Words Matter

Have you ever heard these phrases being used to communicate the gospel?

"You must accept Jesus as your Savior..."
"To be saved, you must give your heart and life to Jesus..."
"You must receive Christ into your heart..."
"Christ must be enthroned in your heart..."

These are all words used by well meaning people trying to communicate the Gospel. However. I am writing tonight to say that these words are not used in the Bible. Yes, I know. Shocking.
Now I can hear someone saying, "yes, but are not you being too picky? Certainly the above phrases give the general idea of what the gospel is." Well, I would have to say that you would be hard pressed to find them, even in the most loose translation. (More on this at the end.)

So Chris, if these phrases are so wrong. What should we say? Well, I am glad you asked. Here's a start:

The gospel is not...

Man accepting Jesus as his savior...but God accepting Jesus as the perfect and only Savior 2000 years ago.

Man giving his heart and life to Jesus...but Jesus gave his heart and life in the place of sinners

Man recieving Christ into His heart...but that God received the Lord Jesus into heaven as the mediator for sinners

Christ enthroned in the human heart...but that God enthroned the Lord Jesus at His right hand in heaven.

Can you see the difference? The good news is, first of all, about what Jesus has done for God on the cross because redemption is first and foremost God's idea. Jesus was obeying and acting out of obedience to God and then we as God's beloved children and Jesus' beloved brothers receive the wonderful benefit.

Now there is a place in God's plan for a response to the gospel. And this is where SOME of the phrases above MIGHT have some merit. However, do not get these responses confused with the cause of these responses. To do so is to take the heart of the gospel and say that redemption is dependant upon something that we do.

So, even if the words or the ideas of "accepting Jesus", and "giving your hear to Jesus" and "receiving Jesus into your heart" were biblical, they could not be considered the good news, but our only rightful response to the good news.

And now you might say "see Chris, even you say that we respond to the gospel. So we do have a part." Well, let me clarify.

In college I drove a car. When my friends would ask "Whose 1983 white Volkswagen Rabbit is that with the felt ceiling drooping down onto the headrests." I would proudly proclaim "mine". Now to what extent was this car mine? I did not pay for the car, I did not pay for my insurance to drive the car. I did not pay for the repairs for this car. I did not even pay for the gas that powered this car. My gracious Dad did all of these things. My ONLY reason for saying the car was "mine" is that I was the only person who would drive it and that my Dad gave it to me and no one else.

Our response to the gospel (repentence, trust, love, obedience...) can only be called "ours" in the sense that I could call my car in college mine. It was mine, but only because it was given. I could not have purchased one myself or pay for the use of it. ALL of it was supplied by my earthly father. And in the same sense and only in this sense can I say my rightousness, my redemption, my repentence, etc... It is still the work of God and him alone.

So. the words we use to explain the gospel and where we put "our" response in the equation is truly a matter of great importance. The truth of the gospel and the redemption of souls depend upon it.