Since I was in seventh grade, I have been struck by the number of people who will say they don't believe in God, but that they are sure if there is a God and if there is a heaven, they will end up there one day because they have been "basically good." Understand what I'm saying here; they disbelieve God, but imagine if there is a God, he must weigh our deeds on a moral scale similar to how we might weigh something as good or bad and that their good deeds must outweigh their evil deeds. Now, every Christian would say that we are made righteous only by faith in Jesus and his completed work on the cross and the empty tomb, but we still tend to talk about people as basically good or basically evil. I even hear Christians saying things like, "I really hope they come to faith; they are such a good, kind person." Or, "I don't see how they could ever come to faith; they are so wicked or evil." Even though we know, as believers, that the Bible teaches not a single one of us is "good" apart from God and that we are all by nature "objects of wrath," we still tend to measure people by their own merits rather than the merits of Christ.