How "Not" To Be Forgiven Part 2: Give Your Heart To Christ

It's very likely that at some point in time you have heard this appeal given at a church by some preacher as a condition for forgiveness of sins. So why am I listing this action as a way NOT to be forgiven? Because it is not found in the Bible. Go to one of my favorite Bible study tools...www.blueletterbible.com and do a search of the King James Bible (yeah, that's right, I'm a KJ guy!) the phrase is not in the Bible and neither is the concept as it pertains to forgiveness. Notice this statement by the wonderful AWANA organization...


The Scriptures never tell us to give our heart to Christ. Such an invitation implies some effort on our part. We are not saved by giving God anything, but rather by receiving His gift of eternal life (Eph. 2:8-9). Remember also that the human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9). Romans 10:10 tells us that with the heart man believes unto righteousness, but the nonbeliever is unable to give his heart to God. Some use this Scripture, however, with the idea that the unsaved person is making a decision of his will to accept Christ. Even so, this invitation contains very confusing terminology that does not clearly present the truth of the gospel. 


Giving our heart to Christ is absolutely one of the most confusing things you could ever instruct someone to do. Does God want the muscle mass of tissue that beats in my chest? No. The word "heart" is a word that refers to our mind, will and emotions. It is with these God given instruments that we "believe". Again, the only requirement that the New Testament asks of us in order to be forgiven is "faith/to believe" (almost 200 times in the King James Bible). We must be clear when we tell people how to be forgiven and ambiguous statements like the subject of this post is very confusing, especially to children.