Those unwilling to surrender to Christ cannot recruit Him to be part of a crowded life. He will not respond to the beckoning of a heart that cherishes sin. He will not enter into partnership with one who loves to fulfill passions of the flesh. He will not heed the plea of a rebel who simply wants Him to enter and by His presence sanctify a life of continued disobedience.
The great miracle of redemption is not that we accept Christ, but that He accepts us. Conversion is not simply a sinner's decision for Christ, it is first the sovereign work of God in transforming the individual.
The portrait of Jesus in the Gospels is altogether different from the picture contemporary evangelicals typically imagine. Rather than a would-be redeemer who merely stands outside anxiously awaiting an invitation to come into unregenerate lives, the Savior described in the New Testament is God in the flesh, who invades the world of sinful humanity, challenging sinners to turn from their iniquity. Rather than waiting for an invitation, He issues His own - - - in the form of a command to repent and take on a yoke of submission.
We who witness for Christ are not ultimately responsible for how people respond to the Gospel. We are only responsible to preach it clearly and accurately, speaking the truth in love. Some will turn away, but it is God who either reveals the truth or keeps it hidden, according to what is well pleasing in His sight. His plan cannot be stymied. Though the Gospel according to Jesus may offend, its message must not be made more palatable by watering down the content or softening the hard demands. In God's plan, the elect will believe despite the negative response of the multitudes."
The portrait of Jesus in the Gospels is altogether different from the picture contemporary evangelicals typically imagine. Rather than a would-be redeemer who merely stands outside anxiously awaiting an invitation to come into unregenerate lives, the Savior described in the New Testament is God in the flesh, who invades the world of sinful humanity, challenging sinners to turn from their iniquity. Rather than waiting for an invitation, He issues His own - - - in the form of a command to repent and take on a yoke of submission.
We who witness for Christ are not ultimately responsible for how people respond to the Gospel. We are only responsible to preach it clearly and accurately, speaking the truth in love. Some will turn away, but it is God who either reveals the truth or keeps it hidden, according to what is well pleasing in His sight. His plan cannot be stymied. Though the Gospel according to Jesus may offend, its message must not be made more palatable by watering down the content or softening the hard demands. In God's plan, the elect will believe despite the negative response of the multitudes."
- John MacArthur
The Gospel According to Jesus
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