Not only is no such form of words used in the
Bible, but the thought behind the words is not there either. Some
may point to Joshua 24: “choose you this day whom ye will serve;
whether the gods whom your fathers that were on the other side of
the river served, or the gods of the Amorite, in whose land ye
dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah” (v15), but
this has nothing to do with the Christian gospel as such. It refers
to the period of Law, “our tutor up to Christ” (Gal. 3: 24) when God
tried man and proved him wanting. As Judges 2: 11 demonstrates, man
is incapable of making the right choice, and while the children of
Israel may have said “Jehovah our God will we serve” (Josh. 24: 24),
these were really empty words. If Josh. 24: 15 is used in the
Gospel, then the word of truth is being mishandled (see 2 Tim. 2:
15). The preacher is starting with a flawed apprehension of the
message he is about to preach (that it is about choice), and then
finding a text to support what he thinks.
What you do find in Scripture it that the
Gospel is presented for the obedience of faith. A great many
Scriptures can be quoted to demonstrate this: “and a great crowd of
the priests obeyed the faith” (Acts 6: 7); God therefore, having
overlooked the times of ignorance, now enjoins men that they shall
all everywhere repent” (Acts 17: 30); “by whom we have received
grace and apostleship in behalf of his name, for obedience of faith
among all the nations” (Rom. 1: 5); “but to those that are
contentious, and are disobedient to the truth, but obey
unrighteousness, [there shall be] wrath and indignation” (Rom. 2:
8); but thanks [be] to God, that ye were bondmen of sin, but have
obeyed from the heart the form of teaching into which ye were
instructed” (Rom. 6: 17); “but they have not all obeyed the glad
tidings” (Rom. 10: 16); “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those
who know not God, and those who do not obey the glad tidings of our
Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1: 8); “became to all them that obey
him, author of eternal salvation” (Heb. 5: 9); “unto [the] obedience
and sprinkling of [the] blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1: 2);
“having purified your souls by obedience to the truth” (1 Pet. 1:
22); “what [shall be] the end of those who obey not the glad tidings
of God?” (1 Pet. 4: 17). Man is not therefore presented with a
choice, but with a divine commandment to obey. Where there is
choice, it is God who does the choosing (see John 15: 16; 1 Cor. 1:
27; Eph. 1: 4; 2 Thess. 2: 13; 1 Pet. 2: 9).
Of course, there will be some who say that it
does not matter whether ‘decision for Christ’ is a Scriptural
invitation since so many have been converted under it. Certainly we
can thank God that He blesses, even when the message is presented in
a defective way. However, if the foundations are not laid properly,
then there is a danger that what is built on them may be not what it
should be. ‘Decision for Christ’ implies that the will of man can be
inclined towards God, but this a flat contradiction of Rom. 8: 7:
“the mind of the flesh is enmity against God” and leads to an
inadequate view of man’s depravity. Man is not just a sinner, but
“dead” (Eph. 2: 1), and a dead man has no ability or inclination to
seek Christ. Those who think they were saved because they chose
Christ, are very likely to carry this misplaced confidence in
themselves into their Christian lives, seeking to maintain a godly
walk through their own efforts. The Scriptural position
is what Paul told the Philippians: “work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
for it is God who
works in you both the willing and the working according to [his]
good pleasure” (Phil. 2: 12-13, my emphasis).
Again, ‘decision for Christ’ is incompatible
with new birth, for the expression “born
again” (1 Pet. 1: 23,
my emphasis) infers that spiritual birth is to be paralleled with
natural birth, and, clearly, I had nothing to do with my natural
birth. Indeed, new birth and the will of man are mutually exclusive
for the children of God “have been born, not of blood, nor of
flesh’s will, nor of man’s will, but of God” (John 1: 13). This does
not undermine the Gospel for we preach because “how shall they hear
without one who preaches?” (Rom. 10: 14)—and if anything, the more
depraved you believe man to be, the more wonderful the Gospel
becomes—but salvation is “not of him that wills, nor of him that
runs, but of God that shews mercy” (Rom. 9: 16).
There are two sides to salvation. On the one
side, I am responsible to obey what God sets before me, namely
“repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ”
(Acts 20: 21). I am not at liberty to disregard what God has
commanded. On the other side, it is only the goodness of God that
leads us to repentance (see Rom. 2: 4). ‘Decision for Christ’
(however well-meant it may be) is man trying to get in on the act of
salvation. “Salvation is of Jehovah” (Jonah 2: 9).
