We take the notion from Paul in Galatians about being accursed for preaching another Gospel very seriously. This section might seemingly be a play on words but when it comes to Gospel proclamation we want to be accurate. So, if the Bible doesn't use the terminology, neither do we.
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Make Jesus your Lord and Savior - We cannot make Jesus our Lord and Savior, He is our Lord and Savior. We are living in rebellion to Him and He commands us to repent and trust Him.
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Ask Jesus into your heart - Does Jesus come into our hearts? Yes He does. The question is, “How does He get in there?” It is not by simply asking Him in; it is by repentance and faith.
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Just believe in Jesus - The demons believe and they tremble. We must repent and trust.
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You have a God-shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it - We have far more than a hole that needs to be filled so we can feel complete; we have a wretched, deceitful, sinful heart that needs cleansing. Repentance and faith applies the blood of the lamb for that cleansing.
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Accept Jesus - We need to accept Jesus? This is entirely backward. We need Jesus to accept us--and He will, if we repent and trust.
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Make a decision for Jesus - Decisional regeneration puts man in the driver’s seat of salvation. When we repent and trust, Jesus decides to save us. That puts Him in the driver’s seat…where He demands.
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It is easy to believe - While the formula of repentance and faith sounds simple, a complete surrendering of self in repentance is anything but easy. It’s hard.
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God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life - The only promises for the convert are trials, temptation and persecution. If that is how you define a wonderful life, fine. Otherwise we must command all men everywhere to repent and trust.
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Come to Jesus just as you are - We should come to Jesus just as the sinners we are, but He also expects a broken heart and contrite spirit demonstrated in repentance and faith.
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Come to Jesus and you will receive forgiveness of sins and ___________ (fill in the blank with money, health, a healed marriage, etc.) - Jesus didn’t promise healed marriages; in fact He promised broken homes because we would divide when one member repents and trusts.
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Come to Jesus and experience love, joy, peace - Do we get the fruit of the Spirit upon conversion? Yes. But if we come seeking the gifts and not the giver, we will receive neither. Instead, we must repent and trust.
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Jesus is the missing piece - No, the God of the universe is not the missing piece, He demands that He is the center of our lives when we repent and trust.
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Jesus is better than fame and fortune - That is an understatement, and frankly, it is insulting. Saying Jesus is better than money is like saying that a steak dinner is better than eating a dung hill. He defies comparison and we trivialize the Son of God. Instead, we should be pleading with all men everywhere to repent and trust.
