Being from a Southern Baptist background, I have heard the saying, when someone gives their testimony, "I have asked Jesus into my heart." That statement was always confusing to me because the Bible knows no such expression. We do have "if you believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved " (Romans 10:9). I have also expressions such as accept Jesus which I only saw people in the New Testament receiving Jesus or putting their faith in Him.
These phrases are well known in the South and have been used by people who have been asked if they are Christians. The problem comes when we use that expression without any true repentance and faith. I have known people in the church who say they have asked Jesus into their heart yet there is no fruit.
So, should a Christian use the phrase, "I have asked Jesus into my heart." J.D. Greear writes:
(This phrase) may not be wrong in (itself), but the Bible never tells us, specifically, to seek salvation in those ways. The biblical summation of a saving response toward Christ is "repentance" and "belief" in the gospel.
"Belief"...means acknowledging that God told the truth about Jesus, namely that He is Lord and He has finished forever the work of our salvation..."Repentance"...means "acting" on that belief. Repentance means reversing your direction based on who you understand Jesus to be. It was the first response Jesus called for in His preaching of the gospel (Mark 1:15) and what Paul said God had commanded all everywhere to do now that Jesus has been resurrected (Acts 17:30). Apart from repentance there is no salvation.
You can "ask Jesus into your heart" without repenting and believing, and you can repent and believe without articulating a request for Jesus to come into your heart.
Repentance and faith are the heart postures you take toward the finished work of Christ...The sinner's prayer is not a magical incantation or a recipe you follow to get a salvation cake...Placing an overemphasis on phrases like "ask Jesus in your heart" gives assurance to some who shouldn't have it and keeps it from some who should.
While saying "asking Jesus into your heart" maybe cute and easier for a child to understand, it may not be the best way to express how God saved you. Jesus even said no comes to me unless the Father draws him to me (John 6:44). The Apostle Peter reminds us that God caused us to be born again (1 Peter 1:3). Let this resonate in your hearts, God drew you to Jesus as the only way to the Father and has caused you to be born again.
By saying we have "ask Jesus into our hearts," we have indirectly said that salvation was all based upon me. Even though we know we are saved by grace, we have taken the credit for our salvation. If you are currently using this phrase to describe you became a Christian, please consider that you did not save yourself by allowing God in. As Russell Moore would say, your life is a wreck. My life was a wreck when God saved me and I praise Him for saving me in spite of myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment