{"id":91038,"date":"2025-10-05T15:09:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T20:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=91038"},"modified":"2025-10-05T16:14:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T21:14:48","slug":"why-do-people-who-do-some-good-go-to-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-people-who-do-some-good-go-to-hell\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do people who do some good go to Hell?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Hello,<\/p>\n

Is everything going well? May God bless you.<\/p>\n

I have a question for you. A classmate of mine asked me a question that I’m a bit helpless about. I am unable to answer him.<\/p>\n

He’s obsessed with the fact that some people who did many good things in their lives still go to hell, and he feels this is unfair. He gave the example of a murderer who fathered a child; the murderer is guilty, while the child is innocent.<\/p>\n

I told my classmate that everyone is sinful, and only faith in Jesus can resolve the problem of sin, but he just doesn’t understand. He keeps wondering why everyone is born sinful. He feels it’s unfair, and he feels like he had no choice in his birth.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

I must disagree with your answer. Everyone is not born sinful. It is a common myth among the denominations, but it is not something that is taught in the Bible.<\/p>\n

“Truly, this only I have found: that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 7:29).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thus, we learn that people are born sinless, but become sinful as they grow up. This truth is further emphasized by Ezekiel 18. In the first part of the chapter, God shows that sin is an individual’s responsibility. He summarizes His points by stating, “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself<\/em>” (Ezekiel 18:20). Since a son cannot inherit the guilt of his father, Seth did not inherit the guilt of Adam. Sin is not passed on genetically.<\/p>\n

The core problem is understanding exactly what sin is. “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness<\/em>” (I John 3:4). Sinfulness is a state reached when an individual breaks a command of God. It is something a person causes to happen, not something that is placed upon him.<\/p>\n

The Bible teaches that, outside of Christ, all men sin. Not because we are born already in a sinful state. The Bible teaches, by a straightforward declaration, that everyone ultimately breaks God’s law. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned<\/strong> — for until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come<\/em>” (Romans 5:12-14). Death did not spread through mankind because everyone inherited Adam’s sin; it spread because everyone, independently, has sinned. We know that Adam’s sin was not spread to everyone because Paul said some did not sin as Adam did.<\/p>\n

For another explanation, see “Are Babies Born Sinners?<\/a>“<\/p>\n

This universal problem of men choosing to sin leads to a difficulty. God wants everyone to be saved (I Timothy 2:4), but the just punishment of sin is death (Romans 6:23). How can God fairly save people from the mess they have made of their own lives without violating His nature?<\/p>\n

God’s answer was to send His Son into the world. He lived a perfect life as a man. He did not sin (Hebrews 4:15), which is another proof that people are not born sinful. Thus, he became the perfect sacrifice, able to redeem all sinners of the world. However, this forgiveness is not given automatically. People must choose it by yielding to God’s terms. See\u00a0What Must I Do to be Saved?<\/a>“<\/p>\n

The important thing about God’s plan is that it is not based on how good or how wicked you once were.<\/p>\n

“But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live? But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die<\/em>” (Ezekiel 18:21-24).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

God looks at who you are and not at who you used to be. Thus, it doesn’t matter if a man was once a murderer. If he leaves his murderous ways and follows the Lord, then his past is forgiven. It is not his “good” that saves him. It is Jesus who saves him based on his willingness to submit to Christ. However, the opposite is also true. A generally good man is not saved if he leaves the path of righteousness to commit evil and remains unrepentant.<\/p>\n

People often see this as “unfair.” They want the benefit of being forgiven of past wrongs, but they want any good that they might have done to be permanently on their record. How much good is good enough to cover a person’s sins? In God’s eyes, all sin is a debt beyond anyone’s ability to pay. Only God can pay that debt, and he did when Jesus died on the cross. All He asks of us is to let go of our sins and follow Him. When a person turns back to sin, fairness demands that God treat him the same way — looking at who he is and not at who he was.<\/p>\n

“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die. Again,\u00a0 when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. But the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord GOD. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord GOD. “Therefore, repent and live<\/em>” (Ezekiel 18:25-32).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\t

Response:<\/h2>\n

Thank you for sharing. May God bless you.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Hello, Is everything going well? May God bless you. I have a question for you. A classmate of mine asked me a question that I’m a bit helpless about. I am unable to answer him. He’s obsessed with the fact that some people who did many good things in their lives still go to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1260,523],"class_list":["post-91038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-judgment-day","tag-justice"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8031,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-you-teach-that-men-are-born-without-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":91038,"position":0},"title":"Why do you teach that men are born without sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am perplexed by the fact that\u00a0you can expound upon the idea that all man is born sinless. I am afraid that you need to complete the chapter in Ezekiel 18 - where God says He invites us all to repent, after which He can give us the Holy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22313,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-was-jesus-born-of-a-virgin\/","url_meta":{"origin":91038,"position":1},"title":"Why was Jesus born of a virgin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Some people try to explain that Jesus was born to a virgin because if he born like us he would become sinful. They then conclude that men are born sinful. I know that men are not born sinful. But I cannot able to explain to them the virgin birth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46385,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-child-baptized-without-his-parents-knowledge-feel-the-presence-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":91038,"position":2},"title":"Can a child baptized without his parents’ knowledge feel the presence of God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a child was baptized as a baby without the parents' knowledge but raised in a Jewish home, could that child feel the presence of God without knowing it? Answer: There are too many false assumptions in this question. One does not need to be baptized to feel God's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52922,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-tired-of-this-sinful-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":91038,"position":3},"title":"I’m tired of this sinful life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning, sir, I read a page on your website and I saw your advice to a brother. My sin is worst compared to him. I have had sex with the opposite gender twice and have been masturbating for over six years. My life is a living hell. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47777,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-we-are-not-born-sinful-then-why-does-everyone-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":91038,"position":4},"title":"If we are not born sinful, then why does everyone sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Mr. Hamilton, I'm a bit confused. It is possible to keep all of God's commandments, but I thought people will never be perfect on earth -- only God is perfect. Or does God demand perfection? But then we're not made right with God by our works. We are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21808,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-men-born-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":91038,"position":5},"title":"Aren’t men born sinful?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm just emailing about a little something I found in an article of yours. It's answering a question about where the Word talks about\u00a0all men being equal. Not to be picky, but it says in the article we are all born without sin, which isn't true. 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