Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart; a book review

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What, there’s no such thing as fire insurance!?! I said the prayer, won’t I go to heaven?

So if the sinner’s prayer isn’t a guarantee, how do I know I’m saved? Can I lose my salvation? Was it ever real to begin with?

This is the story of a man, a man who desperately wanted to be sure he was saved. With humor and honesty he invites us along on his personal and successful journey to find peace in his search for assurance. We will learn that we can be sure of our salvation. As a father wants his children to know he will be there for them, or a man wants his fiancée to be sure he loves her, so God wants us to be confident of our salvation and secure in his love for us. Only with this assurance will we be radically courageous and joyfully obedient to him.

This is also a revelation for another man or woman. It’s for the person who thinks they are saved, but may not be. It’s a story for the person who got saved to avoid eternal punishment, but continues to live their lives for themselves, still rebelling against God and ignoring his wishes. It’s a warning to those who think “once saved, always saved” means that they can do what they want and still get to heaven. It’s for the soul who jumped in with enthusiasm, looking good on the outside, saying and doing all the right things, and then gave it all up when the going got tough. It’s a red flag to those who didn’t hang in there when the life they thought they chose didn’t go the way they expected, when it wasn’t as easy as they thought it would be. They never really desired to give up everything to follow Jesus. This book is an admonition to these people when they look back and say to themselves “it doesn’t matter, I gave my heart to Jesus so I’ll be ok”.

So do either of these sound like you? Are you like Pastor Greear, always wondering if you are really saved? Or are you someone who said a prayer to make sure you get to heaven, but didn’t let it affect your life? Are you sure you are saved?

Either way, I entreat you to pick up this book and start the journey with J.D. Greear as he shares with us the discoveries he made in his own search to find out just what salvation means. Learn why the gospel clichés we love so much are incomplete and can be misleading. The Bible doesn’t tell us to ask Jesus into our heart. Rather it teaches repentance and belief for salvation. Find out the connection between belief, repentance and faith and what they all mean. Learn the significance of declaring Jesus is Lord of your life. Explore what Jesus really did on the cross for you and see why he is the only way to salvation.

Regardless of remembering if you said a sinner’s prayer or not, Greear will show you how to look at your current life to determine your relationship status with Jesus. He will explain that belief is more than a mental acknowledgement of what Jesus did for you, it requires obedience to be faith. Repentance is the flip side of the coin. He will define belief and go over what repentance is and what it is not. Then he will show you how it is all wrapped up in faith, putting action to belief. For those who doubt, Greear will assure you the truth in “once saved, always saved” and explain why it doesn’t always apply to everyone who has prayed the sinner’s prayer or walked an aisle.

With a healthy balance of assurance and warning, this book helps clarify all the ins and outs of salvation as it is described in the Bible. Pick up your copy today.