I Was Known As a "Good Kid", But That Isn't Enough to Go to Heaven

My name is Larry Hill, and this is my story.

I was known as a good kid. For the first 18 years of my life, I attended church with my family in Connecticut. My family went consistently and only missed church due to sickness. We would even attend church while on vacation. My family was very active in church activities. My exposure to religion was through Sunday School and the pastor's sermons. I was taught about the Bible and was familiar with Bible stories. I did not get into any serious trouble; I was known as a well-behaved child, a good kid.

In 1970, when I was 12, my sixth grade Sunday School class was given an invitation to attend a New Member's class, to learn about baptism and membership of the church. I watched as each person in the class said they wanted to take the class and be baptized, except for one person. He said he wasn't ready. Looking back, I wasn't ready either, but at the time, it seemed to be the right thing to do. So without further thought or much understanding, I answered yes also. I was baptized by the pastor on March 26, 1970, even though I really didn't know what it meant to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I don't remember any change in my life.

During the following years, my life lacked direction and purpose. I wanted to find out why, but no one that I talked to could figure out why. There had to be some reason why I was alive and something that I should be doing for God. When I talked about my troubles and asked for answers, no one else thought there was a problem. I was a baptized member of a church and a "good kid".

I was taught to know right from wrong, to respect the law and other people. I knew to stay away from drugs and alcohol. I did have some struggles during those years, most having to do with taking too much time to finish schoolwork or jobs. Because I was slow, I had few friends and much trouble with harassment towards me from other students. For help with problems, I relied upon family, myself, and authorities instead of turning to God.

In 1976, when I was 18, I went away to college. I met students who said they were Christians. Their lives were full of purpose and enthusiasm for God, but mine was not. I still couldn't figure out why I was different. When I went home for a weekend, I began to ask questions again. My youth pastor suggested that I attend a week-long missionary convention in Urbana, Illinois, during the Christmas break. I agreed to go, believing that by attending the convention I could find the answer to the aimlessness in my life. I believed strongly that I was not going to return home without finding out what was missing in my life, and what I was supposed to be doing for God.

It was at the convention that I was challenged as never before. One of the speakers was preaching in an auditorium packed with thousands of college students. I began to understand that what I was missing was a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. I did not have what others had. At the end of the message, the preacher asked the seated audience three questions.

First, he asked for all those who knew for sure that they had been saved before going to the convention to stand up. I could not stand due to the strong doubts and inner turmoil I had had for years. Next, he asked those to stand that had been saved during the convention week. I did not fit into that group either. Lastly, he asked those still seated to consider a decision of salvation. (Note: saved, salvation, and born again are Biblical terms referring to the forgiveness of sins by God and the rescue of a person from the power and penalty of that sin. This is God's requirement for everlasting life.) My problem was now clear. I was not saved, nor had I ever been. In 1970, the only thing I did was get baptized. Working through the preacher's questions, God's Holy Spirit had dealt with me. Just as in Acts 2:37, "They were pricked in their heart, and said ... what shall we do?" I didn't know what to do next, except to go to the evening Bible study in the dorm where I was staying during the convention, and get help. I left the auditorium as fast as I could.

At the Bible study, I told the group about how I could not stand for the first two questions and that I was feeling very convicted. It seemed that God was showing me that He wanted me to get right with Him. I could not go on any longer as I was. I was empty in my heart. The Bible study leader confirmed to me that what I had described to the group was God's call to me to be saved. What I had accepted as salvation, years before, was meaningless. I had trusted only in baptism, which cannot save you. The leader of the study asked me if I was ready for true salvation. I said that I was, but told them that I was afraid that I would fail to keep doing the right thing for God. I was told not to worry about that, because when God saves a person, He gives them new desires. From the Bible verses that were shown to me, I knew I was a sinner, unsaved, without a relationship with God.

Romans 3:23 states, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." I learned that salvation was a free gift of God to me, I could never be good enough to earn or receive it, and that God makes me good enough through Jesus and the cross. Romans 5:8: "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus' death paid for my sins. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The students showed me that the emptiness I had was the lack of salvation and the need for a relationship with Jesus Christ. New life would follow, free from the penalty of death. Romans 8:1: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Then I was ready to pray and be saved. The date of my salvation was December 30, 1976.

What changed in my life after I received salvation? I had new joy, a strong sense of purpose and direction for serving the Lord, and a desire to learn more about the Lord through the Bible. Two weeks later, I returned to the college that I was attending. As I got off the dormitory elevator, someone I knew said that I looked different and asked what I had done during Christmas break. I began to share what had happened. Later, I shared with other students about my salvation. On my next trip home, I also shared with my home church.

Do you have a lack of direction that is causing you to have doubts in your life? Do you believe that you have to be "good enough" to get saved? I was a good kid, but that wasn't good enough for God. I needed to trust in the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ and His death for me. I want to challenge you to seek God's guidance and to come to understand through the Bible what He has for you. Through this, you can completely end those struggles, come to a full knowledge of Jesus Christ, and have a home in heaven eternally.