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July/August 2015 • SR
This idea is critical, because if a person buys into this
misconception, it’s a tremendous hindrance to their out-
reach for Christ. How can I talk to someone else about
their salvation if I’m not entirely certain of my own?
True, some people come to Christ from a very sudden
and dramatic experience, like the Ethiopian eunuch in
Acts 8:26-39; he could have easily given you the date.
And there’s no doubt the same thing was true of Paul the
Apostle in Acts 9:1-22, 26-28; I’m sure he not only could
have given the date, but he could have testified of the
specific
hour
he trusted the Savior. But there are those
whose conversion is not as dramatic. They may have
been raised in a Christian environment where Christ
was spoken about frequently. Certainly, at some point in
time, they came to clearly understand their sinful condi-
tion and trust Christ, but they may not know exactly
when the moment occurred.
Minister deeply to your people and free them by telling
them that as long as they’re trusting Christ alone, they
are saved, regardless of when they crossed the line.
2. If you want to be saved, just invite Jesus
into your heart.
Well-meaning people often use the phrase “invite Jesus
into your heart.” They often base this on Revelation 3:20
where we’re told, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will
come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”
With the phrase “stand at the door and knock” in mind,
many picture the heart as a door where Jesus stands
begging us to let Him in. Therefore, the lost are exhorted
to “invite Jesus into their heart.”
However, that verse is addressed to Christians, not non-
Christians. Verse 19 reads, “As many as I love, I rebuke
and chasten.”
Chasten
means “to discipline” and is
used of believers, not unbelievers (Hebrews 12:5-6). The
passage addresses the church of Laodicea, one of the
seven churches of Asia Minor in Revelation 2 and 3.
Their wealth at the time had lulled the church into spiritual
sleep; Jesus Christ described this distasteful condition
as “lukewarm” and invites them to repent of their condi-
tion and make Him the center of their love and worship.
Additionally, in Revelation 3:20, the Greek translation of
in to
means “toward.” In a figurative language, Jesus is
saying to Christians that He will enter the church and
come “toward” the believer for fellowship.
The word
dine
referred to the main meal of the day to
which you invite an honored guest. It was a meal given to
hospitality and conversation. Again, the issue is fellow-
ship, not salvation.
Why is this phrase so dangerous to use in evangelism?
There are those who “invited Jesus into their heart” and
sincerely meant they were trusting Him as their personal
Savior, and they are forever His. However, there are
some people who think that by simply saying a prayer in
which they “invite Jesus into their heart,” they’re saved.
In this case, their trust is in a prayer, not in a Savior who
died on a cross.
Ninety-eight times in the Gospel of John, the one book
whose purpose was to tell us how to receive eternal life
(John 20:31), we’re told to
believe
. It means “to trust in
Christ alone as our only way to heaven.” There’s nothing
wrong with someone praying to tell God they’re trusting
Christ alone, but he or she must be aware that saying a
prayer doesn’t save; it’s trusting Christ that saves.
Teach your people to use the right terminology. They
should ask lost people to do what the New Testament
asks them to do — believe — and this means to trust in
Christ alone to save them.
3. When you miss an opportunity to share
Christ with someone, it’s your fault if that
person goes to hell.
Many believers don’t enjoy evangelism. When they do
practice it, they often do it out of guilt, not grace. One
reason people feel guilty is that they’ve been told that if
they’re given an opportunity to share Christ but they
don’t take it, they are forever responsible if that person
goes to hell.
This false teaching is often based on the misuse of
Ezekiel 3:18-19. There we read, “When I say to the
wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no
warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked
way, to save his life, that same wicked
man
shall die in
his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.
Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from
his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in
his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”
This passage has nothing to say about evangelism.
God appointed Ezekiel a watchman (Ezekiel 3:17). His
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