The Historic Church in the Bend
Union Hill Baptist Church
14403 Hwy 42 E.
Vienna, MO 65582
Mailing Address: PO Box 038
Coming soon to Facebook
Email Pastor Rob
703-987-5341
Here are some "religious" perspectives you'll probably hear these days:
I just go along, and get along. I don't bother anybody and I don't want them bothering me. (I've got it worked out)
I've got my truth, you've got yours. So you do your thing, I'll do mine.
Do whatever you want, just try not to hurt yourself or anyone else.
It doesn't matter what you believe, just so long as you're sincere. I'll be me, you be you. If we try to be good, it will work out in the end.
Here's the problem: If there is any objective standard for truth (anything founded on reality) then everyone's individual opinion can't be right at the same time! And being wrong has eternal consequences.
Here's what God's word says:
Rom 1:20. For since the creation of the world His (God's) invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. In other words, God has revealed to everyone who can sense the world around them that there is a Creator - one who has made and sustains all things (including us) by His power.
Rom 3:23. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. People like to think humans have evolved or are evolving into something divine. But read your history. Listen to the news. Wars, crimes, hatefulness. Even take a longer look in the mirror (of God's word). Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen (even a lustful glance)? I'm a sinner. You're a sinner. No matter how hard we try, we'll never be perfect.
Rom 6:23a For the wages of sin is death. Sin hurts ourselves and others. Sin kills the body. Sin damns the soul.
Rom 6:23b. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost (Luke 19:10).
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18)
Rom 5:8. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Yes, Jesus did this for you and for me before we even had a chance to believe in Him. While we were still lost in our sin - while we were still condemned - Christ died for the ungodly. When we grasp this truth, and we sense our sinfulness - our unworthiness of God's love - we are compelled to do as Peter instructed listeners to do in Acts 3:19-20: Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before
Rom 10:9-11. If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” That's what God's word says: Believe in your heart, confess with your mouth. Accept the gift of Salvation and make Jesus your Lord.
II Cor 5:17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Having put one's faith in Jesus Christ, he or she has become a new person, and is adopted into the family of God.
- Gal 4:5-7 ...And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
- Rom 8:1. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Rom 12:1-2. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. God has saved us to do a work in us and a work through us. Matt 20:28, Just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, God has saved us to to serve Him and to serve others.
When asked if they're going to Heaven when they die, many people - even some who readily claim to be believers - will answer, "I sure hope so," "I think so," or "I'm not sure." If pressed further, and asked why God might let them in, they often say things like "I'm a pretty good person," "I do more good than bad," "I work hard at being good," or "I'm trying to do better." They simply haven't grasped the fact that eternal life is not a trophy they can win or luck into. A sinner will never be good enough, rich enough, powerful enough, smart enough, strong enough, etc., to get to Heaven on their own. When it comes to eternal life, we can't earn it, can't buy it, can't think our way into it or take it by brute force. There are none righteous, not one (Rom 3:10) and no one will be justified in the sight of God merely by keeping the law (Rom 3:20).
Simply put, eternal life is a gift. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Eph 2:8-9). Accept that gift today!