Why is “accepting Christ” mentioned in evangelism when it is not in the Bible?

GotQuestions.org

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Why is accepting Christ mentioned in evangelism when it is not in the

00:05

Bible? We're going to answer that question. You can also discover more on GotQuestions .org.

00:11

Ever since the New Testament era, Christians have found the need to coin new terms to simplify or explain various doctrines.

00:19

We reference the Trinity and Proto -Evangelium, although neither term occurs in the

00:26

Bible. While accepting Christ is not a phrase found in the Bible, it does have a biblical basis.

00:33

Jesus and his followers often called salvation and the subsequent indwelling of the

00:38

Holy Spirit a gift. For instance, Jesus told the woman at the well, If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.

00:53

Paul said, The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our

00:59

Lord. By definition, a gift is not forced, but it must be accepted. A gift can be refused.

01:06

John the Baptist said of Jesus, He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.

01:14

The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. The word accept here is a translation of the same

01:22

Greek word translated take in Revelation. Whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

01:31

Take, accept, receive, this is what we are to do with the free gift of God.

01:37

Salvation is offered, but we must accept the offer in order to receive the gift. Since we do this by exercising faith in Christ, the phrase accept

01:47

Christ is simply shorthand for saying place faith in Christ and receive his salvation.

01:54

The goal of using terms like accept Christ is to communicate the truth more effectively to someone with limited biblical understanding.

02:02

As long as a term is theologically correct and aids understanding, it need not be part of the biblical vocabulary.

02:09

If, during evangelism, a certain term causes misunderstanding, then it is good to jettison the confusing term and patiently explain the truth from scripture.

02:20

While the phrase accept Christ does not appear in the Bible, the concept of receiving a gift does, and the phrase seems to work well in most evangelistic contexts.

02:32

That answers the question, why is accepting Christ mentioned in evangelism when it is not in the

02:37

Bible? On our website, GotQuestions .org, you'll find a deeper discussion and recommended resources.

02:43

If this helped you, give us a thumbs up and click subscribe. Meanwhile, if you'd like to study more, click the bell and check out these other questions.