I've been thinking about a prayer that is often used by me and other well meaning Christians. It is a prayer that is used in witnessing and mostly at the end of a sermon during the invitation.
What is this prayer? We hear these words, "Please give your life to Jesus and invite Him into your heart." In other words, "ask Jesus into your heart" and you will be saved!
This is often followed by a prayer, in which the pastor leads the congregation into a prayer that goes something like this: "Jesus, I need you now. I am a sinner. I know that you love me. I ask you to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior."
If a man, woman or child prays that prayer or something similar that involves inviting Jesus into one's heart, we then ask for a show of hands -- "How many just invited Jesus into your heart? Raise your hand!" Then we get all excited and tell the congregation: "Look at the number of conversions. Welcome to the family of God."
Then we take the count and share it with our pastoral buddies and report, "Last Sunday's service, we had 22 people raised their hands and invited Jesus into their hearts.""Hallelujuah! Praise the name of Jesus," our pastoral comrades tell us.
But were these really true conversions? Did we not possibly participate in the greatest lie ever prayed?
In Part 2, I am going to share some reasons why I believe this may be a very big lie. We could be involved in the greatest hoax perpetrated in Christianity. In the mean time, let me leave you with one simple assignment.
Find one passage that commands us to ask "Jesus into our hearts in order to be saved."
End of Part 1
The Greatest Lie Ever Prayed, Part 2
Satan must hate when people turn to Jesus. Since he is the great deceiver, you know he has a plan to distort the message of the gospel in order to deceive people into thinking they are saved when in fact, they may not be.
“Asking Jesus into your heart,” is not a biblical phrase. Nowhere is anyone commanded to do so in order to be saved. “Giving your life to Jesus,” is another non-biblical phrase. Yet we hear well meaning pastors and Christians asking others to do this. Are we perpetrating a false gospel?
If someone were to ask you that they wanted to become a Christian, what would you say? One thing is certain, I think we would all agree on this, we do not want to give out misinformation that can alter a person’s destiny.
Here are a few reasons why I believe “asking Jesus into our hearts” does not produce salvation:
1. No such command or phrase exists in the Bible.
Does it matter what the Bible teaches and does it matter what it is also silent on? Often Christians will go to Revelation 3:20 as proof that asking Jesus into your heart is the right thing to do.
The verse reads: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
Note first of all that Jesus is writing to a “church,” (cf. v. 14) not an individual. Once inside the church, Jesus will individually fellowship with the people, but it’s the church’s door He is knocking on, not the door of a person’s heart.
Second, in verse 22, we read: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the CHURCHES.” Again, this is not written to a person to open his heart to Jesus, but to a church to open its door to Jesus.
Many times this verse is used in this way: “Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart. He won’t break it down. Jesus is a gentleman. You have to invite Him in. You have to ask Jesus to come into your heart.” But look again at the passage. Is that really what is being taught there?
2. Asking Jesus into your heart makes no sense.
Is Jesus already not present in your heart? If you say no, He is not, then you have limited God’s omnipresence.
“But pastor Rich, God does not exist inside the heart or life of an unsaved person?” Why wouldn’t He? The bible says that Jesus “enlightens every man who comes into the world” (John 1:9).
Elsewhere John says that “God is light” (1 John 1:5). Therefore, if God is light, and Jesus enlightens every person who is born into this world, to some degree, His presence is within every person. If you have a problem with God existing in the heart of an unsaved person, then how do you handle this passage that teaches that God is in hell?
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol (hell), you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me (Psalm 139:7-10).
Let me ask you this: As a Christian, do you believe God is with you always? He stated that He would never leave nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5). Have you ever prayed, “Lord, be with me as I go to visit uncle Pete and share some important news to him,” or something similar, asking for God’s presence when He clearly states that He is always with you?
We often use Christian phrases that we’re comfortable with but is without theological content. Here’s another one. Have you ever ask people to tithe to the church? Or have you ever been asked to tithe?
Find me one verse – just one in all the New Testament that is directed to Christians or to the church, where tithing is commanded or encouraged? You’ll come across a couple passages in the gospels where Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees for holding to a command in the Old Testament, but not doing the more important principles of the law, such as love and justice (Matt. 23:23; Luke 11:42).
Now I personally practice tithing, but I do so as a starting point, not as a command. But here is my point: We often use comfortable and catchy phrases that have little to no basis in sound theology.
Now we can encourage church members to tithe and we can pray, “Father, please be with us as we go on this mission trip,” and it won’t matter all that much in terms of eternity. But when it comes to saving faith in Jesus in which a person’s eternal destiny is on the line, we cannot and we shouldn’t be careless.
End of Part 2
The Greatest Lie Ever Prayed, Part 3
Here are additional reasons that simply asking Jesus into your heart may be “the greatest lie ever prayed.”
3. In order to be saved, the Bible teaches that a man must repent (Acts 2:38). Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance.
Sometimes we try to add this in by leading people into prayer by saying, “Lord, forgive me of my sins,” but will that cut it? People should be specific to some degree. Perhaps this would suffice: “Lord, I have come to see myself as a sinner deserving hell. I believe in your finished work on the cross for my salvation. My ways have never been your ways and my will has never been your will. I renounce all my rebellion and choose right now to trust in Jesus as my only hope of salvation and forgiveness of sins.”
Of course, the words do not have to be precise and perfect, because God looks upon the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). But repentance or a personal renouncing of sin in a person’s life must take place. You cannot come to understand your need of a Savior unless you actually see yourself as a sinner in need of God’s saving grace.
4. In order to be saved, a man must trust in Jesus Christ alone(Acts 16:31). Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of faith.
Simply asking Jesus into your heart is something anyone can do which would not require any faith or trust. To trust in someone in the biblical sense is to fully depend on that person alone. It is to believe who a person says he is and to rely completely on what a person says He has done and will do.
Let’s say you’re hanging over a cliff with one handing holding onto a branch. You have no hope of reaching the top on your own strength. Jesus comes to you and looks down upon you and says, “If you want me to save you, then let go of the branch.”
What we often do is pray a prayer that grabs a hold of Jesus hand with the hand we have free while holding onto with the other hand the branch of security, pleasure, relationship, money, fame, etc. We want Jesus to save us on our terms, not His. Simply asking Jesus into your heart does not go far enough.
End of Part 3
The Greatest Lie Ever Prayed, Part 4
Is accepting Jesus into your heart a biblical means of salvation? I have already shared four reasons that strongly suggest it is not.
Here is the fifth:
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 in sin and often feel insecure. They live in doubt and fear because they do not have the Holy Spirit giving them assurance of salvation. Simply asking Jesus into one’s heart apart from repentance of sin is a sure way to lose in the end. Often people who struggle with sin think back to the time when they “accepted the Lord into their hearts” as a means of assurance. But what is better than that is to examine your life in terms of fruit bearing. Are you bearing fruit? Do you have a hatred for sin and are you, by the grace of God gaining victory? A transformed life is one of the best assurances of being saved.
6. The person who asks Jesus into his heart will likely end up inoculated, bitter and backslidden.
Why? Because he recited a formulated prayer that apparently has not worked, he grows disillusioned with Jesus, the Bible, church, fellow believers and the Christian life. He then ends up worse than he was at 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. Remember, the Bible says that it is “By grace you are saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8). God gives as a gift to His elect “saving faith in Jesus.” Just merely asking Jesus to come into your heart is actually no faith at all. Faith is the instrument that God uses to bring individuals into a saving relationship with Himself. That is not to say that faith is the basis of our salvation; rather, it is the channel by which God grants salvation.
The great theologian B.B. Warfield said, "The saving power of faith resides thus not in itself, but in the Almighty Savior on whom it rests...It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but that Christ saves through faith."
Faith comes to the believer as a gift from God. It is not something that individuals are capable of mustering up on their own. Were faith a work of man's own doing, man would be in a position to take partial credit for his redemption. But faith is “not of works lest any man should boasts” (Eph. 2:9).
Faith comes as a result of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit-He makes alive our hearts to believe. Apart from the new birth, there can be no true faith. Therefore, faith, though it manifests itself in action, comes as a result of God's work in us.
God grants us faith and that faith is evidenced by our walking in the good works that "God has prepared beforehand" for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). True saving faith involves repentance from one's sin and a complete trust in the work of Christ to save from sin and make one righteous. The jailor asked Paul this simple question: “Sir, what must I do to be saved” (Acts 16:30)? Paul did not respond by saying you need to pray a prayer of accepting Jesus into your heart. He said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved” (v. 31).
The Reformers spoke of three aspects of faith:
First, is the mental component: Recognition of the truth of the gospel. Which is: “That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4).
Second, is the emotional component: Acknowledgment of your spiritual need for the gospel as a needy desperate sinner
Third, is the volitional element: Choosing to personally commit to the Lord Jesus Christ who, by virtue of His death, provides the only sufficient sacrifice for one's personal sin. Any one of these three aspects of faith, taken by themselves, is insufficient to meet the biblical definition of saving faith. Therefore, the presence of all three components together results in saving faith.
End of Part 4
The Greatest Lie Ever Prayed, Part 5
One of the greatest needs for believers is to have assurance of their salvation. And if you are in that category, here is what John the apostle wrote: “These things I have written to you (He’s talking about the book of 1 John) who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).
What is the assurance? Believe in the name of Christ or placing your complete faith and trust in Jesus alone to save you from God’s wrath, to forgive you of all your sins, and to restore you in a right and proper relationship with God.
Here it is in a nutshell: “Repent or turn from your sin + Trust (faith) in Christ alone as your Lord and Savior” = salvation.
Too many are told that all they have to do is to “accept Jesus as their personal Savior” (a prayer or phrase not found in the Bible). But repentance is often left out and total trust in Christ alone is not emphasized.
What would the greater lie ever prayed produce?
These horrible words from Christ Himself: “I never knew you, depart from Me you who practice lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23).
Reason #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.
Reason #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.
Reason #10 - 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 may have been the greatest lie you ever prayed.
Note: Here are two passages that need mentioning:
Colossians 2:6: “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”
John 1:12: “But as many as received Him (Christ), to them He gave the power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe in His name.”
First, notice that both passages have the word “receive” in it. So to say that “I have received Christ” is not unbiblical. I do not want to give that impression.
Second, both passages qualify what “receiving Christ” is about. In Colossians 2:6 -- it is about “walking in Him.” In John 1:12 - it is about “believing (or trusting) in His name.”
Therefore, to “receive Christ” as Lord and Savior, is not merely a formality, but putting one’s faith and trust in Him alone that results in a public walk with Him.
End of Series
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