10 Reasons NOT to Ask Jesus Into Your Heart: By Todd Friel

I heard about this post the other day on Way of The Master Radio and finally got around to reading the full thing this afternoon. I think Todd Friel makes some real good points in this article. Think about it. What does it mean to Ask Jesus into your heart? I know what you're thinking....it's just a "Christianese" euphemism for getting saved, right? But I challenge you to think about it a little deeper, does it cheapen the glorious gift of salvation? Read the article below, I'd love to hear you comments.
-W.S.

By:Todd Friel

The music weeps, the preacher pleads, “Give your heart to Jesus. You have a God shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it.” Dozens, hundreds or thousands of people who want to get their spiritual life on track make their way to the altar. They ask Jesus into their heart.

Cut to three months later. Nobody has seen our new convert in church. The follow up committee calls him and encourages him to attend a Bible study, but to no avail. We label him a backslider and get ready for the next outreach event.

Our beloved child lies in her snuggly warm bed and says, “Yes, Daddy. I want to ask Jesus into my heart.” You lead her in “the prayer” and hope that it sticks. You spend the next ten years questioning if she really, really meant it. Puberty hits and the answer reveals itself. She backslides. We spend the next ten years praying that she will come to her senses.

Telling someone to ask Jesus into their hearts has a very typical result, backsliding. the Bible says that a person who is soundly saved puts his hand to the plow and does not look back because he is fit for service. In other words, a true convert cannot backslide. If a person backslides, he never slid forward in the first place. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (II Cor.5) No backsliding there.

Brace yourself for this one: with very few if any exceptions, anyone who asked Jesus into their hearts to be saved…is not. If you asked Jesus into your heart because you were told that is what you have to do to become a Christian, you were mis-informed.

If you have ever told someone to ask Jesus into their heart (like I have), you produced a false convert. Here is why.

1. It is not in the Bible. There is not a single verse that even hints we should say a prayer inviting Jesus into our hearts. Some use Rev. 3:20. To tell us that Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts begging to come in.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” There are two reasons that interpretation is wrong.

The context tells us that the door Jesus is knocking on is the door of the church, not the human heart. Jesus is not knocking to enter someone’s heart but to have fellowship with His church.

Even if the context didn’t tell us this, we would be forcing a meaning into the text (eisegesis). How do we know it is our heart he is knocking at? Why not our car door? How do we know he isn’t knocking on our foot? To suggest that he is knocking on the door of our heart is superimposing a meaning on the text that simply does not exist.

The Bible does not instruct us to ask Jesus into our heart. This alone should resolve the issue, nevertheless, here are nine more reasons.

2. Asking Jesus into your heart is a saying that makes no sense. What does it mean to ask Jesus into your heart? If I say the right incantation will He somehow enter my heart? Is it literal? Does He reside in the upper or lower ventricle? Is this a metaphysical experience? Is it figurative? If it is, what exactly does it mean? While I am certain that most adults cannot articulate its meaning, I am certain that no child can explain it. Pastor Dennis Rokser reminds
us that little children think literally and can easily be confused (or frightened) at the prospect of asking Jesus into their heart.

3. In order to be saved, a man must repent (Acts 2:38). Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance.

4. In order to be saved, a man must trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31).

Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of faith.

5. The person who wrongly believes they are saved will have a false sense of security. Millions of people who sincerely, but wrongly, asked Jesus into their hearts think they are saved but struggle to feel secure. They live in doubt and fear because they do not have the Holy Spirit giving them assurance of salvation.

6. The person who asks Jesus into his heart will likely end up inoculated, bitter and backslidden. Because he did not get saved by reciting a formulaic prayer, he will grow disillusioned with Jesus, the Bible, church and fellow believers. His latter end will be worse than the first.

7. It presents God as a beggar just hoping you will let Him into your busy life. This presentation of God robs Him of His sovereignty.

8. The cause of Christ is ridiculed. Visit an atheist web-site and read the pagans who scoff, “How dare those Christians tell us how to live when they get divorced more than we do? Who are they to say homosexuals shouldn’t adopt kids when tens of thousands of orphans don’t get adopted by Christians?” Born again believers adopt kids and don’t get divorced.

People who ask Jesus into their hearts do. Jesus gets mocked when false converts give Him a bad name.

9. The cause of evangelism is hindered. While it is certainly easier to get church members by telling them to ask Jesus into their hearts, try pleading with someone to make today the day of their salvation. Get ready for a painful response. “Why should I become a Christian when I have seen so called Christians act worse than a pagan?” People who ask Jesus into their hearts give pagans an excuse for not repenting.

10. Here is the scary one. People who ask Jesus into their hearts are not saved and they will perish on the Day of Judgment. How tragic that millions of people think they are right with God when they are not. How many people who will cry out, “Lord, Lord” on judgment day will be “Christians” who asked Jesus into their hearts?

So, what must one do to be saved? Repent and trust. (Heb.6:1) The Bible makes it clear that all men must repent and place their trust in Jesus Christ. Every man does have a “God shaped hole in their hearts,” but that hole is not contentment, fulfillment and peace. Every man’s heart problem is righteousness. Instead of preaching that Jesus fulfills, we must preach that God judges and Jesus satisfies God’s judgment…if a man will repent and place his trust in Him.

If you are reading this and you asked Jesus into your heart, chances are good you had a spiritual buzz for a while, but now you struggle to read your Bible, tithe, attend church and pray. Perhaps you were told you would have contentment, purpose and a better life if you just ask Jesus into your heart. I am sorry, that was a lie.

Deeper Conference: Man am I excited

If you have been reading this blog, you know I'm a huge fan of the Way Of The Master and their approach to sharing the gospel. When I found out about the Deeper Conference in October and the people that are on the speaker list, I just had to sign up. I even spoke with my Pastor about it and we're going to make the trip together. We're still not sure how we're going to get there, but I guess we'll figure it out as we get closer. :D

Anyway, here's a quick look at the speaker list (click on their name to see their BIO):

• Ray Comfort
  Author and co-host, "The Way of the Master"
• Kirk Cameron
  Co-host, "The Way of the Master"
• Paul Washer
  Director and Founder of HeartCry Missionary Society
• Ken Ham
  President and founder of Answers in Genesis-U.S
• Pastor Johnny Hunt
  Pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia
• Dr. Marshall Foster
  Founder and president of the Mayflower Institute
• Todd Friel
  Host, The Way of the Master Radio
  FamilyNet’s “Wretched” TV show
• Emeal ("E.Z.") Zwayne
  Executive Vice President, Living Waters

I can't wait! I think I'm most excited about the chance to hear Paul Washer in person. Both my wife and I have been listening to his sermons online and I must say I have never heard a more powerful biblical (and convicting) delivery of the Gospel then Brother Paul.

-W.S.

Seeker Sensitive?

I know it has been a while since I posted, I have a myriad of excuses but none are really that good. I have about a 1/2 dozen unfinished posts on a variety of recent experiences but each of them need some work before I'm ready to post. So I'll just post this one today. I first heard of this on Way Of The Master Radio a few months back, but they played it again recently and it is fresh on my mind:



Obviously this is a spoof, but pay close attention to how accurate it really is. The same attitudes they are spoofing are exemplified by people in all of our churchs, if not our church as a whole. We focus so much on what we're going to get out of a worship ceremony rather than thinking about both what we're putting into it and who it is really for. We need to remember that it isn't about US, it is all about HIM. It doesn't matter if we like the music, or if we even are "touched" by the message.

Next time you start to think about your worship "experience" and think it wasn't that great, think about what our Lord thinks about it. Ask HIM if he was happy with it, and then think about how much you put into worshiping HIM. If you didn't get what you "needed" out of the sermon, think about how you paid attention or how you are going to take that 30 minute message home and expand on it to feed yourself on His Word. Then and only then will we begin realize the real meaning of worship.

-W.S.

Are You Crazy?

I must admit, I am not much of a contemporary Christian music fan. There are a many songs (and artists) out there that have been labeled as "Christian"...but in reality the message they deliver is far from biblical. But I suppose that that is a blog for another day.

On my way to the airport last week I decided to switch things up a bit and not follow my daily routine of listening to the Way of the Master Radio podcast and/or 10:31 Sermon Jams. Instead, I dialed up a playlist I have not listened to in quite some time. This playlist is made up of a select few of my favorite praise and worship songs has been on my iPhone for quite some time. I call it "Fire Me Up". Quite a while back I added a song called "Crazy" by Mercy Me to this prestigious list and it never sounded as clear to me as it did in my truck last week. If you haven't heard it before, the opening verse goes like this:


"Why would I spend my life longing, for the day it would end?
Why would I spend my time pointing, to another man?
Isn't that crazy?
How can I find hope in dying, with promises unseen?
How can I learn your ways better, and everything I'm taught to be?
Isn't that crazy?
I have not been called to the wisdom of this world, but to a God who is calling out to me.
And even though the world may think I'm losing touch with reality,
it would be crazy to choose this world over eternity."

Wow. Those are some pretty powerful lyrics, aren't they? In the eyes of the world, WE ARE CRAZY for believing what we do. But it is easy to say "The World" thinks we're crazy, isn't it? That is so impersonal and so void of responsibility. So let's take a different look at it...a real look.

Does anyone (or everyone) we know who is not a Christian think we're crazy? Do they see daily examples of our living not for the things of the word, but rather our longing for Christ? Shouldn't everything we stand for as Christians be in stark contrast to the things of the world? Shouldn't there be some evidence that we reject the things of the world? : (1 John 15-17)

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

I think that if we each take a real look at our lives we will find we do so much in our attempt to be relevant and fit into a world from which we should be striving to separate. Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting that we should do things so that others will know that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. I'm simply saying that if Jesus is truly our Lord and Savior the world should know we do not love it or anything in it.

-W.S.

Devil's Advocate?

In the course of a discussion, have you ever had someone tell you that they were just playing “devil’s advocate”? Perhaps you’ve even used the phrase yourself, but have you ever put much thought into what that phrase really means? Let me tell you why I bring this up.

This afternoon, my wife shared an exchange she had while witnessing to her cousin on Saturday and I was struck by the irony and wanted to share it here. My wife was explaining what the Bible means to her, and stated something along the lines that she believes everything in it is the inspired Word of God and that everything in it is true. Of course, that is crazy talk to the world so her cousin didn’t understand and began asking a lot of questions. That part isn’t the problem, as we should always be prepared to defend the Word of God but I was struck by the words her cousin used to preface her challenges by saying, “I’m just playing devil’s advocate here, but….”

I’m not sure that phrase has ever been used in a more appropriate context. In fact, I would imagine we have all probably used that phrase at one point or another without thinking about what it actually means. Words are powerful and they have meaning. As a believer, the name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has incredible power and simply the hearing the name spoken makes my heart jump. Now why in the world would I want to advocate anything in the name of the enemy?

Let’s not get crazy and start a movement against devil’s food cake or anything, that’s not my point here…besides we all know that the devil doesn’t even like cake. ☺

-W.S.

What does it mean?

In my time as a Christian I have heard many people talk about what it means to be saved. I have heard extremes from some speaking of a "warmth" they felt in their entire body when they gave their life to the Lord, and I've heard some say that they really couldn't actually remember when they got saved. But is getting saved really a feeling?

I don't believe that it is, and scripture doesn't think that is either. (1John 1:5-7)

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

I came across the message below which was delivered by John Piper and really hit home with me:



Getting saved isn't about a feeling at all, it is about a commitment. It's about "walking in the light" Despite what many out there preach on T.V., it isn't about your best life now...it's about your best life for eternity. I have thought about this a lot lately, don't you think that if we truly have given our lives to the Lord, it should feel like that every minute of every day? Every minute.

As John Piper asked in his final line in the video above, "Has He become the light that is the joy of all your joys?" Well, has He?
-W.S.

Familiar?

A few posts back, I referenced a website called 10:31 Sermon Jams. They do an amazing job taking excerpts from sermons and putting them to music. It really helps deliver a powerful message in a quick format and I have them all loaded on my iPhone and listen to them daily.

While shuffling through them the other day, I came upon a sermon jam entitled "He Has Now" which was built from a sermon by Rick Gamache on Colossians 21-23 which is a strong parallel with my recent post on my numbness. I really felt inspired to take that sermon jam and add some visuals so I could display it here in my blog. I pray it will touch and inspire you (as it inspired me) to take a look at yourself and how you must stop yourself from becoming "overally familiar" with the Gospel.



There are several more powerful sermon jams to which I plan on adding visuals, and they will be stored at my site at youtube (www.youtube.com/wretchedsinner). Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

-W.S.