How Much Does Heaven Cost?

On Dec. 6, 2003, my youngest sister died after a three year battle with a brain tumor. She was 27. Her death challenged me to confront my faith in a big way. All my life I had been told that if a person had faith, they would go to heaven, and while I've never really believed that a person could earn their way to heaven, I was also taught that part of being faithful was going to church on a regular basis. My sister was not a churchgoer. At the time of her death, she was into a sort of charismatic faith, but had not yet found a church home.
Now, I have no doubts that my sister is spending eternity in the presence of God. But her death brought up the burning question that often comes up at the time of death: Will they go to heaven? And, even for those of us brought up on a "faith only" criteria for getting into heaven, the answer to that question becomes complicated. Somewhere deep in our hearts we know that faith is it; because we are sinful, we are in no way capable of earning our way to heaven with our good deeds. Yet, we also live in a world of rewards and punishments. We know, for instance, that if we come to class or show up to our jobs on time, that we will be rewarded with a better grade or a promotion. We know that if we work hard on the playing field, we will get more playing time in the game. We also know that if we slack off, we will get demoted, fired, or expelled. It is only natural to apply this reasoning to matters of faith. So, if we are good here on earth, we have a better chance of going to heaven. If we are not so good, we will most certainly go to hell.
Paul, in his letters in the New Testament, says just the opposite. The first thing he reminds us of is that everyone is sinful (Romans 3:23). We are simply not capable, by ourselves, of having what it takes to climb the ladder of success right into heaven. We can't get to heaven by going to church every Sunday, or helping the poor, or paying our taxes, or even by being a martyr. Paul says that these things are good, and that the law certainly has its purpose, but it is not the ticket to heaven. Faith is. Faith alone will save us (Romans 3:28).
Of course, this statement raises many questions, but let's focus on only one of them: What does faith entail? In other words, what does faith look like in every day life? Does getting to heaven involve something more than simply saying that you believe that Jesus is the Savior? If so, what is it? In addition, if we say that faith is all it takes to get to heaven, then why do we spend so much time worrying about whether or not other people are "doing" the right things?