Acceptance and Rejection

I was listening to a Christian radio program and the host was playing with words a bit. I understand where he was coming from, but I'm not sure I completely agree with him. I guess that means I don't completely disagree with him either. He objected to the much-used Christianese term, "You need to accept Jesus into your heart." His contention is that it is a misleading way to describe what is separating someone in a state of worldliness from their eternal salvation. In other words, he was saying that we don't "accept Jesus" but that it is up to Him to accept us. I have said things like that myself.

Personally I don't mind the term. It isn't on the same level with, "You have a God-shaped hole in your heart that only Jesus can fill." I don't really know how I would have reacted to that one if I were being witnessed to. I'm sure that the host of the show would have no problem stating that certain folks have "rejected" Jesus, so what is the alternative, but acceptance? I think that terms like this end up being a boiled-down version of a more amplified explanation of the truth. It seems that we often try to simplify what we hear, perhaps out of a sense of urgency, or perhaps out of a desire to make things easier.

The Holy Spirit does the convicting where the unbelieving heart is concerned, and no catchy turn of phrase is needed. What we are told to do is give people the gospel. Does one need to accept Jesus into one's heart to be saved? Well, it is certain that there are two ways to deal with Him. One way is to reject Him, or.... one can accept the fact that one is a sinner, and accept the fact that one needs a Savior, and that one needs to repent of one's sins and accept the fact that we need to ask for His forgiveness and place one's trust in Him to do this.

The Bible tells us that if we accept this as truth and do these things, that we will have the Holy Spirit living within us. This is a fact that we all need to accept.