Understanding the True Meaning of Commiting to Christ
Often times when I hear people evangelizing, or talking about someone’s conversion, they speak of things such as someone giving their life to Jesus, or committing their life to Christ. The use of phrases like these certainly does not necessarily indicate the preaching a false Gospel or a false conversion, however, I do think that there are far better choices of words in both of these contexts to relay more clarity regarding the Gospel message and of one’s understanding and belief of it.
The Gospel message is something that it to be believed (Ephesians 1:13, Romans 16:31, etc.). The Gospel message is of course that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried and rose again, according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15: 3-4). Gospel means “good news.” This is the best news ever, because we do not have to receive the just wage of [eternal] death for our sins. The gift of God is that Jesus took that wage on our behalf; a wage that had to be paid by a just and perfect God, so we wouldn’t have to. And instead, those of us who trust Him as Savior receive the free gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23). When we believe this Gospel, we are born again; we are sealed with the Holy Spirit (John chapter 3, Ephesians 1:13). This is elaborated upon much more elsewhere on this site, including in the free e-book Angles and Aspects of Salvation, and in just about every piece of writing on this site, at least in some way.
The Greek word that is rendered as “believe” in the New Testament is πιστεύω, which would be rendered as pisteúō, and pronounced pist-yoo'-o in the English language. It means to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e. credit; by implication, to entrust (especially one's spiritual well-being to Christ):—believe(-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with. Doing this with the Gospel is the one and only requirement for receiving the gift of salvation; eternal life. One may rightly point out that the word “commit” is included in this definition, and perhaps then [incorrectly] argue that it would imply some sort of necessary promise of service that must be kept in order to receive and/or keep salvation. I do believe that many, perhaps even most churched folks, even without seeing this definition, unfortunately would assert this notion. Any “gospel” message asserting this would be false.
There is more than one way to look at the word “commit,” and when comparing such things in terms of their meanings pertaining to Scripture, we must look at what best fits with the rest of Scripture. Let us look at this further. If I am hired to do a job for pay, I commit to the doing of that job in the way that it is outlined in some form of contract that I make with the employer who hired me. I have an obligation to keep that commitment if I want to be paid and stay employed. I must honor my commitment; I must do things; I must work to maintain my employment status and receive my pay. In other words, it is very much up to me to keep this commitment. On the other hand, let us say that I have had a heart attack and have been rushed to the hospital. I have been examined by the medical staff and it has been determined that I need emergency open heart surgery in order to stay alive. I must commit my trust to the surgical team to accomplish the task that needs to be accomplished in order to save my life. I do not and cannot help them do what they need to do to save me, in any way, shape, or form. Once the mask is put over my face, my life is completely dependent upon them. I am not capable of doing anything at all to keep my commitment. I must trust them with my life COMPLETELY. I rely 100% upon their skill and expertise, as I won’t even be awake while they are working on me. If I did somehow manage to wake up and try to help them, it would be an obvious enormous hinderance for myriad reasons, that would result in my death. In the first scenario, the keeping of contract is 2 sided; dependent upon both parties for success. It also does not fit the context of the definition of “pisteúō” that we see above, nor does it fit with the context of the rest of Scripture. In the second, the keeping of the contract is one sided. The second is how our salvation works; in fact, it is the only way that it can work; sinless God alone does the saving of sinful us when we commit our trust to Him (2 Corinthians 12:9, Hebrews 1:3, etc.). This indeed does fit the definition of “pisteúō” and the context of the rest of Scripture. Our supposed efforts to help God with our salvation are detrimental, ultimately [eternally] even more so than the example above of a patient waking up during open heart surgery and trying help the surgical team.
If one chooses to use the term “commit” in terms of their understanding and presentation of the Gospel; asserting that one must commit [or give] their life to Christ for salvation, they very much need to be emphasizing the second scenario of the term, otherwise they are preaching and/or acknowledging a false Gospel. I would humbly, but assertively advise against using the phrase “commit [or give] your life to Christ” in the evangelistic context, as to avoid potential [eternally dangerous] confusion.
The terms of “giving” or “committing” one’s life to Jesus often come along with, and/or are synonymous with a false, or at best very confusing Gospel message that asserts the necessity of “repenting of one’s sins;” usually meaning turning from one’s sinful behavior (this idea is actually rather nebulous) as the required first step in receiving salvation. This may sound very logical, spiritual, noble, and even humble. However, it is found nowhere in the New Testament in connection with salvation. It is a heretical idea, often referred to as lordship “salvation” that is rooted in pride and fear, not to mention the fact that it is impossible to do. It probably originated with pastors who were trying to scare their congregations into behaving better; perhaps to even encouraging them to take pride in their "good" and "virtuous" behavior as well. I believe that there are many well intended and saved folks that have somehow allowed this idea to slither its way into their current understanding and/or presentation of the Gospel message, not realizing the implications of it and the potential damaging effect that it very likely will have (I speak to this from personal experience). If this is you, I would lovingly, yet sincerely and urgently admonish you to immediately do some rethinking and refresh your understanding of the Gospel and revise your presentation of it. There is a lot of material on this site that may be of help to you in this regard.
People are often confused with biblical concept of repentance, compared with the unbiblical “repent of your sins” idea. Consider the following: Let us say that I am up on the edge of a balcony of the fourth or fifth floor of a building that is very much on fire, so much so that I cannot go back inside of it. For the sake of the example, let’s also say that the fire escapes have been rendered useless. I am also obviously too far up to jump to safety and still remain alive. I am alone, and I am trying to figure out a way to get myself out of the mess that I am in that is going to most certainly result in my death, if I don’t manage a way to do so. Obviously, there is no way that I am going to be able to get myself out of it; whether I realize it or not, as it stands at this point, I am doomed. While I continue pondering my dire situation, the first response team shows up with their truck with the big extension ladder. It is extended up to me, along with a first responder, who instructs me to take his hand and step over to him so he can get me to safety. At that point I have to repent. In most of the New Testament, the English word “repent” is translated from the Greek words “metanoia” or “metanoeo.” Both of these words mean to change (“meta”) your mind (“noia is a noun, noeo is a verb). In other words, I have to change my mind about relying on any of my own feeble and useless efforts to get myself out of this deadly predicament of fire and a long drop to the ground; I must make the decision instead to simply take this first responder at his word and allow him to get me to safety, if I wish to remain alive. I don’t know anything personally about him or understand all of the workings of his machinery and his team, but there is sufficient evidence…actually overwhelming evidence that he is who he presents himself to be, and that he and his team and machinery are more than capable of getting the job done. In the same way, one must repent; change his or her mind about any other belief system (or supposed lack thereof) and take Jesus at His word; believe the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
There are a great many very “good,” "well behaved," and “well churched” individuals who are not going to enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew 7:21-23); they have never truly repented; they have never changed their minds about relying on feeble and useless works, including promises to somehow change their lives and be good (a.k.a. the supposed repentance of one’s sins), as well as religious rites and rituals, etc., that they think will somehow help to make them good enough or “eligible” to be saved from the fate that they deserved (still deserve), and thus become able to come into God’s presence. None of these useless efforts that one makes contribute even a little bit to making anyone eligible for the free gift of salvation. Instead, one must simply trust and fully/completely rely upon Jesus, and Jesus alone, to save them. My example with the first responders is, however, somewhat flawed. In the example, I had to actually do a few small things in order to help the first responders save me. In terms of Jesus saving me, I simply believe Him; trust him; take Him at His word, PERIOD. In terms of salvation: Jesus plus something is NOTHING, Jesus plus nothing is EVERYTHING!
The Holy Spirit outlined the Gospel message perfectly; the only way that He could. God is incapable of making mistakes; He is perfect, He can't do anything wrong. People, including theologians, are very much imperfect and are much more than capable of making mistakes, including in the formulation of their doctrine. He most certainly doesn’t need anyone’s “help” in “improving” His Gospel, in order to get people to “be good" and "behave.” These revised “gospels” simply produce a lot of the people represented in Matthew 7:21-23, as well as “ex-Christians.” These being people who perhaps have had some sort of [false] “conversion experience," yet have never truly trusted Christ as Savior. This being the case, they never received the Holy Spirit, they were never born of the Holy Spirit, and they were never sealed with the Holy Spirit; it is the Holy Spirit is who empowers you to truly live in a way that is pleasing to God (Galatians 5: 16-26). However, they do lots of “Christian” works and religion, with big lists of do’s and don’ts to follow, etc. in order to prove and/or keep their supposed salvation. Perhaps they do many of the "right" things for the wrong reasons. They eventually get sick of the burdensome hopelessness and emptiness of their religion. After a while they [usually bitterly and resentfully] walk away from their dead, miserable, and useless religion.
Are good works important? Indeed, they are. But they do nothing to get you through the door, so to speak, in terms of the gift of irrevocable everlasting life (Rom 11:29, John 3:16, 6:40, 47, etc.). God alone does the saving; God alone carries you through the door. Meaningful good works, which are true service to God, are only possible once you have been carried by God through that door, which you never can [nor do you want to] go through again. Also, meaningful works that God will bless and reward you for (1 Corinthians 3:11-15, Matthew 6:19-20) will be done out of gratitude and love; the fruit of the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer. Nonmeaningful and ultimately useless works (Matthew 7:21-23) that are done in order to try to somehow earn [even a part of] salvation are done out of fear and obligation. The former is an all-around unspeakably wonderful eternal win, the latter is an eternal all-around unspeakably terrible loss.
Perhaps you are a “well churched” person [or perhaps even an unchurched person] who has never understood this principle until now and has lived in a great deal of fear and uncertainty about your eternal destiny. Or like me in the past, perhaps you have forgotten or somehow lost sight of this wonderful truth and let your faith become shipwrecked. You don’t have to live this way anymore. Truly repent; commit [give] your life to Jesus in the correct way that is solely dependent upon Him and the work that He has already done for you, that no one else could never do; change your mind and be born again right now, if you never have done so; there is no time like the present. Now truly rest in your assured and irrevocable gift of eternal life. If your faith was shipwrecked, I pray that you now remember and focus upon the truth that you believed, and on the Holy Spirit which by whom you were sealed, and now rest in your assured and irrevocable salvation (Romans 11:29). Let go of that burden that Satan wants you to hang on to that is either keeping you out of the Kingdom, or keeping you from so many of the blessings of your King.
If you have accepted the Gospel message; taken Jesus at His word; trusted Him as Savior; committed [given] your life to Him in the correct way, please spend time thinking about it; pondering the beautiful simplicity, yet elegant intricacy of its implications; pondering ways to correctly present it clearly and understandably to different people who are in different places in life and in their understanding of the things of God, etc. Again, there is much on this site that can be of help to you in this regard. Look for opportunities to discuss it and present it; earnestly seek the Lord on this. This is truly Heaven and Hell; there is ultimately nothing of greater importance to a person than their eternal destiny, and no one is guaranteed even another 5 minutes.
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