All Men Everywhere
by Steven Warhurst

It was the weekly teachers' meeting at the Christian School, and she had just told us how a child in her class asked Jesus into his heart. Words of joy and affirmation came from other teachers, but I squirmed in my seat. Later, I asked my unwary colleague, "Where does the Bible teach us to ask Jesus into our hearts?" There was an uneasy silence then a quiet, "I don't know." Trying to be gentle, I replied, "Maybe you don't know, because it doesn't teach it!" She was visibly troubled.

Someone might object, "When you say things like that, you're discouraging people who are trying to share their faith." I'm not trying to discourage people from sharing their faith, but I want them to be sure they are sharing the Christian faith. I have become convinced that telling people to ask Jesus into their hearts does great damage to their souls. It's not just a harmless heresy, it's deadly. Here are some examples:

Tom and Jerry were at the beach on vacation. They were sitting out on the deck watching the sunset, when a young man and woman approached them. The couple shared the contents of a little orange booklet and asked if Tom and Jerry wanted to pray the prayer to receive eternal life. "Sure!" they replied. The prayer was prayed, and they parted company. Tom and Jerry then returned to their room, cranked up some AC/DC, and proceeded with a night of drunkenness and debauchery, but now they were secure in their salvation.

Though the names have been changed to protect the guilty, this story is true. These "converts" continued to live grossly immoral lives, but felt good about their prospects of eternal life .

Another example: I was meeting with a couple because her husband was getting high again, and she was moving out. So I confronted them both with their need of Christ. With glazed eyes but completely sure of his place in heaven, the husband replied, "I've prayed that Jesus would come into my heart." I feared that prayer was part of his problem.

The "Christ-haunted" south is full of people who have walked an aisle, prayed a prayer, or raised their hand to receive eternal life. They believe these man-made rituals assure them of heaven, but they continue to live in sin. They are lost, but well-meaning evangelists have convinced them they are found. Assured of their salvation, they dance their merry way to hell.

Since the time of Job (and before), the proper response to gospel preaching has been repentance. When God preached to Job, he responded saying, "I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6). John the Baptist called for repentance as well: "In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt. 3:1-2). Jesus preached the necessity of repentance: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mk. 1:15). This was also the message of the Apostle Paul when he spoke to the pagan Athenians: "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30). The proper response to the good news is not asking Jesus into your heart, but repentance and faith.

Since the "Ask Jesus into your heart" heresy has led many astray, we may have to spend some time fixing the damage. Some victims of this heresy are quite confident that their ritual prayer will protect them from the judgment of God, but they are sorely mistaken. We must tell them as Thomas Adams said, "There is no other fortification against the judgments of God but repentance. His forces be invisible, invincible; not repelled with sword and target; neither portcullis nor fortress can keep them out; there is nothing in the world that can encounter them but repentance." We must convince our friends they are lost, before they can be found. They must understand that their ritual will not protect them from God's invincible forces. The only way to escape God's judgment on that final day is repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must not only call for the right response to the gospel, we must make sure we preach a God-centered gospel. The Apostle Paul did not say, "Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling." No, the God of Scripture commands all men everywhere to repent, and it isn't because God somehow needs them on His team. It is because "God has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained." (Acts 17:31) Modern man-centered evangelism tells of a helpless Jesus who can come into our hearts, if we let Him. In contrast, the biblical gospel proclaims a God who commands repentance and judges those who dare disobey.

So we must go and preach the gospel of the kingdom calling men to repentance, but as we preach we must be careful to avoid two common errors. First, we must be careful to avoid the impression that God pardons men because of their repentance. Repentance is not an act that merits God's forgiveness. Repentance is itself the gift of God (2 Timothy 2:25). It is true that God commands men to repent, but they must not be left thinking repentance was the work of their hands. Repentance is a necessary gift of God. As Thomas Watson said, "God will not pardon for repentance, nor yet without it."

Second, we must tell our unbelieving friends that repentance is not a singular act, never again to be repeated. It is true that justification is an event that happens once for all, but repentance and faith should become the daily habit of their lives. They must continually repent of sin and trust in Christ, until the day their eyelids close in death. If they do not become habitual repenters, serious questions about the sincerity of their initial repentance will arise.

Therefore, go and preach the gospel to every creature, commanding all men everywhere to repent.