Salvation is indeed a request for forgiveness of sins and for union with Jesus and with many other wonderful things, but the request is obtained not so much by the expression of a request but by faith in Christ’s finished work.
My concern in this book is not on what words we might use to express our faith, but that we understand saving faith and how we can gain assurance that we have it. Many Christians see salvation as a transaction one conducts with Jesus (signified by “inviting Jesus into your heart” or some equivalent) rather than the beginning of a posture they take toward the finished work of Christ.
I’m Not Saying, “Pressing for a Decision When We Present the Gospel Distorts It”
Finally, I do not want (in any way) to discourage pressing for a decision when the gospel is preached.
Preachers of old invited sinners to come forward and ask Jesus into their hearts if they wanted to be saved.
While I may prefer neither the terminology nor the technique they employed, the gospel is indeed an invitation, and each time the gospel is preached, that invitation ought to be extended and a decision called for (John 1:12; Matthew 11:28; Revelation 22:17). In fact, if we do not urge the hearer to respond personally to God’s offer in Christ, we have not fully preached the gospel.
I am calling on people to “stop asking Jesus into their hearts” because God has settled their salvation in Christ and wants them to rest upon that fact in repentance and faith.
Conversion is not so much a one-time ceremony you go through and that you’d better get right or else be eternally lost. It is a posture toward Christ that you begin at a point and maintain for the rest of your life.
