“Dear friend, do not imitate what is bad but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does what is bad has not seen God.” 3 John 1:11 NET https://bible.com/bible/107/3jn.1.11.NET

Taken by itself, this verse allows nearly everyone who believes in God into heaven. This is where most people’s religion is practiced. People do good, so they go to heaven. People do bad, and they go to hell. The only ones who really do bad are in prison. Everyone else is generally good and will go to heaven. This is the view of most who claim to believe in God. The critical question to ask, however, is what is good? Who defines good? Most people define good for themselves and thus find themselves good. However, it is the Judge of good Who gets to define good because His definition will ultimately determine where each person will live for eternity. Where has God defined good so we might know it and acclimate our lives toward His definition? In the scripture, God has made known Who He is and what He requires from us. Most people know this scripture, though it is infantile and distorted. They define good by the Ten Commandments but usually only do not murder and do not steal. Is this God’s definition? Indeed, the Ten Commandments are good but not what God requires of us. Since God came to live with us as one of us, He has commanded us to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves, demonstrated by going into all the world and sharing the gospel with our neighbor then discipling him to obey everything Jesus commanded. The Great Commandment and the Great Commission are good we are to do that God calls good. Are we truly loving Him with ALL of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and really encouraging people to love Jesus and obey His commands?