Have You Received Wrong Salvation Instructions? -- Part 2
In the last post, we looked at 5 examples of wrong salvation instructions. We don’t want to be on the giving or receiving end of those. Please check out Part 1, if you haven’t already. To review, the first 5 examples of incomplete salvation instructions are:
Accept Jesus
Make Jesus your Lord and Savior
Make a decision for Jesus
Say ‘Yes’ to Jesus
Try Jesus
Now, let’s check on the next 5:
Commit to Jesus
The Sinner’s Prayer
Just believe
Ask Jesus into your heart
You’ve got a God-shaped hole in your heart
Let’s take a closer look:
6 — Commit To Jesus
Here are some words from Mr. Friel:
We are not commanded to commit to Jesus, we are commanded to repent and trust in Him, and then He commits to us! That is a far more secure relationship. You can lose your grip on Jesus, but He will never let go of you.
Your first reaction may be to say, ‘Of course we are commanded to commit to Jesus.’ Yes, but that is a FRUIT of salvation, not a means to salvation. Again, if repentance is not emphasized before we are saved, and we water down ‘believe’ to just mean we believe God as a fact, then how can that even be considered answering a call? If it’s just a commitment/decision on our part, then how is it any different than a star athlete giving a verbal commitment to some university? If it’s up to us, then can’t we de-commit? If it’s up to us, it’s not set in stone, right? I think phrases like bought at a price, foreknew, and secured by His blood seem a lot more permanent, don’t you? God certainly seemed to think and say so since He included it among His words we find in the Bible…
7 — The Sinner’s Prayer
You won’t find the ‘Sinner’s Prayer’ in the Bible. For one, we are all sinners, so even the name seems a bit repetitive. Secondly, the name puts the emphasis on us rather than God. Do we need to acknowledge our sin? Absolutely! Do we need to repent of it? Absolutely! BUT, if we are saved, it’s not about what we’ve done, but what God has done, and whether He has called us. Is the fact we even desire to acknowledge our sin and ‘accept’ God a good sign? Yes, if it’s done genuinely, out of a broken and contrite heart. If we are truly drawn and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, then we should acknowledge any sinner who desires to come to repentance and faith (salvation) does so only because of God’s grace in calling us to Himself. Why would we think repeating words that another gave to us is an accurate representation of what we are becoming aware of at that moment? Even if we genuinely mean those words, and the one leading us in a prayer is doing so under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are still left with the impression that there is some special power in us speaking those words. It’s easy to fall into the misconception that we completed something in that moment. No, what was completed on our behalf was completed BY JESUS at the cross! This is merely the beginning for us, as we’ve realized we’re a new creation, by the power of God. Our response should not be repeating some words, but rather an attitude of the old ‘me’ is dead, so I want to know more about how the new ‘me’ lives. Then, practice trusting God to help me live that out. Repentance and faith!
8 — Just Believe
Oh boy! It would be nice if being brought from death to life was that easy, but I assure you it’s not. In fact, if you embrace a type of ‘easy-believism’ which is prevalent in the church today, I can pretty much guarantee you don’t view your faith or even God in a serious way. We know this is true about human nature, which is reflected in phrases like, ‘Easy come, easy go’. Most people know what that means without an explanation, but just to drive the point home, here are a few explanations from theidioms.com —
Readily won and readily lost
When someone is not overly concerned about losing something
If something is easy to obtain then you are less worried about losing it
Quickly come, quickly go
Lightly come, lightly go
Woe to us if we actually view salvation, WHICH IS ONLY POSSIBLE BY JESUS CONQUERING DEATH AND OBTAINING IT FOR US, as something we just need to believe in and then we’re free to just go on living our lives as we wish.
9 — Ask Jesus Into Your Heart
Who is inviting whom now? Simple grammar should immediately show us the problem with this one. This statement declares that we are the subject of the matter. I imagine many folks think this is showing some kind of humility. Well, isn’t assuming you have the authority to make the invitation in the first place a sign of arrogance rather than humility? Who do you think you are? You have to grant the God of the universe permission to come into your heart?! Get out of here with that nonsense! He’ll kick the doors in if He so chooses. That’s the God I see in the Bible. He’s the potter, you’re the clay; He’ll do what He wants with you. That’s the God I’ve read about and know personally. I don’t question that somebody may sincerely want to ‘Ask Jesus into his heart,’ but I sincerely question what view of God you have if you think phrases like that have anything to do with salvation. Salvation is a gift HE decided to give before the foundation of the world! It’s not a gift request you make and then He decides whether or not to give it to you (which means you’ll probably regularly question if you’re saved). That’s assuming you aren’t asking Him as a formality because you think He’ll just answer your requests as you desire (Who is God in that scenario? How’s that ‘Word of Faith’ movement working for you?). In the case of the latter, why even bother with God or Jesus, just ‘manifest’ your salvation and cut out the middle man. I mean, you think you’re the author of your salvation anyway, so why bother praying to a God who in your eyes isn’t even sovereign enough to choose you as one of His own?
10 — You’ve Got a God-Shaped Hole In Your Heart
This one sounds clever, doesn’t it? If we have not come to repentance and faith, then sure we can make a case that we actually do have this hole in our heart. That is to say, God is meant to occupy this most important place. BUT, there are two major issues with this description that come to mind. One, it implies we are just lacking something/someone, and if we add God to our lives than we’ll be made whole. Again, we are the subject. Two, it doesn’t do justice to our actual state of deadness and hopelessness. I was thinking about an illustration on this one, and I thought of the difference between a pothole and a dead-end road. If I have a pothole (hole in my heart), then I can just have God come along and patch it up. He’s probably got a top-notch patching squad and uses the best quality stuff, right? My road should be smooth-sailing once He gets through with it. On the other hand, if I run into a dead-end, it doesn’t matter how well-paved the road is or how good a vehicle I think I have, there’s simply no way forward. When it comes to salvation, we don’t have just a hole to deal with; we’re at the end of the road. There’s no way forward. We’re destined to die in our sins and we can’t save ourselves. We don’t need a repair, we need a resurrection!
Wrong salvation instructions certainly come in other forms too. These are just some common ones out there. Any salvation instruction that minimizes the gospel and emphasizes choice is not biblical. You may be able to find part of the instruction in the Bible, but that doesn’t mean it is according to God’s will and in line with His whole instruction. If God, repentance, and faith are not the focal point of the salvation message, then we should be concerned we are putting things in the hands of man. Since we have no ability to grant or earn salvation, then this is not a secure salvation in which to put our hope. We are setting up ourselves and others to have either no sense of security or a false security when it comes to salvation. Biblical salvation results in assurance, based on the truth of God’s word.
I hope this video and some of these words help to clarify things in some way. If you have further questions or comments, please feel free to reach out. I welcome the opportunity to have conversation about such an important matter!