Brian Ninde 🪓

The Bible gives many ways of appropriating the person and work of Jesus Christ proclaimed in the gospel. There are the facts of the gospel, i.e., Jesus' person and work. And then there is the need to appropriate or receive the benefits of Jesus' person and work. The Word of God uses various phrases, all of which boil down to repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ. 1. You must repent. 2. You must believe. 3. You must repent and believe. 4. You must receive Jesus. 5. You must turn to or look to Jesus Christ. 6. You must seek or come to Jesus. 7. You must call upon the name of the Lord. 8. You must confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead. 9. You must flee from the wrath to come. 10. You must count the cost. Please note what isn’t mentioned: 1. Going forward at the altar call. 2. Raise your hand. 3. Signing a prayer card. 4. Go to the anxious bench. 5. Praying the sinner’s prayer. 6. Asking Jesus into your heart. 7. Making a decision for Christ. 8. Receiving the love of God. 9. Getting baptized. 10. Partaking of certain sacraments. 11. Joining a specific local church or denomination. 12. Holding to a certain doctrinal statement or creed. 13. Sitting under a specific preacher. 14. Cleaning up your life and being a good person. 15. Making sure your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds. 16. Trying not to murder anyone or rob a bank. Beware of false and/or extra-biblical ways of appropriating the gospel. J. C. Ryle said, “Then learn the enormous folly of joining anything with Christ in the matter of salvation. There are multitudes of baptized men and women who profess to honor Christ, but in reality, do Him great dishonor. They give Christ a certain place in their system of religion, but not the place which God intended Him to fill. Christ alone is not “all in all” to their souls.—No! It is either Christ and the Church,—or Christ and the sacraments,—or Christ and His ordained ministers,—or Christ and their own repentance,—or Christ and their own goodness,—or Christ and their own prayers,—or Christ and their own sincerity and charity, on which they practically rest their souls.”