"But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die. Ezekiel 18:24

A commonly believed error among many is that we will go to Heaven if our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds. I have often argued, from the standpoint of a criminal trial, that if a person never robbed a bank for the first sixty years of his life, but then robbed a bank at age sixty-one, he could not plead that sixty years of not robbing banks erases the guilt of having robbed a bank at sixty-one.

That is, of course true.

But what does scripture say? That is even more important! God, speaking through Ezekiel (18:24) clearly says that a righteous man who turns and does wickedness, will be held guilty because of his wicked act, regardless of how many years he acted righteously.

This is why we need a Savior. No matter how much good we may claim to have done, it only takes one sin to be a guilty sinner in God’s eyes (James 2:10). Praise God there is forgiveness in Christ Jesus—but only for those who confess their guilt.