No, it will not. Many people have a mis-conception about God and what is required to go to heaven. They think of God as if He held a balance in His hand, weighing good deeds on one side of the scale and bad deeds on the other. As long as their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds, they think God must surely reward them with eternal life.

But this is a serious misunderstanding. God's standard is perfection because He is a holy God who is without sin. The Bible warns, "Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.''1 There is only one conclusion: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."2

How then can anyone be saved and enter heaven? Because God loved the world,3 He prepared a way. He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, who was without sin, to bear the penalty for our sins on the cross.4 If we turn from our sin and self-righteousness, and trust Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, God has promised to forgive us and grant us the right to enter heaven: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith&emdash;and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God&emdash;not by works, so that no one can boast."5

(1) James 2:10 NIV. (2) Romans 3:23 NIV. (3) John 3:16. (4) 1 Peter 2:24 (5) Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV.

Bible verses marked NIV are taken by permission from The Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society, Colorado Springs, Colorado