Jesus Doesn’t Need An Invitation Into Your Heart - by Jacob Crouch

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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It seems Mr. Crouch is against the use of certain words regarding how to get saved. And he is emphatic. Adamant, even.

This kind of moral certainty causes us to wonder what the motive is. What is Mr. Crouch reacting against? It is clear he is a Calvinist, which includes the belief that God chose those who would be saved (the Elect). But he's terribly confused, because he still wants people "to plead with Him to save you," assuring us that "He will open your eyes." So we cannot "invite" Him, but we can "plead with Him." Different actions on our part lead to the same result, so we are mystified what all the hubbub is about.

Therefore, if God has already made the choice, then inviting Jesus in, accepting Him as Lord and Savior, pleasing with him to have mercy, or whatever other behavior might be prescribed for us, would be in conflict with God's sovereignty and grace. 

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Sometimes I wonder how terrible theology creeps into common vernacular. I’m convinced that a lot of American theology comes out of those famous books 1 and 2 Opinions. “God helps those who help themselves.” “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.” “Heaven just gained another angel.” Not only are these not in the Bible, they’re also all untrue. They are not only unhelpful, but actually harmful, because they miscommunicate things about God. One of the most ubiquitous, and possibly most harmful, phrases in our Christian culture is that we need to invite Jesus into our hearts. Let me say something: Jesus does not need an invitation into your heart.

The Savior

What makes this so nefarious is how it distorts our view of Jesus. Jesus is not standing like a lovesick schoolboy just waiting for the chance to interact with you. He’s not politely standing at the door of your heart just wishing you’d open up so he could save you (despite misunderstandings of Revelation 3:20). When we talk like this, we can forget that Jesus is Lord. He’s master. He’s not restrained or helped by us. Jesus is God in the flesh, and “he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Rom 9:18). (This is one of those verses Calvinists yank out its context. 

Paul was engaging in a long explanation of the nature of God's will as it applied to Israel. So when we arrive at verse 18, Paul comes to this conclusion that God has mercy as He chooses, derived from what he had just described.

But Paul doesn't stop. He now contrasts the gentiles and Jews, the gentiles being the "objects of His wrath" prepared for destruction [vs. 22], and the Jews being the "objects of His mercy" prepared for glory [vs. 23]. That is, predestined, already chosen for hell and heaven, respectively.

Then we find that though Israel was His "loved one" [vs. 25] He is changing His sovereign choice, and now the gentiles will be called "sons of the living God" [vs. 26]. Now, salvation will be "righteousness by faith" [vs. 30].

So Paul is telling us that collectively, God has now included those who were excluded. This passage is not about individuals, it's about two groups, gentiles and Israel.)

Jesus is the “founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12:2), and He needs no invitation. (This is the matter that needs to be established. Repetition does not establish Mr. Crouch's point.)

He is the Sovereign Lord, and when He saves, He kicks the door down of your hard heart, walks in, and sits as King, not by invitation, but by right. (Again, bare assertions.)

Salvation

It also confuses the nature of salvation. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). If Jesus saves by invitation, then it communicates that salvation is not 100% the work of God. (?? Mr. Crouch continues to make bare assertions. How is us inviting God a work? Because Mr. Crouch says so?)

If God does 99%, and our invitation is the 1% that brings God in, then it is not of grace. (We do not accept the idea that our invitation is 1%.)

If God is constrained by our invitation, then He is not God. (This is false. 

Mt. 13:58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Was Jesus not God because He was constrained by lack of faith?)

We preach a different gospel if we preach that someone is saved by asking Jesus into their heart. (This is quite false:

Jn. 12:48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.

Jn. 13:20 ... and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.

Ac. 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Ac. 8:14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

Ja. 1:21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Col. 2:6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him...

Ro. 10:9-10 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

1Pe. 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.

Clearly we are to employ our will to accept Jesus, accept His words, accept the Gospel message, and receive Him into our hearts.) 

No. Salvation is accomplished by the work of Jesus on the Cross. He died as a substitute for sinners, (He did not substitute for us, His spilled blood was the perfect sacrifice to wash away our sin. The blood alone is enough.)

and He rose victoriously from the grave. We are those who have been gifted faith in that message by the grace and work of God. We are not saved because we made a good decision. Salvation is an assault on our boasting, and the Bible affirms that we bring nothing to the table.

The Solution

So what do we do? I’m not suggesting you sit on your hands. Just as false as it is that Jesus needs an invitation to save, it is also untrue that we should just laze about and wait for God to move and act. (Why? If God does 100% of the work of salvation, then what remains for us to do?)

If you see yourself in need of saving, then pray! Not to “receive Jesus” or “ask Him into your heart,” but to plead with Him to save you. (Why should we pray? God has already chosen those who will be saved.)

Beat your chest like the clear-eyed tax collector and say, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). If He has mercy on whom He has mercy, then cry out like the blind man, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47). And the God who caused light to shine out of darkness in creation, will do the same thing in salvation. (God will respond to our plea?)

He will open your eyes (John 9:39), give you a new heart (Eze 36:26), cause you to be born again (John 3:3), give you true faith and repentance (Eph 2:8), and deliver you from the domain of darkness and transfer you into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col 1:13). (If we beat our chest and plead, He will respond and do all this? What kind of Calvinism is this?)

So let’s be diligent gospel preachers, and let’s live by the Bible, not by platitudes. Let’s not call people to make decisions or issue invitations to Jesus, but let’s call them to faith and repentance. May we be a humble people who trust the Sovereign Lord to save His elect, (Ah, finally. Mr. Crouch is a Calvinist. This makes his entire article is absurd.

What a mess.)

and may all boasting cease as we rightly understand our Savior and our salvation. May we continue to grow in our understanding of the work of Christ in the gospel.