The Altar Call

The Altar call is almost always synonmous with accepting Jesus into your heart. This seems backwards. Who is accepting who? Are not we the ones who need to be accepted and received? Are not we the ones who have done wrong? Are we doing God a favor by accepting Him? Are not we the ones who are coming home and wanting to be welcomed and received? Is He not the host? The Father? The forgiver? Many may think it does not make a difference, but I think that it makes all the difference. I think that we are setting people up for deception. This deception can work in many ways. One is that when we tell people Jesus is knocking at the door of their heart and that they should answer and open the door, we are asking them to answer to a feeling. An emotion. I know that this is what I did. I felt Jesus knocking on the door of my heart and it made me want to open the door to Him. The result: my feelings, my emotions became my idol. I followed them wherever they led me and they led me down the wrong path. I was in bondage to my feelings. I trusted my feelings, not God. All the while believing that I had God's grace and I trusted Him. The truth is I had not even tasted God's grace. Secondly, it makes it look as if salvation is something we do rather than what God has done. I remember so many times coming to the altar and telling God I was going to change, I would be better. I did not want to keep on sinning but I kept doing it anyway. I came to the altar time after time. If I meant it more this time maybe things would change. Everytime I became more and more disappointed, no change, same old me. But that was exactly the problem. As much as I talked about God's love and believed in His grace, I was still trying to work for my salvation. It is a gift, His gift. But what is it to receive the gift of salvation? Is it not to believe that He receives you, forgives you, loves you? When you really know this not just in your head but with your heart, truth has set in and you shall be free indeed! There will be change. This is what the disciples were saying when they said to repent and believe. Unbelief is the root cause of habitual sin.