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The Call for Decision
by
Cadet James Thompson
Have you ever read about the drunks kneeling down at the mercy
seat and getting up sober never to touch the drink again? Have
you heard about the drug addicts who are freed in a moment by
Jesus Christ? What about those who were once trapped in
depression but got completely freed because they have come to
understand and believe that Jesus loves them and accepts them?
I know I have.
Jesus not only wants us to go to heaven but He wants us to be
freed here on Earth. In fact He taught us to pray that His
Kingdom would come, and that His will be done on Earth as it
is in Heaven! How good is that? Do you think people will be
addicted in Heaven? Mentally ill in heaven? Sick in Heaven?
Sad, bitter and twisted in Heaven? No way! In fact Revelation
21 says, “"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will
live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will
be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from
their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying
or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." So,
when Jesus says His will be done on Earth as it is in heaven
what do you think that means?
It means Heaven on Earth.
This has massive implications for evangelism. Many evangelists
have been torn to shreds in the past few decades because they
“push for a decision.” In turn many have thought this was
because of some peoples emphasis on “the prayer.” You know the
one that you get saved by, the one that if you pray you go to
Heaven? But this is an unfair objection to bring up against
evangelists in general.
The evangelists I know have other motivations other than
notches on a belt. And you may be surprised that some of these
are to do with the here and now.
Firstly we would be unkind and evil if we allowed people to go
to hell without a fight. The Bible is super clear that 1) Hell
is real and 2) People need to repent and believe if they don’t
want to go there. Calling for a decision so they don’t go to
hell is compassionate and more than reasonable. Full Stop.
However, as an evangelist I push for a decision for another
reason as well. My motivation comes because I know the
difference God can make in ones life right now. In fact, the
more I lead people to Christ the more my faith builds that
when a person repents and believes Jesus will actually make
them a new person! (Hmm, didn’t I read that in the Bible
somewhere?) He will change their heart on the spot! I’ve seen
it way too many times for it to be untrue.
I’ve seen people who have never heard of Jesus let alone read
the Bible start quoting Scripture to me once we have prayed
together. I have seen people healed, I have seen people set
free, all because they have made a decision to follow Jesus
and accept His forgiveness.
However, if an evangelist claims they have lead someone to
Christ many people will quickly dismiss this conversion and
quickly call for discipleship. Some seem to have no place for
celebration in between Salvation and Christian maturity. This
is completely different to Jesus’ teaching that at repentance
Heaven explodes into a party! (Check out Luke 15) Of course
there is discipleship to come, but conversion is a real and
special event. In fact, by moving salvation from conversion to
maturity and a good death we are actually moving Salvation
from something we experience now to a future event that we can
only be sure of once we die.
For some the assurance of Salvation comes only once we are a
good disciple, after reading the Bible and believing what
other people tell us, then being involved in some sort of
ministry. But true assurance of Salvation comes from the Holy
Spirit and can be experienced at conversion! We cannot
diminish the assurance of salvation just because we may not
know what their discipleship will or will not look like.
Of course discipleship is important and necessary too. Paul
says, “It is for freedom that you have been set free!” Jackie
Pullinger speaks about addicts being set free by the baptism
in the Holy Spirit. But she quickly learnt that even though
the drug lost its grip the newly freed people had to learn to
live in their freedom. Discipleship is teaching people how to
live in the freedom that they now have. It is for freedom that
we have been set free.
This means that before people can live in freedom they need to
be freed. So how do we do that? At the end of the gospel of
Mark Jesus promises us that He will confirm His message with
signs and wonders. If we preach Jesus heals, God will confirm
this message by healing. If we preach that Jesus Frees, then
God will confirm His message by freeing those in bondage. If
we preach that Jesus saves than God will confirm His message
by saving people!
Therefore if we have a compassionate bone in our body and
believe that Jesus will confirm His message like this then we
will not be able to help but preach for decision. We will be
so aware of the goodness of God that we will want everyone to
experience it right now.
Therefore, as the people of God, we all need to remember that
a passionate call for decision is necessary. It is necessary
because we don’t want people to go to hell, and we don’t want
people to be trapped in bondage and living in sickness while
here on Earth. The reason we preach for decision is because we
believe Jesus will set people free now so that they can live a
life of freedom.
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