There is no-one good except for God, so everyone is automatically excluded from eternity. If you don’t believe me ask Jesus…
Mark 10
18"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone.
No I’m not. I completely agree that this would seem to be the"reasonable" thing to do, and personally I wish it were actually true, since many people I like and love would actually be saved and not tortured for eternity. However, I understand this notion to be wishful thinking and completely unbiblical, therefore my answer is “no”.
The bible clearly teaches that no-one can possibly come even close to the moral standards that God requires. Not because God is demanding, but because the human race is so far fallen and sinful. Our best efforts (insert personal moral hero here) do not even come close, even though such people might seem morally pure in comparison to you and I. Maybe they would get 2/100 on the moral scale rather than the lowly 0.02 that you and I would get. Unfortunately, the pass mark has been set at 100/100 and we will not be graded on a curve! Thus, our only hope out of this dilema would be if someone else existed who was compeletly morally pure (100/100) but who mercifully agreed to take the just punishment that we deserve.
This understanding is at the heart of the gospel message, and yet it is soooo poorly understood even by Christians. Most people think that Christianity is about repenting of our bad works and trying to do better in the future. In reality we need to repent of both our good works and bad, realizing that we cannot make any headway towards God on our own. Personally, I think this is one of the most offensive aspects of the gospel. Most people have a really hard time admiting that they are so bad, and cling to the vague hope that a few good works will somehow make things better. In reality our situation is much much more hopeless than that and the bible does not offer any solace to those who live a good life without realising a need for Christ. And before you get too angry with me, I didn’t make up the rules!
Does that make sense? Do you understand where I’m coming from?