Articles
Do I Have To?
Folks continue to ask such questions as, "Do I have to go to church every Sunday?" and "Do I have to be baptized?". My answer is, no you don't HAVE TO. No one will force you to be baptized or go to church every Sunday. However, there are some things that each and every one of us WILL HAVE TO DO:
1. WE WILL DIE. The Bible says, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). The grave yards are full of evidence of this fact. The only exception are those alive at the second coming of Christ. "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (I Thessalonians 4:15-17). No amount of money or power can change our appointment to die.
2. WE WILL BE RESURRECTED. "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:28-29). Whether we like it or not, we will be resurrected on that great day.
3. WE WILL STAND BEFORE CHRIST TO BE JUDGED. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (II Corinthians 5:10). Regardless of who you are, my friend, please understand that "every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12).
4. WE WILL ALL BOW AND CONFESS JESUS CHRIST AS LORD. "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God" (Romans 14:11). "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11). You may refuse to worship and honor Jesus Christ as Lord in this life, but one day YOU WILL bow before the Saviour and confess with your mouth that He is "Lord of lords, and King of kings" (Revelation 17:14).
5. WE WILL SPEND ETERNITY IN EITHER HEAVEN OR HELL. Those that have obeyed Christ will hear one day, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). Those that refuse to obey God ("Do I have to...") will hear, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).
