When you ask someone what a person must do to go to heaven, the common response is ... 'be a good person'.
Most world religions teach that your experience after death depends on how you live in the here and now. For example, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism all believe the afterlife is based on a man's ... 'worthiness'.
Many splinter groups (Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, etc) also fall into that ... 'works-based' theology.
Christianity stands alone.
It says ... altruistic acts of kindness, a strong moral code, and/or living within the guidelines of religious doctrine will not save a man from the consequences of sin. Even one wayward thought, word, or deed automatically took heaven off the table.
Salvation is based on 'perfection', not 'goodness' ... so how then can eternal life be secured?
Enter the Gospel of Jesus Christ ... For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
It separates Christianity from every other religion ... He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
There's no A,B,C,D, or F grade attached to a term paper called 'life'. We are completely undone in God's eyes and must be rescued.
The question is not, Am I a good person?, but ... Am I perfect? If answered honestly, the need for the Savior is obvious.
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