everyday to be better, succeds more than the believer, knows he has done some bad things in life, regrets them, but doesn't believe in anything because he never witnessed anything supernatural in life so he has no reasons to. Goes to hell.

This scenario was put to debate by a co-worker and I tried to explain how you cannot be saved by your own deeds, but didn't succed to actually give a good argument, so I'm asking for help.

For all the non-believers this scenario is "not fair" as why would a better person go to hell just for not believing.

Can anyone give some biblical explanations / paragraphs to explain this. Or maybe the premises are wrong?

Answer 1

Romans 3:23 (NIV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

No one is righteous. Better is not enough. God demands 100% holiness. No one can achieve that. Therefore, we need the Blood of Jesus Christ. Only in Jesus, can we have salvation.

Romans 5:12 (NIV) Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

We are all doomed to go to Hell whether we like it or not, whether we are better than others or not. Jesus died for us so that by believing in his death and resurrection, we may be saved.

For this reason Christians are given the command to preach the Gospel to the whole world.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV) 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Answer 2

I'm going to give a slightly different understanding of this than you may have heard before, largely because I've faced up to the same thing and wondered the exact same thing. The question comes down to this: "Isn't believing in something simply the same as doing something? Isn't it a work in and of itself?" This question always bothered me.

Here's the viewpoint I tend to take:

It's not the fact that we believe or don't believe that saves us, it's the fact that we believe or don't believe that indicates that we are saved.

See the difference? In one, the belief causes salvation, and in the other, the salvation causes the belief.

My understanding of this is guided by Ephesians 2:8-9:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

What is the "this" that Paul is referring to? I would argue that the "this" is referring to the faith more than it is referring to the "saved" or the "grace".

Our faith, in and of itself, is also a gift of God. He's the one who enables us to hold the faith.

Of course, there are people who would say that this viewpoint is equally offensive, because it removes much of our personal autonomy in deciding our eternal fate. When you take this viewpoint to it's ultimate end, it's offensive because it's GOD who decides who is and isn't his, not us, and this is a terrifying thing. It puts us at the mercy of God, and not God at our mercy.

This is expected. Paul even addresses this in Romans 9:19-21:

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?

People will say this is offensive, and they'd have to reject the whole concept based on this. Again, expected (1 Corinthians 1:18):

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

But Paul maintains that it is God who chooses, and not us: (Romans 9:15-16)

For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

Jesus himself doesn't even pray for everyone in the world when he prays in the Garden of Gethsemene. He prayed for those who are God's specifically, making a clear distinction between those who are, and those who are not, part of the Kingdom of God (John 17:9)

I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

These are just a few examples in scripture of where you can see this kind of thing. Once you start seeing a few, however, it's hard to not find more.

On a personal note, I haven't always held to this viewpoint. There was a time when I thought that if I believed, then God would save me. I took the belief-first viewpoint, and ultimately, it began to frighten me. I would question my salvation, and it would often come in the form of these questions: "Do I believe enough?", "Is my faith strong enough?", "Is my faith truly faith, or is it works?" I could never say that my faith was strong enough, because I found that faith wasn't simply something I could "grow". It was either there, or it wasn't there, and it seemed to grow on it's own regardless of my efforts to make it grow.

When somebody had shared the viewpoint that the faith comes from our salvation, and not the other way around. It started to make sense, but ultimately it simply raised another question: "Am I really chosen?" Doubts come in all flavors.

Ultimately, I found that this question is different in that it puts the burden of assuring me of my salvation on God, and not on myself. This makes sense, because I am not the agent of my salvation, God is. So it would only make sense that he who saves is the same one who assures of the salvation.

Technically, this viewpoint is called Calvinism, but personally, I call it life-changing. I did, however, have to come to the understanding that God is not a machinated, feelingless automaton, but rather a personal God who, out of his grace, has chosen to save me, and has given me assurance thereof.

Hopefully, this post will not only be good "debate-fodder", but also be something to ponder personally. I know many Christians that I love who would disagree with this viewpoint, and I believe that God still loves them, and I plan on seeing them in heaven with me, but I also see this viewpoint as being much, much easier to swallow, and much more consistent with the nature of salvation, than the "faith causes salvation" viewpoint.

Good Person

Also, as an addendum: I want to address the "Good person" fallacy. According to Christianity, regardless of your viewpoint on Calvinism, the "good person" doesn't exist. Paul himself says, in Romans 3:10: "There is no one righteous, no not one."

In other words, we're all on the same level before God: bankruptcy. Therefore, we all need his salvation.

So we need to clarify. In Luke 18:19 and Mark 10:18, Jesus says, "Why do you call me good? Nobody is good except for one--God". If we're talking about a good person, are we talking about God? Because scripturally, that's the only one we could be talking about. Our goodness is not the issue here, because "all our righteous acts are like filthy (lit. menstrual) rags". (Isaiah 64:6)

To understand any of the Gospel at all, we have to start with the fact that we are primarily fallen and sinful, not primarily good. For many people, this is ultimately what they find offensive, because we want so badly to be able to say that we're good people, but the Bible simply does not give us that luxury. In fact, it does everything it can to remove that luxury as far away from us as possible.

As Steve Brown would say, the two points are this:

1. Cheer up...you're a lot worse than you think you are, and
2. cheer up...God's grace is a lot bigger than you think it is.

Answer 3

You could give your coworker the following counterexample, which I sort-of got from listening to Tim Keller:

Person who grows up bouncing from one foster home to another, ends up being abused and takes to drugs/alcoholism and crime, but finally asks for forgiveness and comes to faith.

In any other worldview where your good deeds are weighed against your bad deeds, this person would never have any hope. Which is easier: to follow a straight and narrow path amidst life's storms (and rely on your deeds), or to simply bend the knee and invite God into your life? Seen from this perspective, Christianity is indeed more inclusive than other worldviews. Everyone, regardless of their state of sinfulness gets to go to heaven, simply by being humble. In a works-oriented worldview, only the "morally privileged" (i.e. those who grow up in good environments) can ever have that hope, and even then, when pressed, they will likely say "it is contingent on God's grace". In Christianity, God's grace is already evident through the cross.

For what it's worth, I'd like to add that it is very hard for a non-Christian to come to faith through argument. I know this because I was once an atheist. Love and kindness is the best (and most Christian) answer to any objections. Ultimately, we have to let God be the judge.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

You need a way to show that things we do can have greater "moral value" by virtue of a belief in God. The idea of "by faith alone" is probably not going to appeal to a non-believer, and it is very difficult to explain in even the best circumstances. I just don't think that that's the way to go in this scenario.

You can say this, which even a non-believer should easily accept:

1. A believer has a conception of God. ^{John 20:29}
   God is really, really Good. Infinitely Good. Not good in a stuffy abstract way, but genuinely nice and caring. He's someone who would step in front of a bus for you. In fact, He actually did something so good that we can never hope to repay Him. If you don't believe it, that's ok. Just understand that the believer believes this. By the way, not seeing any miracles is not an excuse for atheism.
2. So believers can do things for God. ^{1 Corinthians 10, John 14:12-14}
   By doing this they honor all that is good, and attempt to repay a debt that cannot be repaid. The believer is able to dedicate even tiny, insignificant actions to God. These actions really count, because of why they are done. It's like the difference between "just visiting" a sick relative, and visiting for that relative. The believer doesn't always do this, but sometimes. The non-believer doesn't have this option at all. You can't do something for someone you don't believe exists.
3. Our intentions matter. ^{Matthew 5:27-28}
   Imagine you want to murder someone, so you shoot them. Doctors are amazed! The bullet cleanly blew out an inoperable brain tumor, and the victim recovers in three days. You get no credit for doing something good. You did a terrible thing! You decided to kill a human being. Or imagine that you dive in front of a stranger who's about to be shot. Bang! But nothing happens. You've stumbled onto the set of a movie. But you did something exceptional, even if you didn't actually die to save anyone.

If you don't believe in God, it's much harder to do things for God, and God does seem to be interested not only in what we do, but in our reasons or intentions for doing what we do.

It's much harder for an atheist to sincerely proclaim "I devote this action and myself to the source of all that is good, and I can't even take any credit for doing this because I'm in such insurmountable debt" or "by doing this I am attempting to help and obey an all-knowing, all-powerful, and perfectly loving being" or "I regret what I did because I have offended Justice and have contributed to the misery of the world". Intentions of this sort aren't impossible for an atheist, just a lot harder to come by.

Ultimately, the point here is that if God sees these secret intentions and chooses to reward the believer for having them, we shouldn't be very surprised.

Answer 5

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) demonstrates that God is generous but not fair (by some definitions of fair).

With respect to a better person being condemned simply for not believing, perhaps the following analogy might help: Is it fair that a good swimmer drowns simply because he refuses to take hold of the offered lifesaver while a miserable swimmer does not drown simply because he takes hold of the lifesaver?

Answer 6

Theologically, the reason is that both parties are equally deserving of the same penalty. The repentance of the Christian does not make their sins less bad, but rather their acknowledgement of their fallen nature, need of a savior, and acceptance of that savior is the key to their salvation. Their attempts to live better as a result of that belief have no baring on the base critical understanding of their fallen nature and need for a savior.

The situation you describe is a very common trap for both Christian's and particularly non-Christians to fall in to by comparing sins instead of realizing that personal effort is meaningless as it never measures up.

Similarly, Romans 1:20 indicates that God is revealed to all through creation. Some also argue that Acts 10:34 seems to indicate that those who have not heard specific revelation of Jesus, but realize the general revelation and follow it (and would have accepted Jesus by name if they were consciously aware of the specific name) would be saved.

Yet another school of thought is that death is not the end point, but rather judgement. Generally the argument against this is that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, thus how would anyone not be saved, but since the Bible also declares that even the demon's believe such things, one theological argument is that after Jesus is specifically revealed, people will have a chance to accept Jesus as salvation or reject it.

All in all, it's a rather complicated topic which even Christian theology does not have a solid cohesive grasp on.

Answer 7

I know Christians find comfort in believing they will go to heaven, and belief in hell may provide an incentive to follow their consciences. As an atheist and hopefully a good person, I have no expectation of going to hell. I can even cite a recent, non-biblical Christian source that claims that I could even go to heaven:

Cardinal Pell, one of the most senior figures in the Catholic Church, recently expressed the view that even atheists will go to heaven if they have led good lives.