The last two Fridays we have looked at the question of whether the lost need to ask Jesus into their hearts, and have provided ten reasons why the answer is “no.” We will look now at four final reasons.
11.) Nobody asked Jesus to come into his heart to be saved for the overwhelming majority of church history.
An examination of centuries of early Christian writings reveals no evidence that anyone thought that salvation came to those who asked Jesus into their hearts. Furthermore, no Baptist or evangelical Protestant confession of faith, or any other significant confession of faith of Christendom whatever, has affirmed that salvation comes by asking Jesus into one’s heart. Church history reveals that this idea is a modern innovation[1] that would have been foreign to the vast majority of believers since Christ started His church in the first century. Someone who thinks that asking Jesus into his heart is proper because “everyone does it” ignores the position of vast numbers of modern Bible-believing churches who oppose this extrabiblical practice. Such a person also ignores the fact that for century after century not only was it false to say that everyone did it, but in fact absolutely nobody did it.
12.) There are infernal spiritual powers that can make you feel happy when you ask Jesus into your heart.
While nobody has ever become a Christian because he asked Jesus to come into his heart, there are many, many people who have experienced peaceful, pleasant, and joyous sensations after engaging in this man-made religious ritual. However, such feelings do not in the least prove that one has become a Christian and a child of God. Pagans worshipping demonic idols have had many genuine religious experiences (1 Cor 12:2). Hell-bound false prophets have had fantastic and incredible encounters with the supernatural (Num 22:9-13, 20, 28-34) and even performed miracles themselves (Ex 7:10-11, 22; 8:7). Judas, the betrayer of Christ who never was a true Christian (Jn 6:70; 12:6), experienced the personal presence of Christ Himself for years and was able to perform miracles because of his Apostolic office (Mt 10:5-8). People can have the Holy Spirit powerfully working in their lives, but never truly repent and believe on Christ, and consequently be eternally damned (Heb 6:4-9). The Bible warns about “another Jesus,” a false “Jesus” that cannot save because associated with “another gospel,” a false gospel (2 Cor 11:4). A “Jesus” that gives salvation to those who pray, rather than to those who believe, is not the Redeemer of the Bible, for the real Christ never said He would save those who said the “sinner’s prayer,” but promised many times to give eternal life to those who trust in Him (Jn 3:16, 18, 36; 5:24; 6:47; 11:25-26). Nevertheless this false “Jesus” is associated with “another spirit” that counterfeits the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 11:4) and is able to give the lost many powerful religious experiences.
You need to recognize that your own heart is “deceitful above all things” (Jer 17:9). Furthermore, the “Devil . . . deceiveth the whole world” (Rev 12:9), “blind[ing] the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor 4:4). Millions of Satan’s demons, working in conjunction with human indwelling sin, are easily capable of creating all sorts of marvelous but damningly deceptive feelings and emotions in the lost. The frightening ease through which people can be follow lies explains why Scripture is full of warnings about spiritual deception.[2] Vast multitudes of people who said Jesus was their Lord, enjoyed marvelous spiritual experiences, and performed great works in His name will hear, in horror, Christ say to them: “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Mt 7:21-23). Some who read this pamphlet, but reject its warning and trust that they are saved because of their experiences when they asked Jesus into their heart, will be among them. How you felt when you asked Jesus into your heart does not matter in the least. The only thing that matters is the plain teaching of God’s Word about salvation: “repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mr 1:15).
13.) If you tell people to ask Jesus into their hearts, and they never are saved because you confused them, you will be accountable for their damnation.
Scripture is clear that you are only “pure from the blood of all men” if you “have not shunned to declare unto [them] all the counsel of God” (Ac 20:26-27; Jam 3:1; Eze 3:18-21; 33:6-9). Clarity on the gospel is not some insignificant and non-essential matter. If, instead of clearly setting forth Christ’s substitutionary death, and salvation through repentant faith in Him, you tell people to ask Jesus into their hearts to be saved, you should expect to be accountable to the infinitely holy God for their eternal damnation. You will be guilty, not of physical murder, but of a sin infinitely worse—the spiritual murder of people you gave your distorted “gospel” to, whether people in the world, adults or youth in your church, members of your family, or even your own children. You will face an incomprehensibly horrible and tragic surprise when you have to give an account to God.
14.) If you asked Jesus to come into your heart instead of repenting and believing in Christ, you will be eternally damned.
Friend, you need to recognize that there is only one way you can get into God’s kingdom and have everlasting life—faith alone in the Christ who died and rose again as your own personal Lord and Savior. The means through which you can personally receive the salvation Christ purchased on the cross is not prayer, faith and prayer, faith that God will answer your prayer, or faith plus prayer that you mean with all your heart (Pr 16:25). These is many “a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [is nonetheless] death” (Pr 16:25). To personally receive any benefit from Christ’s redemptive work you must come directly to Him in a helpless and dependent trust (Jn 6:37). There is no other true gospel—only many false gospels (Gal 1:8-9). Heed God’s Word: “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (Jn 3:18). All those who do not trust in Christ alone through faith alone will burn in hell for all eternity, regardless of whether they asked Jesus into their heart or not. There are vast numbers of people in hell this very moment who have asked Jesus into their hearts. “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves” (2 Cor 13:5), lest you join them in torment for all eternity.
These 14 reasons are a portion of a larger study which will not be reproduced on this blog at this time. The larger study can be accessed here.
[1] Dr. Paul Chitwood notes:
Although the Sinner’s Prayer is widely used and enormously popular today, no variation of it is found in the Bible. . . . In addition to the Sinner’s Prayer not occurring in the Bible, it is also absent from the pages of church history. . . . [T]he concept of bringing or inviting “Jesus into your heart” is one that does not occur readily before the turn of the twentieth century. . . . The Sinner’s Prayer was not popularized until late [in] the twentieth century, possibly as late as the 1940s or even the early 1950s. . . . The Sinner’s Prayer must not be understood as the means by which a person is saved. (pgs. 3-4, 43-44, 69, 125, The Sinner’s Prayer: An Historical and Theological Analysis, Paul H. Chitwood. Ph. D. Diss., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2001. Elec. acc. http://faithsaves.net/the-sinners-prayer/)
[2] For example, see Mt 13:22; 24:4, 5, 11, 24; Mr 4:19; 7:22; 13:5-6; Lu 21:8; Rom 1:29; 3:13; 7:11; 16:18; 1 Cor 3:18; 6:9; 15:33; 2 Cor 4:2; 6:8; 11:13; Gal 6:3, 7; Eph 4:14, 22; 5:6; Col 2:8; 1 Th 2:3; 2 Th 2:3, 10; 1 Ti 2:14; 2 Ti 3:13; Ti 1:10; 3:3; Heb 3:13 Ja 1:22, 26; 2 Pe 2:13; 1 Jn 1:8; 3:7; 2 Jn 7; Rev 12:9; 13:14; 18:23; 19:20; 20:3, 8, 10.
"All those who do not trust in Christ alone through faith alone will burn in hell for all eternity, regardless of whether they asked Jesus into their heart or not. There are vast numbers of people in hell this very moment who have asked Jesus into their hearts. “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves” (2 Cor 13:5), lest you join them in torment for all eternity."
Again, so well said, therefore knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men.
I very much appreciate the link to Dr. Chitwood's dissertation. This is a very interesting issue – and it infects a great many churches today.
Thanks again!
Thanks for the comments. I thought that Chitwood's dissertation was very interesting also. It is very important to be clear on the gospel.