I Did Not Accept Jesus; He Accepted Me

ICTHUS; the Greek letters stand for Ἰησοῦς Χρῑστός Θεοῦ Υἱός Σωτήρ”, (Iesous Khristos, Theou Huios, Soter), Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior

I have a problem with the phrase “accept Jesus as your Savior” and its variants. That implies that it was our choice to “accept Jesus,” when the Bible plainly says that it is Jesus that accepts us when we believe in Him.

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

[A synonym for the word “chosen,” in the verse above, is “accepted”. If we substitute that synonym in that verse we get, “you have not accepted me, but I have accepted you”]

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Rom 10:9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

I don’t see where we should “accept Jesus” anywhere in those verses. I see the opposite. I see that Jesus accepts us when we believe.

Here is my confession: I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is my Savior; I believe that God raised Him from the dead; I confess Him as the Lord of my life.

That is not my testimony, it is my confession, but it is also a part of my testimony.

Let me clarify. I don’t believe all people who say they accepted Jesus are unsaved. I think it has just become a glib way of saying we believe in Jesus. However it may mislead the unsaved folks around us.

Additionally, when a preacher gives an invitation to accept Jesus as your Savior, he is preaching a false doctrine and leading people astray. Such an invitation leaves out the gospel of belief (John 3:16) and the gospel of Lordship (Rom 10:9).

The “prayer of salvation” is another false doctrine. It is just as misleading as we humans accepting or choosing Jesus instead of Him choosing or accepting us. Saying a prayer to “get saved” is works and we are not saved by our works but by the grace of God when we believe.

Eph 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness Gen 15:6, Rom 4:3, Gal 3:6, Heb 11:8, Jas 2:23.

Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? He is going to return to the world soon. Are you ready? When He does if you do not know Him as your Savior, you will join all those who do not know Him in “Outer Darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mat 22:13-14).

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Mark Oaks
Published 1/18/2023