What does Jesus have to do with my HEART?You've heard this before, right? Someone is explaining how to become a Christian and they say "you need to ask Jesus into your heart" or "invite Him into your life" or something like that. Im sure you have heard it plenty of times, but does the bible really teach it?
Several times in the bible, someone will ask "What must I do to be saved?", and funnily enough, the answer is never to "ask Jesus into your heart". And, if you search the bible from cover to cover you won't find anything close to that said anywhere! So why is it so common today?
First of all, it would help to know what a Christian actually is, so lets do that first: A Christian is someone who understands they have sinned and deserve punishment for breaking God's law. They also believe that God loves them and sent Jesus to take the punishment they deserve in their place, so now they are acceptable to God and will be with Him in Heaven forever and ever.
There is no special way or secret formula to becoming a Christian. Once you have understood your own sinfulness and trust that Jesus has taken care of your sin on the cross, you are a Christian! (Here's just a few verses for you to look up: Romans 6:23, John 3:16, Acts 16:30-31)
When people first hear this good news and believe it, they respond by being sorry for their sins and thanking Jesus for forgiving them. So that's how it works in a nutshell- but what about inviting Jesus into your heart?
The idea comes from a verse in Revelation 3:20 where Jesus is saying "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends". At first this might sound a lot like Jesus is knocking on the door to your heart and he wants you to let Him in; but if you look closely at the context (the verses before and after it), you will discover a slightly different story. It turns out that Jesus is actually standing outside the door of a church. A very bad church! Even though they claim to be a Christian church, they have forgotten the most important thing about being a church: Jesus is not there! He is standing outside!
So, in the end, this verse doesn't have anything to do with becoming a Christian, it is actually a warning to churches who are no longer teaching about Jesus.
Why do so many people teach it that way then? Good question! Sometimes ideas are passed on for so long that they are accepted as the truth. If you hear something enough times, it so easy to go with the flow and decide that it must be true- even when it isn't.
The bible says we shouldn't just believe everything we hear, especially when it comes to God or how to be saved. It tells us to be discerning. That is: thinking things through, reasoning, and most of all, making sure that God's word- the bible agrees with whatever is being taught. (A few more verse for you: Isaiah 8:20, Acts 11:17, 1Thessalonians 5:21).
So you don't need to ask Jesus into your heart. Its a very confusing way to explain how to be saved. Instead- just believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins!
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