by A.W. Tozer
This may sound like heresy in some quarters, but I have come to this conclusion – that there are far too many among us who have thought that they accepted Christ, but nothing has come of it within their own lives and desires and habits! This kind of philosophy in soul-winning – the idea that it is “the easiest thing in the world to accept Jesus”- permits the man or woman to accept Christ by an impulse of the mind or of the emotions. It allows us to gulp twice and sense an emotional feeling that has come over us, and then say, “I have accepted Christ.”
These are spiritual matters about which we must be legitimately honest and in which we must seek the discernment of the Holy Spirit. These are things about which we cannot afford to be wrong; to be wrong is still to be lost and far from God. Let us never forget that the Word of God stresses the importance of conviction and concern and repentance when it comes to conversion, spiritual regeneration, being born from above by the Spirit of God!
Comments
After repeating a “Sinners Prayer” at a tent meeting in Brisbane, Australia, in 1952 (I think) at the age of 13, I was given to understand that I was now a Christian. Our family started attending church and during my teenage years became involved in church activities. At about age 20 I began to see that the older people in the church (it was an older persons church)( PC very important) had something I didn’t. I thought maybe I’ll get “it” when I’m older. I lost count of the of the number of “rededication” altar calls I went on in those years. Life moved on as it does, I married a wonderful Christian girl and raised two children. The missing “it” in my life became more obvious and I tried from time to time to seek for the missing piece thinking all the time that I was just a backsliden Christian. In my 70s, God allowed me to see that I had never been “born again” by the Spirit of God. This was very liberating for me, as I then understood that “it” all comes from above not out of my own head. Bless you AWT, not sure if you’re still with us, but thank you for leaving some vitally important advice. The “it” I was looking for is the “new birth”.