Salvation and Asking Jesus In by Andy Woods

[Andy C]

Below is a transcribed teaching from Andy Woods. What I pasted below does not start with the beginning of his teaching, which in its entirety is in the below link. The question asked and answered in this teaching “Is it biblical to ask Jesus into your heart”?

From Pastor Woods


“And Lordship is really not something for justification but something for what? Growth or progressive sanctification. And we also saw that receive or accept Christ is a synonym for what? Faith. And then when we’ve looked at believe and work, when do the works come? After salvation. And then we looked at baptism; baptism doesn’t save you but baptism is an outward confession of a what? An inward reality. And last time we looked at confess and the controversy surrounding that and I tried to show you that the verses people use that say you have to confess Christ are pretty much taken out of context. And I know that’s an earth changing people for a lot of people so I would encourage you to listen to last week’s lesson where we went into that.

And another false invitation that people give, you hear this quite a bit, is they say you need to ask Jesus into your heart; that’s what we’re going to look at here. So rather than build their gospel from John 3:16, which is to believe in Christ, what people will say is… an you hear this all the time, you need to ask Jesus into your heart, or ask Jesus into your life, or invite Jesus into your heart. And once you really start looking at this biblically what you’ll discover is the Bible never tells people to do this.

So then why do so many people think this is in the Bible? Well the answer is in the book of Revelation, chapter 3:20, this is the verse they all use. And when they have a gospel tract that says invite Jesus into your heart they quote Revelation 3:20. Other than Revelation 3:20 there’s not a single verse that teaches such a thing, although there are 200 verses that say a person must believe in Christ to be saved. So let’s look at Revelation 3:20 for a minute. You all have heard this, and you know, I don’t want to be too hard on this because my own mom was saved through this verse, through Billy Graham. So I think sometimes God can use imprecise language in spite of ourselves. Sometimes God rescues us in our sloppy presentations. But that’s not an excuse for not trying to get it right. Correct?

So Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold,” this is Jesus speaking to the church at Laodicea, “I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” So how many people have heard that as a gospel presentation before. Almost everybody. So let’s take a look at this; is this really what this text is saying. Now we have a tract, I think it’s not on our rack anymore because we ran out but I wrote to the folks that produced it and asked for some more so we should be getting some more up pretty soon, but it’s written by a pastor Dennis Rokser of Duluth Bible Church, and he produced… it’s not really a tract it’s more like a small paper, and it’s called Seven Reasons Not to Ask Jesus into Your Heart.

Have you guys seen that tract out there, it’s kind of a provocative title. And really what he’s trying to do is to get people to actually read this passage and he’s trying to show people that that passage is not what people think it says. So it’s not a tract about not being a Christian, it’s more of a tract on being precise, using biblically based terminology in our gospel presentations. So if you want to get more in depth into this I would encourage you to read that tract once we get some more out there”.

Salvation and Asking Jesus In (Revelation 3:20)

 

[mattfivefour]

I agree with this premise that we should be precise when teaching the Bible, but sometimes we can focus so much on precision with words that we can lose the meaning of what is being taught. Remember, the letter (γράμμα - gramma) kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). Surely "asking Jesus into your heart" for most of those who do it is a surrender to who Jesus is: Lord and Savior. It is submitting oneself to Him. It is acknowledging that you cannot save yourself but you need Jesus to do so; and, further, that you recognize your need for the active indwelling presence of Jesus in your life. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit comes and indwells the believer (1 Corinthians 3:16; Romans 5:9). The Holy Spirit is described as the spirit of Christ (Acts 16:7; Galatians 4:6; Philippians 1:19). And, in fact, we are told in Romans 8:9-10 that Christ indwells the believer. We make much of the differences of function between the three persons of the Godhead, but let us never forget that they are one God, one in essence, one in purpose, if not in function. This is why we see the Holy Spirit referred to in places as the spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

So, is a person who asks Jesus into their heart actually wrong? As theologians drilling down into words we might give a resounding "Yes!" because of the meaning of this word and that word. But as faithful proclaimers of the gospel of Jesus Christ I suggest we should not make such a statement. It is not a person's words but their heart that God looks at. And for the reasons I've given above, I believe that when a person asks Christ into their heart it is because their heart wants Jesus Christ in them and with them. And by means of faith in Jesus Christ --who He is, what He did at Calvary-- the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, in answer to their prayer of faith, comes to dwell in them, in their innermost being-- what Scripture describes as their heart.

 

[Andy C]

I agree with this premise that we should be precise when teaching the Bible, but sometimes we can focus so much on precision with words that we can lose the meaning of what is being taught. Remember, the letter (γράμμα - gramma) kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). Surely "asking Jesus into your heart" for most of those who do it is a surrender to who Jesus is: Lord and Savior. It is submitting oneself to Him. It is acknowledging that you cannot save yourself but you need Jesus to do so; and, further, that you recognize your need for the active indwelling presence of Jesus in your life. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit comes and indwells the believer (1 Corinthians 3:16; Romans 5:9). The Holy Spirit is described as the spirit of Christ (Acts 16:7; Galatians 4:6; Philippians 1:19). And, in fact, we are told in Romans 8:9-10 that Christ indwells the believer. We make much of the differences of function between the three persons of the Godhead, but let us never forget that they are one God, one in essence, one in purpose, if not in function. This is why we see the Holy Spirit referred to in places as the spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

So, is a person who asks Jesus into their heart actually wrong? As theologians drilling down into words we might give a resounding "Yes!" because of the meaning of this word and that word. But as faithful proclaimers of the gospel of Jesus Christ I suggest we should not make such a statement. It is not a person's words but their heart that God looks at. And for the reasons I've given above, I believe that when a person asks Christ into their heart it is because their heart wants Jesus Christ in them and with them. And by means of faith in Jesus Christ --who He is, what He did at Calvary-- the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, in answer to their prayer of faith, comes to dwell in them, in their innermost being-- what Scripture describes as their heart.

I dont think he said its wrong unless one tells an unbeliever you must ask Jesus into your heart, and thats not a requirement for salvation.

 

[mattfivefour]

I dont think he said its wrong unless one tells an unbeliever you must ask Jesus into your heart, and thats not a requirement for salvation.

I understand what you are saying, brother, and what the good pastor is saying, too. But again I think the topic is getting hung up in words. All that is necessary for salvation is belief in Jesus Christ, who He is and what He's done for us: a belief that is (even though it may not be consciously articulated in our mind) at its root accompanied and manifested by an inner commitment to Jesus, in that we desire Him to be active in our lives and to change us.

As for those who say, "well, bare belief is not enough," I point to the thief on the cross. There, surely, that's the way of salvation made bare! The thief clearly regretted his sin and acknowledged it. He clearly stated that he deserved his punishment, and acknowledged that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. And, further, he put his future into Christ's hands. That was it. And if that was sufficient to save the thief, it is sufficient to save anyone.

I understand that simply telling people to "ask Jesus into your heart" doesn't meet any of those criteria. And if "ask Jesus into your heart" is the gospel we are presenting, it is insufficient. But if someone, as a result of our preaching, were to ask Jesus to come into their heart as an acknowledgment of their sin, their insufficiency, and Christ's sufficiency, then I humbly submit that that surely would meet the standard presented in the account of the thief on the cross. And it aligns with the other scriptures that I presented in my initial response.

Andy, please understand I'm not trying to be dogmatic or argumentative. But I am very much concerned that we can shake people's faith by raising questions about the language they used or the idea that may have been present in their mind at the moment they called on Jesus to save them. So, that said, as long as we take Andy Wood's article as an instruction to us to make sure that we are calling on people to place their full faith in Christ alone, I am totally on board. But I certainly don't want anyone questioning their salvation because of how they may have phrased their moment of surrender.

 

[Andy C]

But I am very much concerned that we can shake people's faith by raising questions about the language they used or the idea that may have been present in their mind at the moment they called on Jesus to save them.

The main teaching point in the majority of Andy Woods 52 hour long sermons on Soteriology, is making sure unbelievers and believers know exactly what salvation is, what it is not, and how its obtained. Language used when presenting the gospel is indeed important, that is, the right language. For instance, some Chrisitan pastors will teach you must confess your sins, ask Jesus into your heart, if you want salvation. Obviously these pastors are adding steps that are not a requirement for salvation. Yes, they are what we who are Christians should be doing, but again, not a requirement for salvation.

Woods tends to go into great detail in what he preaches and IMO, at times, to deep into the weeds. I do however think his lessons are needed, and used to counter all those words, or qualifications given, that are added to achieve salvation.

 

[Hol]

I do however think his lessons are needed, and used to counter all those words, or qualifications given, that are added to achieve salvation.

Thanks for posting these sermons Andy.

When I'm on the prayer team at church for the post-service response I've thought about what I would say if anyone is under conviction of the Holy Spirit. Maybe I'll just ask them first if they are under conviction?

 

[Tall Timbers]

The moment of belief in Jesus can manifest itself in many ways. Many different things might be said before that moment by a Harvester. What is said really isn't overly important when the Holy Spirit has brought conviction to someone ripe to believe. What's important is that the soul in question becomes a saved soul.

We have many Bible translations in English. No two are exactly the same in the words used in an attempt to capture the meaning of the original text into English. But most any of them will do.

Asking Jesus into your heart sounds like a reasonable expression of faith to me. I can't quite picture Jesus standing back waiting for a person to say the correct words, whatever those might be. Any words or sentiments shared, thought, or spoken take a back seat to the transformation of a soul into the Body of Christ. That change is where the rubber hits the road.

 

[Andy C]

The moment of belief in Jesus can manifest itself in many ways. Many different things might be said before that moment by a Harvester. What is said really isn't overly important when the Holy Spirit has brought conviction to someone ripe to believe. What's important is that the soul in question becomes a saved soul.

We have many Bible translations in English. No two are exactly the same in the words used in an attempt to capture the meaning of the original text into English. But most any of them will do.

Asking Jesus into your heart sounds like a reasonable expression of faith to me. I can't quite picture Jesus standing back waiting for a person to say the correct words, whatever those might be. Any words or sentiments shared, thought, or spoken take a back seat to the transformation of a soul into the Body of Christ. That change is where the rubber hits the road.

Woods point was its not a requirement for salvation, which some seem to think it is.

 

[Quantrill]

(Rom. 10:10) "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

We are granted eternal life when we believe from the heart. The righteousness given us is not ours but Jesus Christ's. We then confess with our mouth that which we already believe. Which begins our walk of salvation in this life.

My opinion.

Lees

 

[Andiamo]

The moment that I’m positive I was saved, I didn’t say a thing. My coworker was sitting across from me at a desk, describing the crucifixion events in great detail. Then he said “And He did it all for you…” Suddenly it was like a veil came off my face and I knew it was the truth. I sat there holding back tears and didn’t say a word. I felt different for the rest of the day, walking through the offices, as if I knew something that others around me didn’t know. I prayed later that evening face down on my bed and finally confessed my faith to my co-worker the next day (who was elated.) It’s kind of funny because it took him several years to get to me and I finally had to admit that he won! Of course it was the Holy Spirit and not him but his dedication paid off.

 

[Andiamo]

The eunuch in the chariot didn’t say anything until Philip made sure that he believed. He just said here’s some water I want to get baptized. He had already believed before his confession of belief.

 

[Andiamo]

What about all of the Iranians having dreams about Jesus and getting saved. Nobody is leading them, nobody is standing there making sure they say something.

 

[Andiamo]

Thanks for posting these sermons Andy.

When I'm on the prayer team at church for the post-service response I've thought about what I would say if anyone is under conviction of the Holy Spirit. Maybe I'll just ask them first if they are under conviction?

I am also on the prayer team and have given it thought like you have. My plan is to ask them “what’s going through your mind right now?” and see where that leads. I will resist leading them in prayer and just let them talk to God on their own once I have discerned that they have crossed over to belief. I may even walk away to give them privacy in that moment. The few people I have led to the Lord in my life, I led in prayer “repeat after me” and I really want to stop doing that. Why would I want to interfere and “help” with what the Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of doing, far more perfectly than I ever could?

 

[Andiamo]

I think we can get so concerned with someone getting saved and it not being a false conversion that we forget to stand back and trust the Holy Spirit and just allow Him to work in that person’s heart, whom He knows more intimately than they even know themselves. When it’s time for the harvest He’s going to do it!

 

[Andiamo]

I appreciate the way Andy Woods is doing things at his church - no raised hands, no walking forward, no “say this prayer.” I think pastors like doing that because it immediately identifies those who respond but Andy Woods is right…there should be clarity that the walk forward, the raised hand and even the prayer isn’t what saved you. I would venture to say that the vast majority of folks who come forward already came to saving faith in their seat . I do personally know someone who got saved at a Billy Graham crusade years ago and what’s so funny is that initially she ran down to the turf because her kids had jumped up and ran down there. She was chasing her kids! But once she hit the turf and caught up with her kids a lady who worked for the ministry said something to her and she suddenly realized that she needed Jesus!

 

[TCC]

Below is a transcribed teaching from Andy Woods. What I pasted below does not start with the beginning of his teaching, which in its entirety is in the below link. The question asked and answered in this teaching “Is it biblical to ask Jesus into your heart”?

From Pastor Woods


“And Lordship is really not something for justification but something for what? Growth or progressive sanctification. And we also saw that receive or accept Christ is a synonym for what? Faith. And then when we’ve looked at believe and work, when do the works come? After salvation. And then we looked at baptism; baptism doesn’t save you but baptism is an outward confession of a what? An inward reality. And last time we looked at confess and the controversy surrounding that and I tried to show you that the verses people use that say you have to confess Christ are pretty much taken out of context. And I know that’s an earth changing people for a lot of people so I would encourage you to listen to last week’s lesson where we went into that.

And another false invitation that people give, you hear this quite a bit, is they say you need to ask Jesus into your heart; that’s what we’re going to look at here. So rather than build their gospel from John 3:16, which is to believe in Christ, what people will say is… an you hear this all the time, you need to ask Jesus into your heart, or ask Jesus into your life, or invite Jesus into your heart. And once you really start looking at this biblically what you’ll discover is the Bible never tells people to do this.

So then why do so many people think this is in the Bible? Well the answer is in the book of Revelation, chapter 3:20, this is the verse they all use. And when they have a gospel tract that says invite Jesus into your heart they quote Revelation 3:20. Other than Revelation 3:20 there’s not a single verse that teaches such a thing, although there are 200 verses that say a person must believe in Christ to be saved. So let’s look at Revelation 3:20 for a minute. You all have heard this, and you know, I don’t want to be too hard on this because my own mom was saved through this verse, through Billy Graham. So I think sometimes God can use imprecise language in spite of ourselves. Sometimes God rescues us in our sloppy presentations. But that’s not an excuse for not trying to get it right. Correct?

So Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold,” this is Jesus speaking to the church at Laodicea, “I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” So how many people have heard that as a gospel presentation before. Almost everybody. So let’s take a look at this; is this really what this text is saying. Now we have a tract, I think it’s not on our rack anymore because we ran out but I wrote to the folks that produced it and asked for some more so we should be getting some more up pretty soon, but it’s written by a pastor Dennis Rokser of Duluth Bible Church, and he produced… it’s not really a tract it’s more like a small paper, and it’s called Seven Reasons Not to Ask Jesus into Your Heart.

Have you guys seen that tract out there, it’s kind of a provocative title. And really what he’s trying to do is to get people to actually read this passage and he’s trying to show people that that passage is not what people think it says. So it’s not a tract about not being a Christian, it’s more of a tract on being precise, using biblically based terminology in our gospel presentations. So if you want to get more in depth into this I would encourage you to read that tract once we get some more out there”.

Salvation and Asking Jesus In (Revelation 3:20)

Amen. Which probably means that Laodicea was saved but jaded. Blessings.

 

[TCC]

I agree with this premise that we should be precise when teaching the Bible, but sometimes we can focus so much on precision with words that we can lose the meaning of what is being taught. Remember, the letter (γράμμα - gramma) kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). Surely "asking Jesus into your heart" for most of those who do it is a surrender to who Jesus is: Lord and Savior. It is submitting oneself to Him. It is acknowledging that you cannot save yourself but you need Jesus to do so; and, further, that you recognize your need for the active indwelling presence of Jesus in your life. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit comes and indwells the believer (1 Corinthians 3:16; Romans 5:9). The Holy Spirit is described as the spirit of Christ (Acts 16:7; Galatians 4:6; Philippians 1:19). And, in fact, we are told in Romans 8:9-10 that Christ indwells the believer. We make much of the differences of function between the three persons of the Godhead, but let us never forget that they are one God, one in essence, one in purpose, if not in function. This is why we see the Holy Spirit referred to in places as the spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

So, is a person who asks Jesus into their heart actually wrong? As theologians drilling down into words we might give a resounding "Yes!" because of the meaning of this word and that word. But as faithful proclaimers of the gospel of Jesus Christ I suggest we should not make such a statement. It is not a person's words but their heart that God looks at. And for the reasons I've given above, I believe that when a person asks Christ into their heart it is because their heart wants Jesus Christ in them and with them. And by means of faith in Jesus Christ --who He is, what He did at Calvary-- the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, in answer to their prayer of faith, comes to dwell in them, in their innermost being-- what Scripture describes as their heart.

This is the way I came to Christ because someone provided a book to me on famous atheletes that gave their lives to Christ. It showed a diagram of self on the throne. And said to ask Jesus to be on the throne of your heart. So all I did while at my drug dealers house after partying all night was get on my knees. Ask God if Christ was real. And if so I would like for Him to be on the throne of my heart. And when I woke up, I woke up believing.

 

[TCC]

Woods point was its not a requirement for salvation, which some seem to think it is.

I like Andy Woods and out of all the pastors online, he is the one I will listen to sermon wise by far the most. As any of us we have our blind spots. Andy is of the school of thought that the mustard seed parable is about a Frankenstien abnormal bush/tree that does not belong in the garden and grows freakishly tall. The kingdon is like, in Andy's mind, that a bunch of false prophets cling to it and distort it. Like blending the musterd seed parable with the wheat and tares parable. It is what a lot of pastors do with the leaven that permeates the whole loaf parable. Because for them leaven is always bad...not realize that there is leaven used on the wave offering celebrating pentecost, my goodness, of all holy days. So maybe its what happens to the church when we are thinking too hard and jaded by the darkness around us. But even though these concepts I think are too openly plain and basic for someone with a theological doctorate to miss, and have pause with Andy concerning...I love 90% of his perspectives in spades. Hands down.

So I understand why he would bring it up. But in a way its almost in some ways like giving in a bit to the argument adjustment beauru that we see in America with Paul Washer, John Macarthur, and unfortunately up till recently Steven Lawson. This beauru wants to argue sophistry. And sometimes we get sucked downwind by their argumentation style (which I often consider street graffiti punking). So maybe this is in response to their way of saying "Folks, you can't invite Jesus into your heart because its not biblical." So I understand Andy wanting to square the issue with the church at large. Amen. But I think actually the strongest argument to pull at our coattails and be aware that being tugged into sophistry is not perhaps as a best course of dialague given the types of personas that put forth bad faith arguments (meaning the Lordship Salvation Police) is the fall of Steve Lawson. In that he makes a great point at how much a poser Lordship Salvation is.

Since I came from that camp, I have actually learned a lot from Macarthur, and from Washer, and even from Lawson (seeing his views on some verses as the best i've seen out there). And I don't wish for any believer to fall, amen. But I believe the best address to sophistry is being willing to see it collapse on its falsehoods. And appreciate a truer fear of the Lord in comparison. But Andy, I am grateful you bring up this concern about asking Jesus into the heart. Because it does get the church to consider how we might throw words around. And offers a way as Pastor MattFiveFour affirms that there is a place for Percision. Blessings.

 

[Andiamo]

This is the way I came to Christ because someone provided a book to me on famous atheletes that gave their lives to Christ. It showed a diagram of self on the throne. And said to ask Jesus to be on the throne of your heart. So all I did while at my drug dealers house after partying all night was get on my knees. Ask God if Christ was real. And if so I would like for Him to be on the throne of my heart. And when I woke up, I woke up believing.

That is awesome! I love that!!! Thank You Lord!