Raise Your Hand for Jesus — E.A. Johnston

The False Promise of Raising a Hand for Jesus

When Jesus was here, in his earthly ministry, he stood on the seashore, addressing the multitude, and said unto them, If any man wants to accept me as your personal Savior, raise your hand. And thousands of hands went up for Jesus, and they broadcast all around that region that a mighty revival was taking place.

The Straight Gate and the Cost of Discipleship

Isn't that what our Bible says? That's what we think it says? But is that what salvation is, friends? No. I believe that Jesus narrowed the playing field by speaking of a straight gate, a narrow way, taking up a cross, and denying of oneself, and that a crucified Christ should have crucified followers.

False Conversions and Regenerating Grace

But today's weak-minded evangelism produces spurious professions by false converts who have merely raised their hand to accept Jesus, but whose lives have never been transformed through regenerating grace.

A Personal History of Shallow Evangelism

Years ago, when I was a lost religious worker and I belonged to a big Baptist church, I would participate in our church hosting a huge block party in underprivileged neighborhoods in our city to reach out to the poor.

Entertainment, Free Food, and Easy Profession

We would serve hot dogs and Pepsis, and hand out balloons and free games, and if we'd stopped there, it would have been all right as a service to our community, but we had to go and ruin it by having an athlete stand up on a makeshift stage and give his testimony in Jesus.

And then the question would be asked to that crowd who gathered there only for free food and free games, and the question was, if you would like to know for sure, friend, that you can go to heaven, all you have to do is raise your hand and accept Jesus as your personal Savior.

And hands would go up all over the place, and we'd load up our grills and load up our church fans and go back to church to boast about how many people we got saved that day. I believe there's movement taking place in this country that can get out of hand real fast, and that's having Hollywood celebrities become evangelists with a gospel that's not found in my Bible and calling it revival.

Revival, Heresy, and the Need for Genuine Repentance

It's dangerous to the souls of men. We must stand for truth in a day of heresy and decry against the theology that allows you to raise your hand for Jesus and call yourself a Christian and still live as a lawless rebel against God and all things holy, merely raising your hand to accept a little Jesus will only give you a false hope of heaven and tarnish the gospel by making converts out of folks who have never been awakened to their lost condition, never come under Holy Spirit conviction, and who were strangers to repentance and regeneration.