The answer to this question is simple: Yes. Being a good person is good enough. It is good enough to keep us out of the Telestial kingdom (the bottom) and earn us a spot right in the Terrestrial (middle) kingdom for eternity. The Lord said that those who will inherit the Terrestrial kingdom “are honorable men of the earth” (D&C 76:75). But are we really aiming for the Terrestrial Kingdom? No. And that is the real answer to the question about just being a good person—it isn’t enough. Being a good person is not good enough if we want to make it to the celestial kingdom. Let us explain WHY through some math:
This is the symbol for infinity: ∞
The definition of infinity is that you can’t take away from it, and you can’t add to it. It has no beginning and no end. That is why it is written as a continuous loop.
Now that we’ve defined infinity, let us test your math skills:
∞ + 30=
If you said “infinity-thirty”, you’re wrong. You can’t add to infinity. The answer is simply infinity. What is:
∞ + 600=
Good…you’re catching on. The answer is still infinity. You can’t take add to or take away from infinity, no matter how large the number. Get it? Now, what does this have to do with the question of just being good but not being a member of the Church? A verse from the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob helps us understand. Jacob describes Jesus’ atonement as an “infinite atonement” in 2 Nephi 9:7. So in the symbolic equation above, the ∞ symbol represents the atonement. Now what does the rest of it mean? What is the number, like the 30? Well, that represents our good works we do here on earth. And whoa! If you are a really good person, you might even be a 600. But guess what? Even a 600 falls short of heaven. Because what do we need to be in order to get into heaven? We need to have a perfect score. We need to have batted 1000. We need to have a 4.0 celestial GPA. The scriptures say that “no unclean thing can dwell with God [in the celestial kingdom]” (1 Nephi 10:21). Paul teaches us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). In other words, none of us have a perfect score to make it into heaven on our own. That is why the scriptures say that our “works” will never save us. Only Jesus can save us in the celestial kingdom. And how does that work? Well, this is where the rest of the equation comes in: What does the + mean in the equation? It is symbolic of linking, or joining ourselves to Jesus. The only way we can link ourselves with Jesus is through making covenants with Him and taking His name on us. And how do we take His name on us? Through baptism. When we link ourselves with Jesus through the covenant of baptism, and stay true to that covenant, the equation looks like this:
JESUS’ INFINITE ATONEMENT (∞), PLUS COVENANTS (+), PLUS OUR WORKS (30, 60, or 600), EQUALS (=) PERFECTION THROUGH CHRIST IN THE CELESTIAL KINGDOM.
That is why the scriptures say that only through Christ we can be saved (Mosiah 16:13), and that we must be baptized in order to enter the celestial kingdom (John 3:5). It is the covenant of baptism that qualifies us to be linked with Jesus’ infinite atonement and “be perfected in him” (Moroni 10:32).
Interesting discussion. As a youth, I often heard the “bicycle” story where a child saves all he can save (a few dollars) and the dad makes up the rest The point was that we do all we can and Christ makes up the rest. However, recently Elder Holland (September 2008 CES Fireside) clarified this oft-repeated thought by saying that Christ does not make up the difference–he IS the difference.