By Todd Friel

The music weeps, the preacher pleads, “Give your heart to Jesus. You have a God shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it.” Dozens, hundreds or thousands of people who want to get their spiritual life on track make their way to the altar. They ask Jesus into their heart.
Cut to three months later. Nobody has seen our new convert in church. The follow up committee calls him and encourages him to attend a Bible study, but to no avail. We label him a backslider and get ready for the next outreach event.

Our beloved child lies in her snuggly warm bed and says, “Yes, Daddy. I want to ask Jesus into my heart.” You lead her in “the prayer” and hope that it sticks. You spend the next ten years questioning if she really, really meant it. Puberty hits and the answer reveals itself. She backslides. We spend the next ten years praying that she will come to her senses.

Telling someone to ask Jesus into their hearts has a very typical result, backsliding. the Bible says that a person who is soundly saved puts his hand to the plow and does not look back because he is fit for service. In other words, a true convert cannot backslide. If a person backslides, he never slid forward in the first place. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (II Cor.5) No backsliding there.

Brace yourself for this one: with very few if any exceptions, anyone who asked Jesus into their hearts to be saved…is not. If you asked Jesus into your heart because you were told that is what you have to do to become a Christian, you were mis-informed.

If you have ever told someone to ask Jesus into their heart (like I have), you produced a false convert. Here is why.

1. It is not in the Bible.

There is not a single verse that even hints we should say a prayer inviting Jesus into our hearts. Some use Rev. 3:20. To tell us that Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts begging to come in.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” There are two reasons that interpretation is wrong.

The context tells us that the door Jesus is knocking on is the door of the church, not the human heart. Jesus is not knocking to enter someone’s heart but to have fellowship with His church.
Even if the context didn’t tell us this, we would be forcing a meaning into the text (eisegesis). How do we know it is our heart he is knocking at? Why not our car door? How do we know he isn’t knocking on our foot? To suggest that he is knocking on the door of our heart is superimposing a meaning on the text that simply does not exist.

The Bible does not instruct us to ask Jesus into our heart. This alone should resolve the issue, nevertheless, here are nine more reasons.

2. Asking Jesus into your heart is a saying that makes no sense.

What does it mean to ask Jesus into your heart? If I say the right incantation will He somehow enter my heart? Is it literal? Does He reside in the upper or lower ventricle? Is this a metaphysical experience? Is it figurative? If it is, what exactly does it mean? While I am certain that most adults cannot articulate its meaning, I am certain that no child can explain it. Pastor Dennis Rokser reminds us that little children think literally and can easily be confused (or frightened) at the prospect of asking Jesus into their heart.

3. In order to be saved, a man must repent (Acts 2:38).Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance.

4. In order to be saved, a man must trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31).
Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of faith.

5. The person who wrongly believes they are saved will have a false sense of security. Millions of people who sincerely, but wrongly, asked Jesus into their hearts think they are saved but struggle to feel secure. They live in doubt and fear because they do not have the Holy Spirit giving them assurance of salvation.

6. The person who asks Jesus into his heart will likely end up inoculated, bitter and backslidden. Because he did not get saved by reciting a formulaic prayer, he will grow disillusioned with Jesus, the Bible, church and fellow believers. His latter end will be worse than the first.

7. It presents God as a beggar just hoping you will let Him into your busy life. This presentation of God robs Him of His sovereignty.

8. The cause of Christ is ridiculed. Visit an atheist web-site and read the pagans who scoff, “How dare those Christians tell us how to live when they get divorced more than we do? Who are they to say homosexuals shouldn’t adopt kids when tens of thousands of orphans don’t get adopted by Christians?” Born again believers adopt kids and don’t get divorced.

People who ask Jesus into their hearts do. Jesus gets mocked when false converts give Him a bad name.

9. The cause of evangelism is hindered. While it is certainly easier to get church members by telling them to ask Jesus into their hearts, try pleading with someone to make today the day of their salvation. Get ready for a painful response. “Why should I become a Christian when I have seen so called Christians act worse than a pagan?” People who ask Jesus into their hearts give pagans an excuse for not repenting.

10. Here is the scary one. People who ask Jesus into their hearts are not saved and they will perish on the Day of Judgment. How tragic that millions of people think they are right with God when they are not. How many people who will cry out, “Lord, Lord” on judgment day will be “Christians” who asked Jesus into their hearts?

So, what must one do to be saved? Repent and trust. (Heb.6:1) The Bible makes it clear that all men must repent and place their trust in Jesus Christ. Every man does have a “God shaped hole in their hearts,” but that hole is not contentment, fulfillment and peace. Every man’s heart problem is righteousness. Instead of preaching that Jesus fulfills, we must preach that God judges and Jesus satisfies God’s judgment…if a man will repent and place his trust in Him.

If you are reading this and you asked Jesus into your heart, chances are good you had a spiritual buzz for a while, but now you struggle to read your Bible, tithe, attend church and pray. Perhaps you were told you would have contentment, purpose and a better life if you just ask Jesus into your heart. I am sorry, that was a lie.

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Come to Christ, He is Mighty to Save – Paul Washer from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

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Slaves for Christ – John MacArthur.

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If I asked you “Can a human ‘fly’?”, how would you answer?  You think to yourself, if I say “yes” they’ll think I am crazy, since a human does not have any wings!  But again you think to yourself, if I say “no” they’ll think I am crazy, since a human can get on-board a plane!  So, how do you respond to such a question?  How do you ensure clear communication, when answering a question that seems incommunicable?

I feel the same tension when I ask myself how to answer this question!  Thus, I have two aims in this article.  First, I will make an attempt to clarify what I mean and don’t mean by the term “backslide”.  Then, once we all know what I intend by the word “backslide”, I will make an attempt to give a clear Biblical answer to the question.

1.  WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THE TERM “BACKSLIDE”?

A.  What I do not mean.

I don’t mean by “backslide” a momentary slide into sin.  The Bible clearly tells us that a Christian can obviously slide into momentary sin, for it tells us if we have none to confess we are not Christians.

“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the  truth is not in us.” – 1 John 1:8

Therefore, a Christian must be able, in some sense, to slide into sin.  For you cannot confess sin unless you have first committed sin to confess.  The Christian confession presupposes Christian sin.

B.  What I do mean.

So far we understand that there is some sense in which a Christian can slide into sin, but how far should we extend this “So far” is the question?  Well, as far as the Bible does.  And the Bible extends the sense in which a Christian can slide into sin until it reaches the line of continuous sin.

“No one who is born of God practices sin…” – 1 John 3:9

So, the Bible makes a clear distinction between momentary sin and continuous sin.  Therefore, I do mean by the term “backslide” this continuous sin.  You have two choices for the word meaning and I choose the second.  So, I hope nobody will misunderstand my following answer.

2.  WELL THEN, CAN A CHRISTIAN “BACKSLIDE”?

A.  No, A Christian cannot “Backslide”.

To some I know this is a shocking answer, but it is shocking on purpose.  Many people today will label someone a “Christian Backslider” who is living in a continual state of sinfulness.  This is a huge tragedy!  For many who profess Christ as Lord yet continuously do not do the will of the Father are falsely assured they know the Lord.  To those who do not see the astronomical, greivous, horrible tragedy involved in such counsel I direct them to Jesus…

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” – Mathew 7:21

Therefore, when we mean by the term “backslide” a continuous state of sinfulness (which I mean) the Bible answers the question with an unapologetical NO.  A Christian cannot backslide.

However, for the majority of my church life I was under the influence of teaching that taught a Christian could indeed “backslide” in the above sense.  All the while the Bible contradicted such teaching.

So, I was lied to….were you?

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Isaiah 64:4-7

⁴ For since the beginning of the world
Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.
⁵ You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—
In these ways we continue;
And we need to be saved.
⁶ But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.
⁷ And there is no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself up to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us,
And have consumed us because of our iniquities.

I grew up in the church and believed from a young age I was really not that bad of a person.  By God’s grace, He showed me that even my best “righteousness” was as filthy rags before Him.  Even the faith I have to believe in Christ is not by my own merit, but it is a gift of God.  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

I was lied to…………………..were you?

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The reasons for this confusion are many, but one of those is a current evangelism tool found in the central Louisiana area. This particular tool ask the question, “What does God require for a person to go to heaven?”, and follows this question with the answer “P. R. A. Y.”. So, basically God requires you to pray. Is this indeed what the All-Sufficient God has required from humanity? I will give no personal opinion, rather I will direct you to the Lord Jesus and let Him answer the question for all of us.

One place where Jesus lifts this fog of confusion is the Sermon on the Mount, which reveals the standard God requires all mankind to meet.  Nevermind what men today tell you, listen to the One who will determine your eternal destiny.   According to Jesus the standard God requires was fixed, failed, and fulfilled.

1.  The Standard was Fixed.

Do you like to spend time looking into the mirror? How about while comparing yourself with some celebrity, model or sports figure? Surely you would say “NO”! Most of us are aware of at least some of our imperfections. Therefore, we don’t like to look at pictures of so called perfect people and compare them with our flaws. The same thing was happening in Jesus’ day. God had given the Hebrews His Law and promised life to all who fulfilled its requirements. However, that Law was simply a picture of the perfect person, and since the Hebrews were not perfect they decided not to compare themselves with it rightly. As a matter of fact they decided to lower the requirements down to their level, just like lowering a basketball rim down so that you can dunk the ball. But when Jesus showed up He had news for them! The standard could not be lowered it was fixed, and not only that it was forever fixed, because it was based upon the perfect character of God. God is the Person, His Law is the Picture. This can be seen when Jesus uses the phrase “you have heard…but I say”. Every one of those phrases sounds something like this “you lowered the rim…but I am raising it back up to its fixed position” Let’s read from the King…

(Mathew 5:21-22) “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

(Mathew 5:27-30) “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

(Mathew 5:20) “For I say to you that unless you righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

(Mathew 5:48) “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

People have always attempted to establish their own standard of righteousness (Romans 10:3), but it was the work of the Christ to remind us that God is our Creator and as His creatures we are under obligation to play by His tune not ours. And His standard is perfection in thought, word, and deed. From the outer actions to the inner motives perfection is required by God from all humanity.

2. The Standard was Failed.

Can you take only one side of a coin from someone? No, you may only want one side, but if you take the coin you get both. Likewise, if you have taken the first side of Jesus’ coin, namely that the standard is forever fixed, then the second side comes with that, namely that the standard was failed. Maybe your not sure that you have failed the standard of God’s Law, so lets take a brief moment to look at it. When you look at it, look at it like you would a mirror and see if you have any flaws…

a. Ever been angry with someone before? Ever called someone a “fool” before? If so according to Jesus you are guilty of violating the sixth commandment (Murder). Remember, it’s not just the outward shell of the act, but the inward condition of your heart. (Mathew 5:21-22)

b. Ever looked with lust at someone before? If so according to Jesus you are guilty of violating the seventh commandment (Adultery). Its not just the act of adultery that is sinful, but the intent of the heart is just as sinful. (Mathew 5:27-30)

c. Ever thought for a moment before about Mathew 5:48 ? According to Jesus you must have a perfection equal to that of God Himself!!!

Having seen yourself in truth through the mirror of God’s Law and, knowing that you have failed it what is your situation like? Well, you have two problems. One is that you are not perfect. Two is that because of your violations of God’s Law you are under its penalty. Therefore, in order for you as a wicked lawbreaker to be in right standing with God two things must take place. Your penalty must be paid and your perfection must be performed. The penalty paid keeps you from the prison of hell and the perfection performed opens the doors of heaven. But it cant be accomplished by you since you are already imperfect, for if you were to live perfectly from now until you die your past record would still be flawed. Who then can help you?

3. The Standard was Fulfilled.

Although there is absolutely no hope for you if you depend on yourself in anyway for being made right with God, there is an abundance of hope if you depend on Jesus Christ. According to His words you can escape hell and enter heaven because of what He did for you. Lets listen to Him explain…

(Mathew 5:17-18) “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

The most perilous word for you in these words is that the Law you violated resulting in your two problems is not going away. God’s requirement remains. The most promising word is that, although the Law is forever fixed Jesus came to fulfill it for us. This is how it works…

(2 Corinthians 5:21) “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”

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