Asking Jesus into Your Heart

I had shared previously Al Mohler's concern with the phrase Ask Jesus into Your Heart. His comment was:

But what unfortunately that gets reduced to is an emotional experience of mere affection. And the problem is, there is no suggestion in Scripture that we are justified by our affection for Christ. That is not saving faith, nor is it a substitute...and we need to be pastorally sensitive and that's why it is easy to get in trouble speaking of this. But I listen to a lot of well-intentioned pastors, who as RC said, really want to be evangelistic, they really want to see persons come to faith in Christ, but they have no understanding that in their presentation of the gospel, in so far as that is what they are talking about, they often reduce the gospel to its most emotional and affective dimensions, leaving aside the objective reality of what justifying faith really is.

On Way of the Master Radio, Kirk and Ray recently shared their thoughts:

(Ray) "If you are in the habit of challenging sinners to "Ask Jesus into their life," you might like to rethink what you are saying. You might like to, instead, tell them they need to surrender to Jesus as Lord and Savior. When someone asks Jesus into their life it's still "their life." But when he or she surrenders to Him, they give up their life."
(Kirk) "The essence of conversion is to surrender to God. It's to lay down our weapons of hostility and to lift up our hands in surrender. It's to give up your life. Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ, never the less, I live. Yet, not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."

If you've never listened to their show before, I believe this podcast was one of their finest ever. It really reminds us that theology should precede methodology.