I never really thought much about what it means since I am not a Christian, and as a Baha'i there are different criteria for 'getting to heaven.'
A Baha’i once asked the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith (Shoghi Effendi) how to get to heaven, and here was his answer:
"To 'get to heaven' as you say is dependent on two things--faith in the Manifestation of God in His Day, in other words in this age in Bahá'u'lláh; and good deeds, in other words living to the best of our ability a noble life and doing unto others as we would be done by. But we must always remember that our existence and everything we have or ever will have is dependent upon the mercy of God and His bounty, and therefore He can accept into His heaven, which is really nearness to Him, even the lowliest if He pleases. We always have the hope of receiving His mercy if we reach out for it."
(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, January 12, 1957)
Lights of Guidance (second part): A Bahá'í Reference File
To get the
guarantee, you need both faith in Baha’u’llah and good deeds, but I do not think that means that only Baha’is will be in heaven...
That would not be justice since not everyone has heard of Baha'u'llah. Moreover, before Baha’u’llah came people who were near to God died, so I think they will be in heaven.
It is also important to note that Baha'is are required to believe in Jesus, and the other Manifestations of God, not only Baha'u'llah.
I think what is meant by good deeds, living to the best of our ability a noble life and doing unto others as we would be done by, can be correlated with living a righteous life.
I think that
@Spice hit the nail on the head when she described righteousness.
And how do you define righteousness? Do some things you believe are required but you can also do anything else you want also, as long as you do those listed things. Seems like a job to me. Wake up in the morning and do your righteous stuff really quick so you can go out and do stuff you really...
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