No, you're greatly mistaken. The Bible is clear that there is only one way to heaven, and that is through accepting Jesus Christ as one's savior (John 14:6, Acts 4:12).
The Jews are justified by their keeping the Law they were given. At the last Judgment, the 12 Tribes of Isreal are judged by the 12 Apostles under the direction of Yeshua the Christ.
The Jews were given the Law by God in the time of Moses, 1400 years before Christ. However, even during that time, the Law was never meant to be the means of salvation for anybody. The reason: no one could keep the Law. The Law cannot save anybody; it only serves to expose a man's sins. The X-Ray machine does not cure a person of cancer; it only exposes its presence. The Law serves the same purpose: it exposes the presence of sin in the human heart. Paul makes this clear in Romans 10 and other places in the New Testament. Any Jew living since the time of Christ is under the same obligation to acknowledge/accept Jesus as his own personal savior, just as is any non-Jew. The Law has no power to save, only to condemn. No one can live up to the perfect Law of God.
Believers who die in their belief in Christ do not wait until Judgment Day, but go directly from death to Heaven. They do not taste of death. Also there are those of the Tribulation who turned to God in the End and stand before the throne.
It is true that believers in Christ enter immediately into heaven upon their physical death. Later, at some point when the rapture occurs, they will receive their resurrected (glorified) bodies. However, at some point beyond that, all believers must stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ (the Bema Seat). This is not to evaluate whether they get to stay in heaven - that issue has already been settled through the cross and the fact of their belief in Christ while they were on earth - but rather, to evaluate the quality of their works and service to Christ, for the purpose of determining their heavenly rewards, privileges, positions. Some will rule and reign with Christ, while others will be established in far lesser capacities. All believers go to heaven, but there are degrees of eternal rewards in heaven, just as there are degrees of eternal punishment in hell for the damned.
Tribulation believers (who will very likely suffer a great deal for their faith, unto death) likewise enter immediately into heaven upon death.
Those believers who are alive when Christ comes to the clouds in the air above the earth to "rapture" (catch up, take away) the Church (all believers in Christ) will actually not experience physical death, but will instead by "translated" or transformed, receiving their resurrection bodies immediately and thus be with Christ.
So, those who did good works but did not believe in Christ during their lives are given a chance to accept Him at the Resurrection of the Dead.
When Christ returns to the earth following the 7 years of tribulation, the Judgement of Gentiles (Nations) and the Judgement of Jews will occur. This is a different set of judgements altogether from the judgement of believers at the Bema Seat. The believers in Christ are separated from the non-believers. Their works are the basis, these works giving evidence of who is a true believer and who is not. This is not to say that anyone is saved by their works, because no one is saved that way (Eph 2:8-9). Faith in Christ, God's provided Redeemer, is still the one and only means of salvation. But this is a select people group that has survived the horrendous Great Tribulation under the reign of the Antichrist. The polarization between those who performed good works and those who performed evil works will be both extreme and obvious. In this future time, one can only be a Christian literally on pain of death. Those who take the mark of the beast (and that will be the majority of people alive then) show themselves to be on the side of Satan. Those who refuse the mark, and somehow manage to still survive (for many Christians will be martyred during this time) show themselves to be the true servants of Christ. Jesus will indeed separate the two groups, and deport the servants of Satan to hell.
There is no second chance to accept Christ at death, for anybody. That decision is made during one's earthly life.
I was raised a Roman Catholic. The reason that, as an adult, I have not adhered to any organized religion is perfectly illustrated by your point of view.
MC->No, you're greatly mistaken. The Bible is clear that there is only one way to heaven, and that is through accepting Jesus Christ as one's savior (John 14:6, Acts 4:12).
Great post MC but the bible does give three ways to get to heaven. The problem is that (for everyone except babies and young children) two of them don't work. The minimum acceptable standard of behavior for entry into heaven is perfection, and we just can't measure up. The first way is covered in Romans 2:13-15
Romans 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
This is the law of the conscience. To get to heaven you simply have to never offend your conscience. Of course for anyone past a certain young age this is impossible to do. (and once violated it cannot be fixed) We know what is right and yet we choose to do wrong. This is the way that babies and young children who die get to heaven, they do not know right from wrong yet and cannot offend their conscience.
The second way is to perfectly fulfill the law, this is covered pretty clearly in the OT. Of course we've found that no one can keep the law perfectly except Jesus the Christ so this one doesn't work either. (But is theoretically possible)
Which leaves us to trusting God for our salvation. The old testament saints trusted in the coming Messiah to save them and it was counted to them for righteousness. They believed God was going to deliver them based on what they knew of Him. The new testament saints (us) trust in the revealed Messiah to save us. We know he is Jesus and He is God and man and died on the cross to pay for our sins and give us entry into heaven.
This last way works because we don't have to be perfect to use it. Jesus was perfect for us.
Except for LDS I haven't read of any church that teaches this.
What Scripture are you basing this belief on?