It is important we know with more precision what happened to us at salvation. There is a common term that is often used for this event which I cannot find a biblical origin for. It is to “give my life to Christ/God”.
How do saints in the Acts of Apostles and epistles describe the event of new birth?
In Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit began to indwell the first church and Peter preached that first gospel of Christ’s resurrection,
Now when they heard [this], they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men [and] brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them REPENT, AND BE BAPTIZED EVERY ONE OF YOU IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:37-38 KJV)
Peter and John’s second sermon at the Beautiful Gate:
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; (Acts 3:19 KJV)
Paul’s simple answer to the jailer:
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, {give your life to Jesus today? NO! but} BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED, and thy house. (Acts 16:30-31 KJV)
In the Gospels,
But as many as gave their lives to Jesus, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that gave their lives to God: {incorrect}
But as many as RECEIVED HIM, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that BELIEVE ON HIS NAME: (John 1:12 KJV)
The origin of this “slang” I have not even bothered to know, but it is evident it’s not used in the bible. Even semantically, it is incorrect to say what happen at conversion is sending God/Christ our life as a “gift”. We shall now examine this.
What does the bible says of a LIFE of a man before being born again?
Even when we were DEAD in sins, hath QUICKENED us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Ephesians 2:5 KJV)
And you, being DEAD in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he QUICKENED together with him, having FORGIVEN you all trespasses; (Colossians 2:13 KJV)
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when THE DEAD shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall LIVE. (John 5:25 KJV)
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might HAVE LIFE, and that they might have [it] more ABUNDANTLY. (John 10:10 KJV)
In case you have thought that conversion is about you wrapping a special gift of your life as a sweet-smelling savour unto God, God cannot take such a stinking dead life from you. It was not planted by the Father, thus it shall be uprooted that His own life may be planted. It is important we understand our miserable condition lest we are vainly puffed up. Stinking in sins, wallowing in mire, poor, in want of life, we were indeed miserable.
The closest term to “give your life to God” is Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye PRESENT your BODIES a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, (Romans 12:1 KJV)
First, this does not refer to conversion point, but to “brethren”
Second, it refers to “bodies”, not “spirits”. It is spirit that is involved in being born again (Jn3:6)
Third, the word “present” as used here does not mean “give”. Apostle Paul will never have said a Christian should give his/her body to God because he already explained that a christian is God’s, BODY and SPIRIT. “Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your BODY, and in your SPIRIT, WHICH ARE GOD'S.” (1Corinthians 6:20 KJV). The word in Greek is paristēmi / paristanō which does not mean to give. It means “to stand beside”, “to place a person or thing at one’s disposal”, “to present or show”. So our bodies should stand beside God a living sacrifice. Our body members (hands, feet, voice, intellectual etc) should always be at God’s disposal. All these can only commence after we have received Jesus.
So what happened to us at conversion?
It was all receiving, and receiving, and receiving! Giving nothing in return, save thanksgiving for and through the Christ we receive. We can put the terms right if we say “if you want to receive Jesus” or we can even say “if you want to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour”.
We receive the forgiveness of sins. We receive a new life. We receive the Gift of Eternal Life. We receive righteousness. We receive justification. We receive the Holy Spirit. We receive the baptism into Christ. All these we receive free of charge. We receive them all because we believe, not because we make a vow or promise that we will use them well, but He gave us righteousness, Holy Spirit etc., to communicate His love to us. You should be able to put some level of trust in someone if you claim to love Him: this is why we have all this even as a new friend.
Thank You Lord for the life we received. We pray many more we believe this gospel and receive life.
Why not share this with a friend? Click the corresponding logos for facebook, twitter or email.
How do saints in the Acts of Apostles and epistles describe the event of new birth?
In Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit began to indwell the first church and Peter preached that first gospel of Christ’s resurrection,
Now when they heard [this], they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men [and] brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them REPENT, AND BE BAPTIZED EVERY ONE OF YOU IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:37-38 KJV)
Peter and John’s second sermon at the Beautiful Gate:
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; (Acts 3:19 KJV)
Paul’s simple answer to the jailer:
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, {give your life to Jesus today? NO! but} BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED, and thy house. (Acts 16:30-31 KJV)
In the Gospels,
But as many as gave their lives to Jesus, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that gave their lives to God: {incorrect}
But as many as RECEIVED HIM, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that BELIEVE ON HIS NAME: (John 1:12 KJV)
The origin of this “slang” I have not even bothered to know, but it is evident it’s not used in the bible. Even semantically, it is incorrect to say what happen at conversion is sending God/Christ our life as a “gift”. We shall now examine this.
What does the bible says of a LIFE of a man before being born again?
Such a life = “dead”
And you [HE MADE ALIVE], when you were DEAD (slain) by [your] trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1 AMP)Even when we were DEAD in sins, hath QUICKENED us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Ephesians 2:5 KJV)
And you, being DEAD in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he QUICKENED together with him, having FORGIVEN you all trespasses; (Colossians 2:13 KJV)
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when THE DEAD shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall LIVE. (John 5:25 KJV)
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might HAVE LIFE, and that they might have [it] more ABUNDANTLY. (John 10:10 KJV)
In case you have thought that conversion is about you wrapping a special gift of your life as a sweet-smelling savour unto God, God cannot take such a stinking dead life from you. It was not planted by the Father, thus it shall be uprooted that His own life may be planted. It is important we understand our miserable condition lest we are vainly puffed up. Stinking in sins, wallowing in mire, poor, in want of life, we were indeed miserable.
The closest term to “give your life to God” is Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye PRESENT your BODIES a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, (Romans 12:1 KJV)
First, this does not refer to conversion point, but to “brethren”
Second, it refers to “bodies”, not “spirits”. It is spirit that is involved in being born again (Jn3:6)
Third, the word “present” as used here does not mean “give”. Apostle Paul will never have said a Christian should give his/her body to God because he already explained that a christian is God’s, BODY and SPIRIT. “Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your BODY, and in your SPIRIT, WHICH ARE GOD'S.” (1Corinthians 6:20 KJV). The word in Greek is paristēmi / paristanō which does not mean to give. It means “to stand beside”, “to place a person or thing at one’s disposal”, “to present or show”. So our bodies should stand beside God a living sacrifice. Our body members (hands, feet, voice, intellectual etc) should always be at God’s disposal. All these can only commence after we have received Jesus.
So what happened to us at conversion?
It was all receiving, and receiving, and receiving! Giving nothing in return, save thanksgiving for and through the Christ we receive. We can put the terms right if we say “if you want to receive Jesus” or we can even say “if you want to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour”.
We receive the forgiveness of sins. We receive a new life. We receive the Gift of Eternal Life. We receive righteousness. We receive justification. We receive the Holy Spirit. We receive the baptism into Christ. All these we receive free of charge. We receive them all because we believe, not because we make a vow or promise that we will use them well, but He gave us righteousness, Holy Spirit etc., to communicate His love to us. You should be able to put some level of trust in someone if you claim to love Him: this is why we have all this even as a new friend.
Thank You Lord for the life we received. We pray many more we believe this gospel and receive life.
Why not share this with a friend? Click the corresponding logos for facebook, twitter or email.
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