Matthew 7.13 – 27 Lesson #8
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Matthew 7.13 – 27

OPEN

Let’s each share your name and where you live.

DIG

1.       Matthew 7.13, 14. Someone take a stab at paraphrasing this passage.

Although I wanted to believe I was one of the few, my heart knew I was stuck in a traffic jam. Jesus’ words screamed like a big neon sign, pointing out a route that I had failed to notice as I tried to keep up with the convoy of normalcy. The truth of his words suddenly seemed so clear.

The majority of people — the crowd — is traveling the wrong path, the one that leads to destruction. They’re the normal ones — intent on looking like the rest, spending money like the rest, living like the rest, keeping up with the rest. But their road leads to a dead end. Only a few people — the weird ones unafraid to exit the normal highway — find the right road. Not many, but a small and brave group of travelers willing to separate from the crowd and embark on a different kind of journey down a less obvious path.

Talk about a major U-turn! Here I was, comfortably cruising down the interstate at eighty miles per hour, assuming I was headed in the right direction since everyone else was going the same way, when suddenly the GPS revealed that where I really wanted to go was in the opposite direction on a small back road. To really follow Jesus, to know him, meant that I’d have to be different from my friends and everyone else. But I didn’t want to be different, one of those goofy Christians I’d seen around campus with their guitars and clever little tracts that weren’t supposed to look like tracts. Christians were different and different was weird and I was committed to being normal.

And since I didn’t want to be weird, I wasn’t about to change my course and follow Jesus. — Craig Groeschel, Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011).

2.       In this classic passage, Jesus describes two paths. What is the broad path like?

MANY OF US have been looking for Easy Street all of our lives. But what happens when we get on Easy Street?

Bits and Pieces, a fascinating little magazine, gives us the answer in the form of some Hawaiian wisdom from the island of Oahu. If you take the Pali Highway northbound out of Honolulu, you will come to Pali Pass. At Pali Pass you can turn right on Park Street, go one block, and you will arrive at Easy Street. Turn left on Easy Street and drive one block; you will then see a sign that reads “Dead End.”

I have sometimes seen more in a
line of the Bible than I could well
tell how to stand under, and yet
at another time the whole Bible
hath been to me as dry as a stick.
—JOHN BUNYAN

The article concluded, “Those looking for the easy street of life are usually surprised by the road’s predictable destination.” To this, I would add that life has its ups and downs, and it really is tough. However, when we are tough on ourselves, life is infinitely easier on us. In short, everything is not going to be easy. Many things are going to be difficult, but we arrive on a much easier street by overcoming difficulties.

As a salesman and as a sales trainer, I frequently have made the observation that the toughies are the teachers. When we encounter a prospect ready to buy, it’s fun to write the order, but we don’t learn anything from the transaction. When we meet a legitimate prospect who has lots of objections and gives us many reasons why he should not buy, and we effectively deal with him, we learn something about how to make other sales, which brings us even more success.

We read in Matthew 7:13-14 (NLT): “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.” The good news is that for those who do find it, God’s promises are magnificent. — Zig Ziglar, Staying Up, Up, up in a Down, down World: Daily Hope for the Daily Grind (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000).

3.       Why is it that only a few find the path that leads to life?

As I dived into my new passion for Bible study, I noticed that certain words were printed in red and not black—the words of Jesus. As if what he was saying didn’t stand out enough! When I read what Jesus taught, it was anything but normal. His teachings were so weird that they could easily be considered otherworldly.

Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also” (Luke 6:27 – 29).

Normal says to hate your enemies. Jesus says to love them.

Normal seeks revenge on those who hurt you. Jesus shows you how to be kind to those who harm you.

If someone hits you, then normal swings back. Jesus teaches you to turn the other cheek.

Let’s be honest. This is not only counterintuitive to everything we learned on the playground in elementary school; it’s just downright weird. And these are not the most challenging of his unusual teachings. Jesus also told us to pray for those who persecute us. Weird. And if we want to find our lives, we have to lose them. Weirder. And if we don’t hate our parents, we really aren’t committed to him. Weirdest. — Craig Groeschel, Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011).

4.       How many Christians would you say are on the narrow path?

Although I had always believed in God, I had to acknowledge that I didn’t really know him or what it meant to follow him. Maybe the weird I associated with religious people wasn’t how he intended Christians to be different. Maybe there was a whole new wild world of weird that came with choosing the narrow path. Maybe it was time to abandon the normal and wide path I’d known and off-road it for a wonderful weirdness I couldn’t imagine. — Craig Groeschel, Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011).

5.       We always want to read the Bible for application. What is the application of this passage for our day-to-day lives?

After a Tuesday night Bible meeting, I walked alone to an empty soft-ball field. No matter what it cost me — even being normal — I had decided that I wanted to know Jesus and live for him. I wanted to do life his way and not mine. As I knelt beside the dugout and prayed, I left normal behind and embraced whatever it took—being different to the point of the God kind of weird — to follow Jesus. Something melted within me, and I walked away forever changed, with a sense of God’s grace I can’t describe.

It didn’t take long for others to notice the change. When I told my fraternity brothers and teammates that I’d become a Christian, they gazed at me with the tentative uncertainty usually reserved for wild animals and mental patients. They quickly realized, however, that I wasn’t dangerous—just weird. In a matter of moments, I’d gone from a cool, normal, somewhat popular, regular kind of guy to a first-class Jesus freak.

Perhaps the most immediately noticeable change was my commitment to purity — no more sex until marriage. To say the least, my sex-obsessed buddies thought I had really lost it and had drunk more than my share of the bad Kool-Aid. Several frat guys even wagered a hundred dollars that I wouldn’t last one month without going back to my old ways. For the record, they lost their money! — Craig Groeschel, Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011).

6.       How is the narrow way better than the broad path? Be specific.

However, nowadays being normal isn’t quite as easy and painless as it once seemed to be. In fact, it’s more time consuming than ever. There aren’t enough hours in the day to buy, sell, drive, cook, clean, call, shop, eat, plan, study, write, review, schedule, and follow through on everything. Overwhelmed, overloaded, and exhausted, everybody talks about wanting more time, but only to “catch up” on what they’re already doing — rushing, planning, worrying, and rushing some more. Families suffer. Health wanes. Priorities fade. Joy evaporates. Most people don’t know their life’s direction because their soul is dizzy from spinning around so much. Uninterrupted time to rest, relax, and enjoy life sounds like a line from a retirement home brochure. Normal is busy and getting busier.

When it comes to finances, it’s normal to go into debt so deep that you can’t see the way out. Money becomes a dark pit of worry, fear, anxiety, tension, and fighting. Most people I know are living paycheck to paycheck. Most make more money today than they ever have, but it’s never enough. Now more than ever, it’s expensive to be normal — so much cool stuff to buy and take care of, so many normal experiences you want your family to have. Only it’s hard to enjoy any of it when the financial noose tightens with each monthly payment.

Normal relationships require little and provide less. You and your spouse are so busy, so stressed, and so exhausted, there’s normally no time for each other. No wonder, then, that affairs are the norm. They provide the attention, romance, and sex without the commitment, sacrifice, or intimacy required in marriage. Similarly, you’d love to spend more time with the kids, but there’s just not enough time. They’re almost as busy and stressed as you are. It would be great to have deep, meaningful conversations and shared experiences that allow you to teach them what you know. Normal families, however, just don’t work that way.

And nothing’s more normal than sex, right? Premarital sex, extramarital sex, friends-with-benefits type sex. Porn, experimentation, casual hookups — whatever feels good between consenting adults. It’s totally normal. Maybe our parents were uptight and repressed about sex, but we’re more progressive, more liberated nowadays. In the twenty-first century, why in the world would anyone remain a virgin until marriage? After all, as one of my frat brothers used to say, “You wouldn’t buy the car without test driving it first, would you?” Unfortunately, though, normal also carries a hefty price: guilt, shame, confusion, remorse, disease, addiction, unwanted children, and divorce.

Normal infects our faith as well, both what we believe and how we live it out. When we consider how people relate to God, it’s normal to either reject God altogether or believe in him while living as if he doesn’t exist. In churches, normal is lukewarm Christianity, self-centered spiritual consumerism, and shallow, me-driven faith. God has become a means to an end, a tool in our toolbox to accomplish what we want. The majority of people claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.

And all this is normal. — Craig Groeschel, Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011).

7.       Do you think the people on the narrow path feel a little bit like weirdos?

In this book, I’m going to challenge you to jump off the normal path and onto one that may seem a little weird. At times, you’re going to argue, “But, Craig — that’s just too weird!” When that happens, we’re likely making progress. We’re going to talk about dramatic changes. Because, let’s face it, if small changes would’ve made the difference, you’d have made those changes a long time ago. Everyone travels along the wide road; only a few take the narrow path. — Craig Groeschel, Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011).

8.       What price do those pay who stay on the broad path? Again, give specific examples.

Instead of living stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted, you can live a life of meaningful relationships, intentional scheduling, and deep, fulfilling rest for your soul. Instead of choking with constant financial fear and tension, you can let God’s Word lead you along a path to financial peace, margin, and eternal investments. Instead of allowing your marriage to drift into parallel lives or divorce by default, you can experience true intimacy with your spouse. Rather than continuing on the normal sexual path toward pain, emptiness, and idolatry, you can allow God to heal you, change the way you think, and place deliberate safeguards in your life to protect you. God wants you to know him and love him — not just acknowledge him or consider him a cosmic sugar daddy.

If you let him, if you choose not to coast along the world’s wide-open road but rather to blaze a narrow trail with Jesus as your guide, then you’ll never settle for normal again. You’ll want only one thing.

The God kind of weird. — Craig Groeschel, Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011).

9.       Matthew 7.15. What false prophets should we watch out for today? Name names.

In Jude’s brief letter to believers, the apostle firmly warns against false prophets and tells us how to respond to them. “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 21). Our primary response to false teaching is simply to be right with God in the first place, to make sure we are in fellowship with Him and receiving His blessing and power. Then we can “have mercy on some, who are doubting” (v. 22, NASB)—believers who doubt their faith because of false teachers need reassurance.

Another necessary response might be to “save others, snatching them out of the fire” (v. 23, NASB)—unbelievers bound for hell after hearing false teaching need to be rescued before it’s too late.

Finally, Jude tells about a third response to false prophets: “On some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (v. 23, NASB). We sometimes must confront false prophets and their followers, doing so with a special dependence on the Lord and being careful not to get contaminated by their false teachings. — John MacArthur, Truth for Today : A Daily Touch of God’s Grace (Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman, 2001), 250.

10.   Do a search on your phone for the phrase, “false prophets today.” Read over the list. Do you agree with the list?

The Didache, one of the earliest Christian writings after the New Testament, gives several guidelines for discerning true from false prophets. First, a true prophet will not wear out his welcome but will move on, tending to his ministry and mission. But a false prophet may hang around indefinitely, concerned only about serving his own interests.

Second, unlike the false prophet, the true prophet is averse to excessive appeals for money. He is content with support for the basic needs of life and ministry.

Third, a true prophet’s lifestyle will correspond to the righteous standards he teaches. A false prophet very likely will teach one thing and practice another.

A true minister of the gospel will demonstrate what Paul wrote, “For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ” (2 Cor. 2:17). — John MacArthur, Truth for Today : A Daily Touch of God’s Grace (Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman, 2001), 251.

11.   What harm comes from not recognizing a false prophet?

The most dangerous characteristic of false prophets is that they claim to be from God and to speak for Him. “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so” (Jer. 5:31).

Such leaders nearly always appear pleasant and positive. They like to be with Christians, and they know how to talk and act like believers.

False prophets usually exude sincerity and thereby more easily deceive others (see 2 Tim. 3:13). But you can identify false teachers’ true colors by noting what they do not talk much about. They usually don’t deny basic doctrines such as Christ’s deity and substitutionary atonement, the sinfulness of humanity, or unbelievers’ going to hell. They simply ignore such “controversial” truths.

But whenever a false prophet is in your midst, you must not ignore his presence or the harmful effects of his heretical teaching. — John MacArthur, Truth for Today : A Daily Touch of God’s Grace (Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman, 2001), 249.

12.   What harm comes from confusing a true prophet with a false prophet?

I think there are some who think it is spiritual to discover the secret flaws of some famous preachers. I have had people walk out on my teaching because I said something nice about Bill Hybels or Rick Warren. I don’t agree with everything these two men teach. In fact, I doubt I agree with everything anyone preaches!  But I have listened to many sermons by both of them and for the life of my I don’t understand the accusations of heresy for either of them.

13.   What makes a false prophet a false prophet? We disagree on many things—predestination vss. free will, speaking in tongues, women in ministry, and so on. What are things we can have a friendly disagreement on, and what are things that make someone outside the tent of orthodoxy?

There are a number of doctrinal characteristics of cults. One will typically find an emphasis on new revelation from God, a denial of the sole authority of the Bible, a denial of the Trinity, a distorted view of God and Jesus, or a denial of salvation by grace.

New Revelation. Many cult leaders claim to have a direct pipeline to God. The teachings of the cult often change and, hence, they need new “revelations” to justify such changes. Mormons, for example, once excluded African Americans from the priesthood. When social pressure was exerted against the Mormon church for this blatant form of racism, the Mormon president received a new “revelation” reversing the previous decree. Jehovah’s Witnesses engaged in the same kind of change regarding the earlier Watchtower teaching that vaccinations and organ transplants were prohibited by Jehovah.

Denial of the Sole Authority of the Bible. Many cults deny the sole authority of the Bible. The Mormons, for example, believe the Book of Mormon is higher Scripture than the Bible. Jim Jones, founder and leader of Jonestown, placed himself in authority over the Bible. Christian Scientists elevate Mary Baker Eddy’s book Science and Health to supreme authority. Reverend Moon placed his book The Divine Principle in authority over all his followers. New Agers believe in many modern forms of authoritative revelation, such as The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ.

A Distorted View of God and Jesus. Many cults set forth a distorted view of God and Jesus. The “Jesus Only” Oneness Pentecostals, for example, deny the Trinity and hold to a form of modalism, claiming that Jesus is God, and that “Father,” “Son,” and “Holy Spirit” are simply singular names for Jesus. The Jehovah’s Witnesses deny both the Trinity and the absolute deity of Christ, saying that Christ is a lesser god than the Father (who is God Almighty). The Mormons say Jesus was “procreated” (by a heavenly father and a heavenly mother) at a point in time, and was the spirit–brother of Lucifer. Mormons do speak of a “Trinity,” but redefine it into Tritheism (i.e., three gods). The Baha’is say Jesus was just one of many prophets of God. The Jesus of the spiritists is just an advanced medium. The Jesus of the Theosophists is a mere reincarnation of the so–called World Teacher (who is said to periodically reincarnate in the body of a human disciple). The Jesus of psychic Edgar Cayce is a being who in his first incarnation was Adam and in his thirtieth reincarnation was “the Christ.”

Related to the above, cults also typically deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, say that Jesus was raised from the dead as an invisible spirit creature. Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, also denied the physical, bodily resurrection of Christ. (Note that in recent years the Worldwide Church of God has repudiated many of Armstrong’s teachings and has taken significant steps toward orthodoxy.)

Denial of Salvation by Grace. Cults typically deny salvation by grace, thus distorting the purity of the gospel. The Mormons, for example, emphasize the necessity of becoming more and more perfect in this life. The Jehovah’s Witnesses emphasize the importance of distributing Watchtower literature door–to–door as a part of “working out” their salvation. Herbert W. Armstrong said that the idea that works are not required for salvation is rooted in Satan.

From the brief survey above, it is clear that all cults deny one or more of the fundamental, essential doctrines of Christianity. — Norman L. Geisler and Ron Rhodes, When Cultists Ask: A Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretations (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997).

14.   Matthew 7.21 – 23. What do we learn about who goes to Heaven and who doesn’t from this passage?

Have you ever heard of George Brett, the legendary third baseman who played for the Kansas City Royals? When I was a kid, I collected every George Brett baseball card ever made and knew everything about his career.

In 1988, I played in the NAIA National Tennis Championship in Kansas City. On a walk downtown, I saw George Brett sitting at an outdoor cafe. I couldn’t stop myself—I walked right up to him, extended my hand, and said, “I know this happens to you all the time. I’m so sorry. I just had to tell you, you’re the man! In 1980, you batted .390—you almost batted over .400—which would have broken Ted Williams’ record from back in 1941. You had 118 RBIs in only 117 games. You’re the man!” (A bit repetitive, I know, but I was nervous.)

Now, I didn’t actually know George Brett, but I knew information about him. And I had heard that he was cocky and rude. What I experienced, however, was quite the opposite.

“You know all that about me?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m just getting started.”

“That’s amazing. Why don’t you sit with us? Let’s talk for a few minutes.” And he pulled up a chair.

After we had talked for about fifteen minutes, George asked, “So, what brings you to Kansas City?” I told him that I was playing in the big tennis tournament the next day. He congratulated me and said, “You know what? You’ve watched me all these years. I’ll try to come out and watch you play tomorrow.”

The next day, I won the National Tennis title…with George Brett cheering me on from the very front row. (Cue dream scene fade-out and ethereal musical sounds.)

Okay, so that didn’t really happen, though it would have been a great ending to this story. The reality is that George didn’t show, and I lost in the second round and went home crushed.

Technically, I could say that I know George Brett because of our single encounter. But it’s obvious I don’t really know him. If you were to remind him about our encounter in Kansas City, he might not remember at all.

Now let’s rewind the history tape a couple thousand years. When the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians ( Jesus-followers who lived in the region of Galatia, modern-day Turkey), they had experienced the real, living God but had recently become trapped in legalism. They knew God, but not well enough to avoid getting sucked back into a life based in the law, rather than in love. In Galatians 4:8 – 9, Paul wrote, “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?”

Paul essentially was saying, “You know God, but not well enough to avoid your old habits—the attitudes that hurt you and your closeness to God.” In the twenty-first century, we would be wise to ask ourselves, “Is this us too?”

Maybe we “sort of” know God. Maybe sometime in the past we’ve prayed and asked Jesus to transform our lives. Maybe we have a basic understanding of God. Maybe, once, we genuinely felt close to him. But we don’t know him well now. — Craig Groeschel, The Christian Atheist: When You Believe in God but Live as If He Doesn’t Exist (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010).

15.   What exactly does it mean to know Jesus?

Finally, there are those people who know God intimately and serve him with their whole hearts. For me, I know this is happening when I’m becoming increasingly aware of God’s presence within me, his provision, his power, and his peace. I don’t feel like God’s “out there,” waiting for me to direct a prayer his way every now and then. It’s more like an ongoing conversation: “Hi, God. Hey listen, what do you think of this?” Then I honestly believe God speaks to me through his written Word and by his Spirit.

It’s like somehow my spirit is connected to him, and I can hear what he’s saying. There’s kind of a buzz, a constant conscious awareness that as my day unfolds, God is orchestrating things and sending people into my life. That’s doing life with God.

At other times, God may not feel as close. But by faith, I know he is with me. No matter what I feel, I hold the assurance that God never leaves me. And he won’t leave you.

The psalmist David describes in Psalm 63:1 – 4 his relationship with God. In fact, he says that his experience of knowing the personal God creates a deeper longing for even more intimate knowledge of God. Verse 1 begins, “O God, you are my God.” You’re not somebody else’s God, that I’ve just heard about. You’re my God. — Craig Groeschel, The Christian Atheist: When You Believe in God but Live as If He Doesn’t Exist (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010).

16.   Isn’t there a magic prayer we can pray to insure us a place in Heaven?

One Friday night during my ninth grade year, however, my Sunday school teacher told us that according to Matthew 7:21–23 many people who think they know Jesus will awaken on that final day to the reality that He never really knew them. Though they had prayed a prayer to receive Jesus, they had never really been born again and never taken the lordship of Jesus seriously. They would, my teacher explained, be turned away from heaven into everlasting punishment with the disastrous words, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

I was terrified. Would I be one of those ones turned away? Had I really been “sorry” for my sins at age five? And could I really have known what I was doing at age four?

So I asked Jesus to come into my heart again, this time with a resolve to be much more intentional about my faith. I requested re-baptism, and gave a very moving testimony in front of our congregation about getting serious with God.

Case closed, right? Wrong.

Not long after that I found myself asking again: Had I really been sorry enough for my sin this time around? I’d see some people weep rivers of tears when they got saved, but I hadn’t. Did that mean I was not really sorry? And there were a few sins I seemed to fall back into over and over again, no matter how many resolutions I made to do better. Was I really sorry for those sins? Was that prayer a moment of total surrender? Would I have died for Jesus at that moment if He’d asked?

So I prayed the sinner’s prayer again. And again. And again. Each time trying to get it right, each time really trying to mean it. I would have a moment when I felt like I got it right, followed by a temporary euphoria. But it would fade quickly and I’d question it all again. And so I’d pray again.

I walked a lot of aisles during those days. I think I’ve been saved at least once in every denomination.

Because I understood baptism to be a post-salvation confession of faith, each time I gained a little assurance, I felt like I should get re-baptized. Four times, total. Honestly, it got pretty embarrassing. I became a staple at our church’s baptism services. I got my own locker in the baptismal changing area.

It was a wretched experience. My spiritual life was characterized by cycles of doubt, aisle-walking, and submersion in water. I could not find the assurance of salvation no matter how often, or how sincerely, I asked Jesus into my heart.

I used to think I was alone in this struggle, but as I’ve shared my story over the years so many have come forward to tell me that my experience was theirs (usually minus the baptisms and the OCD tendencies) that I’ve concluded this problem is epidemic in the church. — J. D. Greear, Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart (Nashville: B&H, 2013).

17.   Is it possible to think you are Heaven-bound when you are not?

This is a very serious question, not just because it keeps some people in a state of fear, but because others are getting it dead wrong.

Jesus warned that there are a vast number of people who seem assured of a salvation they don’t actually possess. My Sunday school teacher was telling us the truth: according to Matthew 7, Jesus will turn away “many” on that last day who thought they belonged to Him. There’s no doubt that many of those will have prayed a sinner’s prayer.

One afternoon I was at a local basketball court and started a pickup game with a guy I’d seen there a few times. He was quite a character—he cursed like a sailor and had so many tattoos on his body I wasn’t sure what the actual color of his skin was. He boasted continually about how many girls he was sleeping with. He wasn’t the kind of guy you’d suspect knew his way around the Bible.

As we played our game, I began to share my story of how I came to Christ. About three sentences into it, he stopped, grabbed the ball, and said, “Dude, are you trying to witness to me?”

Surprised he even knew the term witness, I said, “Uhhh . . . well . . . yes.”

He said, “That’s awesome. No one has tried to witness to me in a long time. . . . But don’t worry about me. I went to youth camp when I was thirteen and I asked Jesus to come into my heart. And I was legit. I became a super-Christian. I went to youth group every week, I did the “true love waits” commitment thing, I memorized verses, and I went on mission trips. I even led other friends to Jesus.

“About two years after that, however, I ‘discovered’ sex. And I didn’t like the idea of a god telling me who I could have sex with. So I decided to put God on hold for a while, and after a while just quit believing in Him altogether. I’m a happy atheist now.”

He then added: “But here’s what’s awesome: the church I grew up in was Southern Baptist, and they taught eternal security—that means ‘once saved, always saved.’ By the way, aren’t you a Baptist?” — J. D. Greear, Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart (Nashville: B&H, 2013).

18.   How common do you suppose this is—to think you are Heaven-bound and you are not?

In His parable about the different types of soil, Jesus spoke of a group who heard His word and made an initial, encouraging response of belief, only to fade away over time. These are those, Jesus explained, who hear the gospel and respond positively to it—i.e., pray the prayer, walk the aisle, get baptized, or do whatever new converts in your church do. They remain in the church for a period of time. But they do not endure when the sun of persecution comes out and will not in the end be saved (Luke 8:13).

The apostle John described a large group of people who “believed in His name” but to whom Jesus would not commit Himself because “He knew all men” (John 2:23–25). He knew their belief was a temporary fad that would not endure the test of time and trial.

These sobering stories teach us that many are headed into eternal judgment under the delusion of going to heaven. They were told that if they prayed the prayer, Jesus would save them, seal them, and never leave nor forsake them. They prayed that prayer and lived under the delusion they will go to heaven when they die. My blood runs cold just thinking about them.

A 2011 Barna study1 shows that nearly half of all adults in America have prayed such a prayer, and subsequently believe they are going to heaven, though many of them rarely, if ever, attend a church, read the Bible personally, or have lifestyles that differ in any significant way from those outside the church. If the groups described in Matthew 7 and Luke 8 are not referring to them, I don’t know to whom they could be referring.

The Enemy—one of whose names in Scripture is “the Deceiver”—loves to keep truly saved believers unsure of their salvation because he knows that if he does they’ll never experience the freedom, joy, and confidence that God wants them to have. But he also loves to keep those on their way to hell deluded into thinking they are on their way to heaven, their consciences immunized from Jesus’ pleas to repent. — J. D. Greear, Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart (Nashville: B&H, 2013).

19.   How can anyone be sure they are Heaven-bound? How can anyone be sure they are not deceived?

He went on, “That means that my salvation at age thirteen still holds, even if I don’t believe in God anymore now. ‘Once saved, always saved,’ right? That means that even if you’re right, and God exists and Jesus is the only way, I’m safe! So either way, works out great for me. . . . If I’m right, then I haven’t wasted my life curbing my lifestyle because of a fairy tale. OK, it’s your shot.”

What do you say to a person like that? Consider the facts: He had indeed prayed to ask Jesus into his heart, and all indications were that he was very sincere. And it’s very possible for people to come to faith very early in life—Jesus, in fact, told adults to become like children if they want to be saved! Furthermore, this guy showed immediate “fruit” after his conversion, getting excited about Jesus and being busy for Him. And the Bible does indeed teach eternal security—once saved, always saved. So was he right? Can he, because he made a decision at some point in the past, live with the assurance that he is saved forever, regardless of how he lives now?

Here’s the short answer, one I’ll spend the rest of the book unpacking: he cannot. Salvation does indeed happen in a moment, and once you are saved you are always saved. The mark, however, of someone who is saved is that they maintain their confession of faith until the end of their lives. Salvation is not a prayer you pray in a one-time ceremony and then move on from; salvation is a posture of repentance and faith that you begin in a moment and maintain for the rest of your life. — J. D. Greear, Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart (Nashville: B&H, 2013).

20.   Suppose there was someone in the room who secretly doubted their salvation. What would you want to say to them? Imagine it is me. Imagine I doubt my salvation. What would you say to me? How would you help me?

Calling on sinners to seek salvation on the spot is not something invented by the Finney-Revivalist tradition. Throughout history, even some of the most Reformed evangelists have invited hearers to pray a sinner’s prayer.

For example, Charles Spurgeon ended one of his sermons by saying,

Before you leave this place, breathe an earnest prayer to God, saying, “God be merciful to me a sinner. Lord, I need to be saved. Save me. I call upon thy name.” Join with me in prayer at this moment, I entreat you. Join with me while I put words into your mouths, and speak them on your behalf—“Lord, I am guilty. I deserve thy wrath. Lord, I cannot save myself. . . . I cast myself wholly upon thee, O Lord. I trust the blood and righteousness of thy dear Son; I trust thy mercy, and thy love, and thy power, as they are revealed in him. I dare to lay hold upon this word of thine, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Lord, save me tonight, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.”2

George Whitefield extended the same kind of invitations.3 John Bunyan described one of his characters, “Hopeful,” being led through a sinner’s prayer by another, “Faithful.”4 The apostle Peter invited three thousand people to come forward for baptism in response to his first sermon (Acts 2:38). Ananias led Paul to call on God’s name for forgiveness of sins after their first conversation (Acts 22:16).

So I am not, in any way, trying to discourage calling for a decision when we present the gospel. I am saying that above all else we must emphasize the absolute indispensability of repentance and faith for salvation. — J. D. Greear, Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart (Nashville: B&H, 2013).

21.   What do you want to recall from today’s discussion?

22.   How can we support one another in prayer this week?