What Will Happen When I Get to Heaven?

February 23, 2026

Bill, the used car salesman, died in a car accident. God greets him at the gates of Heaven and says, “Well, Bill, I am not sure whether to send you to Heaven or hell. You took care of people, especially your friends, with some of the cars you sold, but others were hurt badly by buying a car from you. In your case, I am going to let you decide where you want to go! I am willing to let you visit both places briefly, and then you can make your decision.

Bill says, “I think I will try Hell first.” In an instant he sees that hell is beautiful, clean, a sandy beach, with clear waters. There were thousands of beautiful women running around, laughing and frolicking about. Bill was very pleased. He told God, “This is great! If this is Hell, I REALLY want to see Heaven!” Suddenly, he is in Heaven. Choirs of angels are singing glory to God, the streets paved with gold are spectacular as they shimmer. It was nice, but not as enticing as hell. Bill thought for a minute and said, “I think I prefer Hell.”

Two weeks later, God decided to check on Bill who is shackled to a wall, screaming amongst the hot flames in a dark cave. God asks, “How is everything going, Bill?” Bill screams, “This is awful, this is not what I expected. I cannot believe this happened. What happened to that other place with the beaches and the beautiful women playing in the water?” God responded, “Oh, that was like the car on the show room floor.”

God doesn’t play games with our eternal destiny. We may find silly stories like this entertaining, but we know that God is not so fickle, and since eternity is a long time, and we like being in control of our lives, if we don’t think too much about it, everything will just work out. A lot of people think that if the good I do outweighs the bad, then God, who is so loving, will just welcome me into Heaven. How could He do otherwise?

Too many people think it will look something like this. A man dies and goes to Heaven. St. Peter greets him, “Here is how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you have done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in.”

The man says, “Okay, I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart.” St. Peter is impressed and gives him three points. The man says, “Three points? Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service.” St. Peter is again impressed and gives him one point. Exasperated, the man says, “One point? How about this? I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans.” He gets two more points. The man cries, “TWO POINTS!! At this rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of Jesus Christ!”

St. Peter smiles and welcomes him into Heaven saying, “Brother, come in and experience the joy God has prepared for you!”

The scandal of the Gospel is recorded in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” In the eyes of God, none of us is better than the other. We are not saved by going to church every Sunday, though God expects us to do this out of love for all He has done for us. We are not saved by baptism or communion, though Jesus calls us to experience these sacraments to ground our faith in His actions of love for our salvation. We are not saved by our good works, though our good works do reveal our hearts have been changed by His saving grace. The scandal of the Gospel is that we are saved by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ. In John 14:7, Jesus says, ""I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Have you ever wondered if your “good works” made you better than others, or was all you needed to get into heaven? Can you remember a time grace surprised you? How did it feel? This week, how will you live unashamed of this scandalous Gospel? Let us embrace the scandal and exalt Jesus through our faith! (To learn more about Al Earley or read previous articles, see www.lagrangepres.org. You can purchase my book, My Faith Journal, at Amazon.com, a compilation of 366 articles as a daily devotional. Check out my podcast on YouTube, called “My Faith Journey”).