It is not our works that give us a ticket to Paradise, it is by the grace supplied through the death and resurrection of Christ. You do realize that many bad people also do good works. Oprah donates millions to various charities as does Bill Gates. By the standard of men these are good people, yet unto God if they have not repented and the spirit does not dwell in them, all of their works are as good as a bag of rags.

Many people give with a motive, many so called Christians give with motive. An example are those who send a 5,000 dollar seed in hopes of a bigger return from God. Another example are those who give for a tax benefit. What good is a gift if it is done with an expectation? We are all filthy rags, we are only justified because Christ paid our penalties.

Op is correct, it isn't our sins that send us to hell. We are all worthy of that punishment, it is simply based on whether or not we choose to accept the free gift of salvation. In other words, we all have a court date, some choose to accept the free lawyer/mediator whom is Christ our savior, he who stands for us before God. Others choose to go it alone and this is a poor plan, remember the old saying "Only a fool represents himself."

If you died tomorrow, are you represented? If not you should consider this before hand because we all will face a ruling someday and it is clear in the mandate that we must have representation, no amount of good works can spare us.