Does Jesus Need to Be Invited Into Our Hearts?
The most repeated altar call in modern evangelicalism is a lie. “Ask Jesus into your heart.” “Make Him Lord of your life.” These are phrases never found in Scripture, yet they’ve become the centerpiece of American revivalism. The problem? Jesus does not need our invitation. He is Lord already. “God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). We do not vote Christ into power; we bow before the One to whom “every knee will bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10–11).
The sinner’s prayer has birthed generations of false converts. People cling to the memory of a prayer they once whispered, as if salvation rests in syllables. But Christ says, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). On that Day many will say, “Lord, Lord,” recounting their religious actions, yet He will declare, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:21–23). Words without Spirit-wrought repentance and faith do not save.
This is not just bad language. It is eternal deception. Millions think they are safe because they “asked Jesus in,” while they continue unrepentant, unbroken, unchanged. They have never bowed the knee to the King they claim to invite.
The true gospel is not a formula, not a prayer, not a sales pitch. Christ Himself preached it plainly: “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Repentance is turning from sin; faith is resting wholly in Christ’s finished work. Salvation is of the Lord, not of human invention, not of man’s vote, not of altar-call slogans.
Semper Reformanda
Many object: “But I was saved when I prayed the sinner’s prayer!” If you truly repented and believed, praise God. Your salvation rests not in the prayer but in the power of Christ. The danger is confusing the two. Scripture never commands us to pray a formula; it commands us to repent and believe. And that is the work of God.
Others say, “Isn’t asking Jesus into your heart the same as trusting Him?” Only if by that phrase you mean repentance and faith. But vague, man-centered slogans blur the gospel, making people rest in empty ritual rather than Christ crucified. God saves through the preaching of His Word, not through magic words crafted by man.
Truth That Withstands
Jesus is Lord, whether man acknowledges Him or not. Salvation does not come by a sinner’s prayer, but by Spirit-given repentance and faith in Christ’s finished work. Anything less is a false gospel that cannot save.