Debating the Invitation

I have often considered whether I do an invitation at the end of the Sunday morning worship service because it is biblical or because it is a long-held tradition and expected of me. Not that I have never considered the biblical rightness of it, but maybe I haven't really wanted to reach a conclusion that would be seen as controversial, so I put off reaching a definite conclusion.

I want to take a look at some biblical presentations of the gospel and the requested responses, and then from there consider if asking people to walk an aisle, raise a hand or pray a prayer in response to the gospel is necessary, OK/neutral or possibly detrimental?

Here are a couple of different settings in the Scriptures where we see similarities and differences in how people are told to respond to the gospel: (Underlining added for emphasis)

Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Acts 3:18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…

Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. 31 Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.

These passages from Acts have desired responses to the gospel which include repentance. Even though the last one is not a formal invitation to the gospel message, it does show a necessary connection between the forgiveness of sins in Christ and repentance. Acts 2:37, 39 and 5:31-32 also make a good case for the Holy Spirit being the one who "cuts to the heart"/convicts some in response to the gospel and gives/empowers the required repentance.

Other passages leave out the term repentance and simply suggest the need to believe:

Acts 16:27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

Initially we see in this passage that the jailer was told he need only believe, but afterwards the apostles still took the time to teach the Word of God to him in more detail (v. 32). It may well be that he was told in that further instruction that repentance was necessary or maybe only "believing" was discussed. Either way, do verses like this go against the concept of repentance as a necessity for salvation?

Repentance is defined by Strong’s Concordance as - a change of mind, change in the inner man, and has generally been understood to be more than simply agreeing with certain facts. It is not just a change of mind, but a change of heart and must therefore affect desires and actions or it is not true repentance. 

John the Baptist gives us a clear picture of how repentance was understood in first century Jewish culture:

Luke 3:7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Some would like to take modern ideas of belief and redefine repentance to nothing more than at one moment agreeing with the fact about Jesus, rather than defining belief, as the first century writers surely did, as only valid if repentance is present.

Jesus certainly taught that we need only believe:

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

He also defined saving belief in many places:

John 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

Luke 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

It seems abundantly clear that all those who are truly saved must have a belief that results in the fruit of following/obeying Jesus according to His Word…could that be repentance? This makes perfect sense if salvation is God using His Word and the Holy Spirit to bring our change of mind/heart, such that we then freely believe the gospel. 

Consider the implications of this -

I might be able to take folks who are somewhat indifferent to the gospel and create an atmosphere where they might respond in some way. I can appeal to their emotions by suggesting they may die on the way home or be separated from their loved ones who are already in heaven (I claim anyway) so they better respond now. I might also increase responses by making the gospel very simple to receive, so that it just makes sense to raise that hand, walk that aisle or pray that prayer in order to cover the bases and escape hell, in case it is true!

However, if I believe salvation is a work of God through the power of His Word and Spirit, my emphasis would be on teaching the Word of God as carefully and thoroughly as possible and calling folks to repent in response. Based on Jesus' definition of saving belief, I would want to tell them to read and obey the Word of God and tell them they will find assurance from God of their salvation there alone.  

So, is the invitation necessary, OK/neutral or a possible detriment in the worship service? It all depends on what you mean by invitation. If, by an invitation, I mean asking someone to raise their hand, walk an aisle or even pray a prayer in order to be saved, I say don't do it! None of these things necessarily save and to give the idea they do can only add confusion and false hope.

If, as stated above in John 8:31-32, Jesus told those who "believed" that they are His true disciples only if they hold to His teaching, dare I tell anyone that if they just walked the aisle, raised their hand or prayed a prayer that they are surely saved? May it never be, and may God forgive me for ever suggesting to someone that they should see that outward act as the source for their assurance!

However, if by an invitation, I mean calling folks to repent and follow Jesus according to His Word, then I say we must do so.  That is what the Scripture actually teaches...those who are truly saved…repent.

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Money over morality?

We've heard it before, while folks are arguing about the morality of things like abortion, gambling and legalizing drugs, someone will always come along and move the discussion to money. The question is no longer is it right, but what will it cost us financially. It is no surprise that the gay marriage debate is now being framed in the light of the alleged financial doom that awaits North Carolina if we pass an amendment banning gay marriage. See the article here - Bank of America and gay marriage

Do we really want to make our guess at future financial consequences the main factor in deciding what is right or what laws we should pass? I remember the arguments for gambling/lotteries and how proponents said, if we don't have them all that money will be lost to other states, yet, gambling has proven to be a money loser for every state that has it. See this article for some great statistics and insight by Al Mohler - Al Mohler on Gambling

Of course the fact that it is costing us money to have lotteries and casinos is no reason to have them or not have them, if they were a morally good and necessary thing, then I say have them, even if they are money losers. My point in this example is simply that the predictions of future financial doom regarding passing or not passing certain laws are often wrong.

Likewise, there is no way to predict what would actually happen if we legalized drugs in terms of the financial implications or damage to society in other ways. Surely, when it comes to abortion, if someone believes the unborn are actual children, the mere mention of financial cost in the debate would be seen as barbaric.

So when it comes to legalising gay marriage and possible financial implications, I don't think I can add any better evaluation than the one given in God's word -

1 Tim. 6:9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (NKJV)

I don't think most of these people promoting sin by passing immoral laws are believers straying from the faith, but they are certainly straying from the truth of God's word none the less and will bring many sorrows to themselves and those around them who suffer the consequences of laws made based on money over morals!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quote!

The believer is neither a pessimist nor an optimist. To be either is illusory. The believer sees reality not in a certain light but as it is, and believes only in God and God’s power towards all and over all that is seen. (in No Rusty Swords)

What reward shall we have?

Heb. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Who seeks after God?

Rom. 3:10 As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”

How will any come to experience the rewards of seeking a God we never seek?

Eph. 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

What will it be like to experience the richness of His grace in the age to come? What reward might we have when we get there? Learn from those who know -

Rev. 4:9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11 “You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.”

Those who are made alive by Him, diligently seek Him and are rewarded by getting to see Him whom they seek - Jesus Christ. Any other reward we could receive must be attributed to Him and seen only as another reason to praise Him!

Jesus Christ is the great reward!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Greatest moments in TV history?

First steps on the moon?

Berlin wall coming down?

Statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled?

Yet, this one sticks in my mind like yesterday -

Why do Christians merit such special attention?

Please follow this link to an article - discrimination against Christan club on campus upheld by the Supreme Court.

Will Muslim clubs be forced to let those who disagree with their beliefs serve in leadership? I bet not, and political clubs need not allow those of different politics to serve in leadership in their clubs.

It is only the Christian message that creates such a strong reaction by those who hear it and either believe unto salvation or reject it as the tyranny of a God they hate.

Commanded to be joyful - or else?

I was listening to a John Piper sermon on joy and was reminded of how being joyful in the Lord is glorifying to Him, commanded of us and the reasonable response to knowing Him!

Deut. 28:47 “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. (NKJV)

This makes sense when you consider the fact that what we seek our joy in - is our functional God. If we will not see God as our gracious source of joy for His past, present and future grace toward us in Christ, we will seek it in the things of the world and we will serve them, not God!

Is this a call to heap guilt on our lack of Joy? I don't think so, but rather a call to recognize how great our God is and how great we have it in Him, then we will have Joy in Him and the glory is all His!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Islam vs. Christianity = Justice vs. Forgivness?

I was watching the news this morning and a man was being interviewed regarding the shooting rampage conducted against civilians by an American soldier in Afghanistan. The "expert" said we Americans don't understand Islam as it is a religion that focuses on justice, while Christianity is a religion that focuses on forgiveness and grace. I got the impression this man believed the God of Christianity doesn't take sin serious, while the god of Islam does and that is why we deal with crime and punishment different in our respective countries.

I wonder how many would share this same error regarding Christianity? Not that we Christians aren't big on forgiveness and grace, but that God's holy and just character is what gives meaning to the forgiveness and grace we have in Jesus Christ.

When it comes to earthly justice for crimes such as the ones committed by this soldier, Afghanistan citizens (mostly Muslims) feel an obligation to take justice into their own hands and avenge the crimes committed against their family members personally. Our laws condemn personal vengeance, but we would agree that justice and even the death penalty, are reasonable and necessary under certain circumstances.

However, when it comes to crimes against God, as all crimes against man are, we should be the ones who proclaim the absolute justices of God toward sin the loudest. Because He is just, God is unwilling let even one sin against Him pass without the penalty of eternal death being required of the one who committed it.

It is this reality of God's justice that makes the forgiveness and grace found in Jesus Christ significant. Every death penalty required for every sin, for everyone redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, will have been carried out to the exact extent justice requires, as God the Father has put all that justice required on His own Son!

Rom. 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (NKJV)

If Muslim's or this "expert" on the news, really understood God's justice, they would (Holy Spirit willing) see the need they have for a savior from God's justice themselves!

Then they would know what we mean by forgiveness and grace!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

New Ten Commandments - Really?

A Facebook friend in England, Gary Thompson, posted this article on British churches adopting a "New Ten Commandments" to keep up with the values of people today.

Just a warning, this will likely make you  mad, sad and maybe even physically ill, assuming you love the Lord and His word. Here is a sample of the new commands “manage your anger”, “know God” and “catch your breath”. I am not even sure which commands these are supposed to replace, so this surely isn't a case of translation. It is rather a rewriting of God's word and the acceptance of that rewriting by people who have no respect for God or His word.

Expecting the non-believer to live by God's word - good luck with that!

I am certainly for calling everyone everywhere to believe what the Bible teaches and follow the subject of it - Jesus Christ. However, thinking we will convince folks that they should live by it, just because it is what our nation was founded on, is contrary to the nature of unbelievers. See the truth below -

Rom. 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. ⁸ So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

That is the hard to hear news - unless there is some other worldly motivation (impress a girlfriend, etc.), those who have not been born again will reject  God's word, even when the truth looks very obvious to us.
 
Rom. 8:9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. ¹⁰ And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 

There is also good news - even as we proclaim the truth and face persecution, we have sure eternal hope in Jesus Christ! 

A question - How did our nation generally function according to biblical truth for so long and how did we get so averse to the truth so quickly in recent years? 

Here is my theory on the issue:  

I know many of our founding fathers where Christians, as were many of those who originally settled this country. It also seems obvious that Christianity was the most prolific religion for many years here and it created a type of peer pressure that affected the actions of even those who did not hold to the Christian faith themselves. At some point, the Biblical basis for these peer pressure encouraged morals became lost to the majority and people began to feel empowered to question and reject them! 

Is that the time we live in? 

I think it is self evident and substantiated by recent surveys, that a minority of Americans are Christians. Even if a majority of Americans might profess to be Christians, the majority surely don't hold to or live by the Biblical standards that define true Christianity. As a result, the peer pressure to be moral according to the Bible's standards, has now been replaced with the peer pressure to be non-offensive and all-inclusive when it comes to lifestyle choices that the Bible calls sinful. 

In post Christian societies like we see in Europe and elsewhere, this is just the way it goes. We may see a great awakening to the truth by the power of the Holy Spirit, if we continue to proclaim the truth. However, we also need to consider the fact that persecution is the norm for Christ's followers and the absence of it over the past 200ish years here, has been the exception for believers throughout history, not the norm!  

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
  

The Folly of Pragmatism in Ministry!

Pragmatism basically means "whatever works is right".  I don't know how much more clear God's word can be regarding the folly of thinking conversion or spiritual growth can come through anything but God's word!

2 Cor. 4: Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (NKJV)

God's word will be rejected by the natural man 100% of the time, no matter how crafty the speaker or how great an atmosphere we create. We are all blind to the gospel until the moment God commands light to shine in our hearts and we willingly see and believe that Christ Jesus is Lord!

So we preach that Christ Jesus is Lord! Not that He is a ticket out of hell if you pray some prayer, that He just wants to make your life better if you let Him or that He just can't be happy without you! No, we preach that He is God, He should be worshipped, served and obeyed and to believe or do less in response to Him, is to not know Him at all and perish in your sin.

That is the message we proclaim and either God will convict and convert the hearer through the Holy Spirit or people will remain in their natural God rejecting state. The messenger is no more or less a success either way, since the power is all of God.

Pragmatists will not be satisfied with these results and will start looking for ways to increase the harvest by tweaking the message or atmosphere - how ridiculous and dangerous, when you understand how God saves!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Doctors say killing young children is just as acceptable as abortion.

My friend, and occasional commenter on this blog, Dave sent this appalling story to me.

If you are going to say killing the unborn is OK, it makes sense (although still an abomination), to kill older already born children who are inconvenient to their parents or society as well. This is what some alleged experts in Europe are saying anyway. 

See the entire wretched article here - Doctors advocate killing infants.

How Islamic blasphemy laws seek to silence all critics - everywhere!

My friend Larry sent the article at the link below to me. It is long, but well worth the effort. If you read far enough, even Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) speaks out against the farce of "religious tolerance" being used to suppress all anti-Islamic speech.

http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2012&month=02