Will You be Left Behind?
by Jim Schablitsky
Those
missing the rapture will include professing Christians who prayed to receive
Christ but did not belong to Him! This article encourages every reader to
examine his or her heart as instructed
by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17.
A
Sunday school teacher asked her class of seven-year olds how many would like to
receive Jesus into their hearts. All the hands went up! “Repeat this prayer
after me” said the teacher: “Dear Jesus, I love you! Please come into my heart
and make me a new creature in Christ; and, I will serve you forever. Thank you
Jesus! Amen!” “Now boys and girls, you
have been born again and are all children of God,” said the teacher who had
just led several children in a prayer to receive Christ. “Next Sunday I will
give each of you a certificate that identifies when you received Jesus into
your heart,” said the teacher.
Although
the preceding paragraph was a ‘televised’ event, the practice of leading young
children to Christ ‘in this manner’ occurs in many evangelical Sunday school
classrooms each week. The parents and church leadership express joy over so
many of their children having found Christ at an early age. As the children
grow and mature, the certificates on their bedroom walls are vivid reminders of
their decisions to receive Christ.
Although
‘recital prayer’ (or ‘easy prayerism’ as a perceived method for saving
souls) is widely practiced by many churches, it is also widely practiced by popular
television ministries. On a recent television program, a minister led a
middle-aged woman (on a stage in front of millions) to receive Christ by
reciting a salvation prayer. The salvation prayer was very similar to the one
recited by the Sunday school children. Although we cannot judge whether these
children and woman were saved, we can judge the results from such prayers.
Is
reciting a prayer the way God intends for us to receive Christ?
Many
churches and television ministries are producing false converts by using
recital prayers that appear to misfire most of the time. Ironically, those who
practice recital prayers (for getting one saved) think they are doing a great
work for God. The confusion about salvation stems from the notion that we
receive Christ by asking Him into our lives.
Although
the act of asking Christ into our lives is an expression of our desire to
receive Him, it is seldom ever the ‘decisive moment’ for the new birth. Since most of those who pray to
receive Christ fall away, the telltale results should be proof enough that
something is seriously flawed with the practice of reciting a prayer to receive
Christ. Telling a person who recites a prayer that she or he is now a new
creature in Christ is risky (at best) because that person might not be.
Most
evangelists agree that about 85% of those who pray to receive Christ drift back
into the ways of the world, believing they are saved because they made a
decision for Christ at some point in their life. What could be more dangerous
(or deceptive) then for church leadership to tell unsuspecting and trusting
souls (who have just recited a prayer to receive Christ) that they are now new
creatures in Christ? What a horrible
deception if they were never really born again!
It would seem that many people
pray to receive Christ without any understanding of biblical truth, holiness and
the need to be saved from the power of sin. There is no recognition of their
need for Christ as a matter of life or death. People (both children and adults)
feel (or are told they are) forgiven but do not seem to have realized the depth
of their sinfulness and unholiness.
False conversions occur when
people (including children) do not fully comprehend the basic truths leading to
salvation summarized in 1 Corinthians 15: 1-4. If people are led to recite a prayer to
receive Christ before being led to see their own sinfulness and hopelessness in
Romans 3:23,
they will not see their need for Christ
to save them in Romans 6:23.
Jesus
gave the parable about a sower who went forth to sow seed, God's Word. All the
people in the parable received the seed (God’s Word) gladly, but then soon fell
away for diverse reasons. Only a few continued to feed themselves daily on the
Word, becoming grounded in faith and growing deep roots in the soil of regeneration
(Matthew 13:3).
The few who fed themselves
daily on the Word were the ones who ‘received Christ’ (by hearing, understanding
and believing the salvation truths) and
were born again by faith in the Word (John 15). And now under the grace,
believers feed on the salvation truths presented in Romans through Hebrews. Salvation
for the believer is found in the epistles of Paul based on the substitutionary
death, burial, and resurrection of Christ described in the four gospels.
Is
it wise to tell someone who makes a decision for Christ that she or he is now
born again and heaven bound?
Volumes
have been written about the process of spiritual regeneration. However, what is
known for sure about the majority of those who profess to receive Christ (using
the modern recital prayer method) is that many will fall away or cease to
continue in the truth. Easy prayerism (as the accepted approach) to winning
souls contains ‘polished evangelical appeals’ that pressure people into making
decisions for Christ before their hearts have been fully cultivated by the Word
of Truth.
Unfortunately,
these high-pressure (and often emotional) tactics are filling churches with
false converts whose hearts remain hard as stony ground and consequently
uncultivated to receive the salvation truths. They are lost thinking they are
saved!
Why do most (professing) new converts (young and old) fall away? Most
fall away because they have been deceived (by church leadership)
into believing they have answered the call to salvation. They
fall away because they have no power to receive or continue in His word, and in
many cases simply loose interest in God and church. In John 8:31-
32, Jesus said: “If you abide (continue) in my word, you are My disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free.” Jesus plainly teaches that
those who continue in His Word (and especially the epistles of Paul, which are
for the church) are the ones who have been born again.
Church
leadership must return to TEACHING the basic truths about salvation and
victorious living. These truths will
give the church body (and those who join the body) the vision with which to
live in victory, discern growing deception in the church, uphold the brethern,
and evangelize the lost.
Is
the recital prayer the ‘definitive moment’ for experiencing the new birth? While
it can be for some, it is clearly not the ‘definitive moment’ for most. The ‘recital prayer’ is dangerous in the
sense that it can create false converts and unknowingly condemn those who
repeat the prayer to an eternity without Christ.
Personal
salvation occurs when the soul hears, believes and receives (personalizes) the
‘basic salvation truths’ according to the Biblical precepts of redemption. Although reciting a prayer is easy, it should not replace the need for
the soul to personalize the basic salvation truths. Personalizing the basic
salvation truths is a soul searching experience that occurs under the
convicting power of the Holy Spirit (John 16: 5-11).
Making Sure of Your
Salvation
Although the Lord knows them
that are His (2 Timothy 2:19), do we know with certainty that we are his? We
cannot look at other believers and say whether or not they have been born
again, even if they profess that they have been. All professing believers need to examine themselves according to 2
Corinthians 5:17: "If any man be IN CHRIST, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new."
Those
who have been ‘born again’ by the power of the Holy Spirit will know it (Romans
8:16-17) because they will typically be:
Ÿ
In agreement with what the Bible says about judgment, their sinfulness
and depravity before a Holy God (before conversion)
Ÿ
At harmony with what the Bible says about grace, their acceptance and
holiness before God as they abide in Christ (after conversion)
Ÿ
Hungry for the Word and persistent in searching the scriptures for
truth
Ÿ
Overwhelmed and grateful by the fact that Jesus died in their place on
the cross
Ÿ
Convinced by the resurrection power that gives them daily victory over
sin
Ÿ
Appreciative to the Holy Spirit who sustains them day-by-day through
the power of the Word and prayer
Ÿ
Able to produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is love, joy peace...(Galations
5:22)
Ÿ
Mournful for those who are lost
and without hope in the deadly sea of worldly deception. According to Charles Finney,
a professing Christian who has no burden for the lost is himself lost.
To leave someone believing
they are born again when they are not is an awful prospect. Yet that is what
many evangelicals are risking when they use easy prayerism to convince people
they have received Christ.
Examining Ourselves
Basic
Salvation Truth 1
Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God...”
The Bible teaches non-Christians
are subject to the wrath of God because they are displeasing to Him. What makes
man displeasing to God? The sin nature! Matthew
7 talks about the strait gate and narrow way that leads to eternal life.
Finding and then walking through the strait gate is the most difficult part
about being saved because the soul must look at itself and come to grips with its
spiritual depravity and acknowledge what it sees. Unfortunately, what most souls
refuse to see reflected in the mirror of the Ten Commandments is the sin nature.
The sin nature is ugly. Sin is the ‘spiritual essence’ of every heart, which is
at the center of every soul (Romans 3:10-18). We are not sinners because we sin
but sin because we are sinners.
Basic Salvation Truth 2
Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Since
everyone is born in sin, all have the disease except Christ who was born without sin (Romans: 3:21). Everyone needs a new heart,
a transplanted heart. Unfortunately, most people are unwilling to admit they
have the disease and for that reason unwilling to say ‘yes’ to the Surgeon of
their souls. They are unable to view themselves as the Publican in Matthew who said:
“Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.” They are unwilling to look in the mirror of
the Ten Commandments. Why?
The
answer is many evangelicals would have you believe one’s ‘heart disease’ is
nothing more than a ‘mild cold’ that will go away with a simple prayer. Many
ministries have diluted the seriousness of sin down to nothing more than
innocent mistakes. The Bible paints a different picture of sin, one that shows
our sinful nature as a terminal disease. The Bible teaches that every human
heart is (corruptible) beyond repair
and needs a new (incorruptible)
heart, one that God Himself transplants through the seed of His Word (John 3: 1-21; 1 Peter 1:22-25).
1
John 5: 4-5 says: “He that overcomes (or is given a new heart by the renewing
of our minds through the Word of God) will come out from under God’s judgment
into Christ. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is
the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. Who is he who overcomes the
world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” 1 Corinthians 15: 1-5
says essentially the same but under the inspired penmanship of the Apostle
Paul.
Salvation Truth 3
The
Bible says there are two sides to salvation. From God’s side, salvation is possible
by grace through the finished work of the Cross (Romans 3:22, 24-25, 28). From
man’s side, faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the
only condition God requires for salvation (John 3:16, 14:6; Acts 4:12; and 1 Corinthians
15:1-4). Faith is our response to the gift of salvation. From Genesis to
Revelation, God uses grace and faith to put man right with Himself. Faith and
faith alone is what please the Father (Romans 1:17; Romans 5:1).
To
borrow from a popular analogy used by evangelists, imagine two brothers trapped
by fire on a window ledge several floors up. Their only hope of escape is to
jump into the net that has been spread out below. Suddenly, one brother leaps
from the building and lands safely in the net. He is saved! The other (blinded by smoke and lacking faith
in the net) backs away from the ledge and looks for another escape route. In
the ensuing moments that follow, the second brother is overcome by the
poisonous fumes and perishes in the fire.
What
saved the first brother’s life? It was his faith in the net. What took the
second brother’s life? Obviously, it was his lack of faith in the net. The net
was there for both of them. One said yes and the other said no.
From
this analogy we see that grace (made possible by the finished work of the
Cross) is the net that God has spread out before all mankind. Those who jump by
faith will be saved. Those who do not
jump will be lost. What causes a person to
be lost? Lack of faith (unbelief)!
Ÿ To be saved, one must come to the knowledge that he
is a sinner (caught in a burning building) with no way out and in danger of
losing his life (soul).
Ÿ To be saved, one must come to the knowledge that she
or he can escape God’s wrath (the fire) by placing his or her faith in the
unseen net far below (the finished work of the Cross)
Ÿ To be saved, one must then (by faith) jump believing
there is a net to catch him or her and that the one holding the net is Christ
himself.
How
do we make that leap? According to the apostle Paul, we make that leap by
believing the gospel (with all of our heart) as outlined in 1 Corinthians 15
1-4: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto
you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand; By which also you are
saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed
in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was
buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures...”
In
closing, the Bible instructs believers to examine themselves to see if they are
in Christ (and rapture ready).
You
may contact the author at jaschabl@hotmail.com