A Sinner Does Not “Decide” for Christ — Martyn Lloyd-Jones
“[The] term ‘decide’ has always seemed to me to be quite wrong…A sinner does not ‘decide’ for Christ; the sinner ‘flies’ to Christ in utter helplessness and despair saying —
Foul, I to the fountain fly,
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.
No man truly comes to Christ unless he flies to Him as his only refuge and hope, his only way of escape from the accusations of conscience and the condemnation of God’s holy law. Nothing else is satisfactory. If a man says that having thought about the matter and having considered all sides he has on the whole decided for Christ, and if he has done so without any emotion or feeling, I cannot regard him as a man who has been regenerated. The convicted sinner no more ‘decides’ for Christ than the poor drowning man ‘decides’ to take hold of that rope that is thrown to him and suddenly provides him with the only means of escape. The term is entirely inappropriate.”
- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)
taken from: Preaching and Preachers, Zondervan, 1972, pp. 279-280.
Another great quote – thank you!
You’re welcome, Hajnalka. Thanks!
Amen.I wonder when people will understand this.
Amen, Jacqueline. One thing that will have to change for people to better understand this, is the preaching in most churches. It has to dramatically improve.
Great! So true and so important to remember!
Just re-blogged that on:
http://jesaja662.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/john-316-a-sinner-does-not-decide-for-christ/
I stumbled across your site the other day while searching “Salvation is for God’s glory”, and I love it! I will be checking in often. Thank you for posting these beautiful riches!
My pleasure, Nancy. Thank you!