Communication
Jesus is Lord
Jesus is Lord. He is Lord of your life and mine – you can’t “make Him your Lord” because He already is and always has been whether you acknowledge Him as such or not. He is Lord of all – everything and everyone. Read the book of John, chapter 1.
We like to think we are the ones who made a decision. We get to a certain point and we feel the need to put some religion into our lives and then we think we’ll be ok. Then maybe we decide to really become spiritual and accept Jesus into our hearts. But my question is this: Where does it say in the Bible that we have to ask Jesus to come into our heart to receive salvation? I can’t find it…..
You may say, now wait a minute – what about Revelation 3:20 which says: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. I think this IS where this concept came from but if you read the six verses previous to that one you will find God is talking to the Laodicean church. He is rebuking them for being neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm. I understand this to be people that are already saved, but have grown accustomed to their riches and their comfort. They have no idea they are wretched, poor, naked and blind. They are depending upon themselves and not God – sound familiar? Then in verse 19 He says; As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. This verse confirms to me that these are people that know God because He says He loves and chastens them.
What the Bible DOES say about salvation is this: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8) It is His unmerited favor (grace) given to us as a free gift. We cannot earn it. And we cannot be merely emotional or shameful of our sin or else it’s not real. We must truly repent. John the Baptist cried Repent! over and over. Repentance is not just a one-time deal. We should be asking God for forgiveness of our sins on a daily basis! And the bible says: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10.)
That part about believing is a very important part of salvation that goes with repentance of sin. First you must be called by the Holy Spirit in conviction of your sins. You must realize that you cannot do ANYTHING to save yourself. Then you must repent (turn away) from sin. You must confess Him and BELIEVE that God raised Him from the dead – therefore, He will also raise you. All these actions equal - salvation in Jesus Christ. The way to get there? The cross…..and…..the blood. The blood He shed for you and I on that cross. Only His blood can wash you white as snow.
Please don’t take this wrong. I believe the concept of asking Jesus to come into our hearts is a wonderful way to explain salvation to children who may be too young to understand the biblical language. But are we doing even them a dis-service if we don’t explain fully what it means to be saved? Are we producing people - children and adults alike who “said the prayer” without repentence, without faith and without believing that God hath raised Him from the dead? That verse says we believe unto righteousness with our heart and with our mouth confession (of sin) is made unto salvation. Salvation is through faith (belief in Christ) and repentence alone and BY the grace of God alone. But if a person “said a prayer one time” then later in life are truly called of God through His Holy Spirit unto salvation, will they recognize that call?
It worries me that lots of people believe they are saved just because they said a prayer one time. People I know – family members…. Jesus said: you will know them by their fruits. Don’t you wish they would just read their Bible? I heard a statistic the other day that said 100 people on the street were asked if they thought they were going to heaven or hell. Out of the 100, only 4 said hell – most said heaven and some said they didn’t know. When the ones that answered ‘heaven’ were asked why they believed that, most said because they are a good person or they prayed a prayer and asked Jesus to come into their heart. I am not trying to be judgmental. I know God alone knows the hearts of men. I am truly concerned about what is being taught – or not taught in some churches.
The average person has no idea here in the 21st century the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. They have no idea that Jesus is Lord. Sad, isn’t it? If we knew a cure for cancer which has caused millions of deaths, would we not tell people? Then why don’t we tell them about Jesus? And when we do tell them, why don’t they believe? Think about it……
I welcome your thoughts or disagreements on this subject. I don't think I am the only person who feels that maybe the reason we are not seeing any power in the gospel is because we are not always presenting it correctly.
Scripture taken from KJV
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