"Accepting Jesus" has no scriptural basis????

[gslou]

Mike,

A FB friend, who is also a strong christian posted this yesterday, that Accepting Jesus has no scriptural basis, and I have been struggling through it. He quotes Ephesians 1:4-6 as the backing for this "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given to us in the One he loves".

I understand that we don't chose God, that it is him who choses us, but don't we also have to accept him and his grace? Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith" So it definitely is God's grace that saves us; it has always been that way. It was by grace that Abraham was saved, and Jacod, and David and all of God's chosen people, but didn't they also have faith, meaning that they also had to consciously have chosen God? Still, if God hadn't chosen them first, would they have had any faith at all? Throughout the Bible, the people who did not trust in God had some pretty horrific deaths, but God knew that they were not going to choose him as he hadn't "predestined them to be his adpted sons"

Please help.....

[Mike Miller]

Well, I would be interested to know exactly what your friend means by saying that accepting Christ has no scriptural basis. If he means that the Bible does not contain the phrase "accept Christ" (or derivatives thereof), then he is correct. The Bible never tells people to "accept Christ," nor does it specifically talk about "accepting Christ." However, we use many words and phrases to describe biblical concepts. For example, the word "Trinity" is not in the Bible, but we use it to describe the nature of God as revealed in the Bible. The phrase "substitutionary atonement" is not in the Bible, but clearly the doctrine is. I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Just because an exact word or phrase does not appear in the Bible does not mean it is unbiblical.

If, however, your friend is stating that people do not need to accept Christ, then I disagree. We do see the idea of "accepting" or "receiving" the Gospel (2 Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:9), and Colossians 2:6 says that we "receive" Christ. Your friend quoted Ephesians 1, which states clearly that we who are in Christ were chosen before the creation of the world. This is one of many passages that talk about God's sovereign election in salvation. Along those same lines, Jesus commented in John 6:44 that no one is able to come to Him unless drawn by the Father. Indeed, the Father must choose us if we are to be saved. However, you are correct in your understanding that we must still choose Jesus as well. The point is simply that God enables us to choose Him. In fact, Ephesians 1 goes on to talk about the Holy Spirit that God gives us as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. We "receive" the Holy Spirit by faith (see Galatians 3:2, 13-14). Moreover, Romans 3:21-25 is clear that we "receive" salvation by faith.

So, the bottom line is that while the phrase "accept Jesus" is not found in Scripture, and while God is sovereign in His election, the biblical truth is that salvation, Christ, and the Holy Spirit (and really everything that is involved in salvation) are received/accepted/appropriated/embraced by faith in Christ. We must all make a faith decision if we are to be saved, and the only decision that saves is to accept Christ.

One more comment, though. I hope your friend is not one of those who believes that since God chooses who will be saved, faith in Christ is not necessary. Some do believe that, but that is a heresy called hypercalvinism, and it has been historically condemned by the church. God's election does not remove man's responsibility to respond by faith to Christ. See Romans 10:9-15.

[Brenda]

[Brenda]

Please ignore my previous hiccup post!

Kind of along the same lines, I have recently heard of a pastor who says that baptism is not Biblical? That really floored me! This pastor has a Baptist background, but is now in an independent church. He has told his church that baptism is not necessary & is "just for show".

I wondered what your thoughts are, Mike?

[Mike Miller]

Brenda, since salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, baptism is not necessary for salvation. However, it is very important for a few reasons. First, we are commanded by Jesus to be baptized. Not to be baptized is disobedience, and Jesus said that if we love Him, we will obey His commands. Second, since Jesus was baptized, we are to follow His example. Third, baptism is our public profession of our faith in Christ. It isn't "just for show," but is rather a significant event as we publicly identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. As we make that profession, we publicly enter into the community of faith.

Seems to me like that pastor needs to read his Bible.

[Brenda]

That is precisely what I thought, Mike. That is how I was taught.

Thanks!

[Linda]

Isn't is also true that according to scriptures such as John 3 and Acts 2:36-40 baptism is for repentance of sins and reception of the Holy Spirit?
I understand that God's grace will be sufficient for each of us and that only He can truly see our hearts, but outside of rare circumstances (ie the death bed acceptance) don't those things go hand in hand with the baptism and its importance as well as obedience to what is commanded?

[gslou]

Thank you for the answer. I certainly thought that our faith (or our accepting Jesus as our savior, thus accepting God's freely given gift of salvation) has a part and is biblical. I am unsure what exactly he meant by this quote, but I took it to be more than that those words are not found in those terms in the Bible. His profile says that he is a primitive baptist; I don't know if their belief is "hypercalvinistic".

It certainly is God's sovereign right to select whom he choses to select, and since we are not privy of whom he has selected or not, we better obey his commant to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit". Whomever He has selected and hear the word of God will then have the option of accepting the salvation given them by the grace of God.

Thanks again

[Mike Miller]

Linda, yes baptism is an outward sign of our repentance from sins, which is part of what is involved in the old life going away and the new life being raised with Christ.

George, Primitive Baptists are indeed hyper-calvinists. I was in a dialogue with a PB pastor recently who actually said that Muslims and Buddhists who never turn to Christ will be saved if they are elect. This is why hyper-calvinists are adamantly against missions and evangelism. They believe we should never proclaim the Gospel, because we don't want to convince the non-elect that they can actually accept Christ and be saved. Theirs is a dangerous and heretical teaching.