Can Living a Good Life Lead to Salvation?

♠Introduction

So, people struggle and strive, and when religion doesn’t work, they come up with something else that sounds good. This isn’t necessarily a bad statement in itself, right? It’s just something they pulled out. This is a phrase brought forth by churches that do not proclaim the gospel: “Just live a good life!” Is that correct? Of course, I’m not saying we should live wickedly. But understand this clearly — the idea itself isn’t bad. However, this teaching was pulled out to keep people from realizing the gospel.

A typical example of this is the traditional Christian church of the past — the Catholic Church. They taught the same thing back then, and they’re still saying it today: “You must do good deeds.” At first glance, it sounds wonderful. But what happens? It weakens Christ. “You must volunteer. You must achieve merit. You must give large offerings if you want to be saved.” They even sold indulgences. They made people confess their sins to humans through penance and confession — is repentance done before people? That’s Catholicism. Before God — that is the proper way. You must teach this clearly.

1) The thoughts of ordinary people — “No matter what religion you have, as long as you live a good and sincere life, that’s enough.”

▶This is what many people believe. Generally, they’re taught: “If you sincerely follow any religion, isn’t that enough?”

2) Jehovah’s Witnesses — “If you keep the laws God gave, you’ll be saved.”

▶Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that if you keep all the laws, you’ll be saved.

3) The Jews (Pharisees) — “By keeping the law and performing works, you’ll be saved.”

▶The Jews believed salvation comes through keeping the law and performing religious works.

4) Buddhism, Tenrikyo, and similar religions — “Perform good deeds to repay for sins (or bad karma).”

▶In Buddhism, Tenrikyo, and similar religions, they teach that “because you must repay your sins, you must do good deeds.”

▶These four teachings sound good, don’t they? For someone who has not received salvation, these statements seem correct. Right? For unbelievers, these statements sound right. And Satan sees these statements as correct too — because through them, people fall into destruction. That’s the tragedy.

Then they twist things further: “Oh, then are you saying we should commit evil? Should we ignore God’s commands? Should we just live however we want?” No, of course not. Where in the Bible does it say to live recklessly? This matter determines whether the entire world lives or dies.

If you, the believers, church leaders, and pastors, fail to understand this, it is a disaster. This is a historical matter that impacts the entire world. Simply put, the Pharisees grabbed hold of this teaching and ran with it. They said: “You’re saved by faith? Are you crazy?” That’s what they were saying: “Saved by faith? You must be insane!”

To unbelievers, whose words sound right? The Pharisees’. And Satan entered into the medieval church and corrupted it. And when you hear what the medieval church taught, at first, their logic even sounds more convincing than Luther’s. People said, “That Luther fellow has lost his mind. He divorced, and his wife is even a former nun! He’s a sinner!”

Isn’t that what they said? But “forbidding men and women from marriage” — that’s a Buddhist rule, not a biblical one. That is not the gospel. Yet the Catholic Church used that doctrine to execute people like Luther. To the general public, Catholic teachings sounded correct: “How can you say you’re saved by faith alone? You must earn salvation!”

If you stopped 100 random people on the street and asked, “How is a person saved?” — 100 out of 100 would answer: “By doing good deeds.” That’s the reality.

▶Because of this, the worldwide church has been corrupted again and again. And now, in these last days, the real heresies are using this very teaching as their weapon. They say: “Those churches aren’t saved — they’re always fighting. You need to live sincerely. You must keep God’s commands. We’re in the last days!” And many people fall for this message.

False teachings say, “You must act righteously. You must donate. You must perform good works.” Sounds great, doesn’t it? But the core of it is deception. Among these, the most notorious example is Shincheonji. Their teaching is “airtight” in the sense that it appears flawless — it’s exactly what Satan does.

This is how they develop entire doctrines and “new revelations,” saying: “Only by believing in Jesus can you be saved. What are you talking about?” They mock the gospel. Catholicism still claims, “You’ll only know at the end whether you’re saved or not — so keep donating until the last day.” Clever, right? It generates massive amounts of money.

They sold indulgences and became wealthy. Everyone is covered in sin, so everyone pays up. And within Catholicism, no one dares lift their head before the priest — because the priest knows all their sins from confession. In Protestant churches, believers sometimes argue with pastors, but in Catholicism, they wouldn’t dare. If the priest glares at you, that’s the end of the conversation — you won’t get “forgiveness” otherwise.

I once asked a Catholic core member: “Why do you perform penance and confession?” And they answered, “Well, it’s not exactly penance; it’s more like spiritual counseling.” I said, “Really?”

1. Why do they still suffer continuously and repeatedly?

▶Yet their suffering continues. Why is that?

1) John 3:1-9

▶In John 3:1-9, a man named Nicodemus, an outstanding religious leader, came to Jesus. He came at night — perhaps because that was more convenient for him. He was a man of high status. The first thing he said was, “Rabbi” — not “Lord.” He respectfully praised Jesus: “I know that the things You do would be impossible unless God were with You.” But Jesus didn’t thank him. Instead, He gave what seems like an unrelated answer:

“Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus was shocked. He asked, “How can someone be born again? Can an old man enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” Jesus, astounded, replied, “Even if you went back into your mother’s womb, you cannot be saved. Unless you are born of water and the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going — so it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Jesus then said, “If I tell you about earthly things and you don’t understand, how can you understand if I tell you about heavenly things?” And then came this crucial statement:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Nicodemus quietly left after this conversation, deeply unsettled. We don’t know what happened to him afterward.

2) Acts 3:1-11

▶Here we see the man crippled from birth sitting at the Beautiful Gate. He chose that spot carefully. Why? Because location matters. If he sat under a bridge, no one would help him. But at the temple gate, people gave generously. He relied on donations to survive, and others even carried him there daily and took him home afterward.

People gave him coins — and that’s fine. Some even organized aid so he could survive — and that’s fine too; it’s a form of good deeds. But Peter did not give him money. No matter how many coins this man received, he remained a beggar. No matter how much wealth he accumulated, he was still crippled. And even if he wasn’t crippled, without salvation, he would remain spiritually dead.

That day, Peter looked at him intently and said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

At that moment, everything changed. His fate was overturned. That is what the gospel does. The gospel doesn’t merely make the cripple walk — it changes destinies.

2. The Pharisees and the world do not know four crucial truths