How Do You Ask Jesus into Your Heart?

Gary: Now, Contending for the Faith…. “Tom and Dave, I’m trying to teach my young children about the gospel, and I’ve heard you or Tom say that asking Jesus into one’s heart falls short of the gospel of salvation, meaning that it’s not enough to believe to be saved. Once you’ve answered that, could you tell me if the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit dwells literally or figuratively within a born-again Christian. Is either such indwelling also true of Jesus and God the Father?”

Tom: Well, starting with the first part: asking Jesus into your heart, I love to teach kids, and I love to ask them the question, or questions, with regard to the Bible. And almost every time, Dave, that’s what they tell me: you have to ask Jesus into your heart. And my view is certainly Jesus does come into your heart, but it’s on the basis of what you believe. It’s on the basis of understanding the gospel, and the wonderful thing about the gospel is that it is so simple that even a child can know salvation, eternal life through Christ.

Dave: Well, inviting Jesus into your heart—I mean, I became a Christian by inviting Jesus into my heart many, many years ago—well, 63 years, I think.

Tom: Now, Dave, explain that. What…I know you’re going to, but what did…what does that mean?

Dave: Okay. Which Jesus? We have to ask “which Jesus? What do you know about Jesus? Who is this Jesus? Just some name? Or you sang about Him: “Jesus loves me, this I know.” That would help, to know that much. But what does it matter whether this Jesus loves you? Who is He? And what would His love do for you? And so forth.

I knew the gospel very clearly. And the thing that plagued me was—I think I’ve mentioned this before in the program, but… “If thou shalt believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved.” Well, I believed, but supposing I have some secret doubt somewhere. The man that led me to the Lord said, “You’re trying to have faith in your faith. You’re all worried about your faith. Why don’t you just let Jesus do what He said: ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him.’”

Now, I know that some people say, “Well, that was to the church of Laodicea; that’s not for individuals.” But I believe it is, because it says, “If any man hears my voice and opens the door….” And you know the old picture of Jesus standing outside the door—there’s no handle on the outside. I believe that’s the door of the human heart. I believe He wants to come in because John 1 says, “As many as receive Him, to them He gives the right, the authority, to become the sons of God.”

And I got on my knees…  You know, he said, “Instead of trying to have faith in your faith, worrying about whether you’re really believing sincerely, why don’t you just invite Jesus to come in,” which I did. And I see nothing wrong with that if a person really knows who this Jesus is…

Tom:  Right.

Dave:  …that they’ve invited in. But little children especially can have strange ideas. They saw Him in a picture book or they saw Him on a video or, I don’t know…”

Tom: Or they heard some persuasive Sunday School teacher.

Dave:  Right.

Tom: But, Dave, I found in my experience, again, with young children, because I like to survey them—every time I have the opportunity to teach, if they do say, “You have to ask Jesus into your heart,” I ask them what that means. Rarely do they know, or rarely can they articulate what they believe, even though it’s a simple gospel.

Now, certainly, some do. But they’re the exception, not the rule. So, that’s why I would be concerned just generally for this as a way to introduce salvation to children. They’ve got to know what they believe.

Well, here’s the other part. When you do that, when you do know the gospel, does the Holy Spirit actually, literally, dwell within us? Someone who truly believes?

Dave: Well, when somebody says, “literally,” they generally mean “physically.” The Holy Spirit is not physical, first of all. We’re not physical beings. We live in a physical body. We have a soul and a spirit. We’re tripartite beings. I believe that the Holy Spirit comes to live within our spirit. Where is that? Well, it’s…our spirit, I believe, lives within our body, so the Holy Spirit comes to live within our body. But it’s not a physical living. It’s not even a spatial three-dimensional living. But definitely we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God.

Tom: Right. First Corinthians 3:16: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

Dave: Your body is the temple, it says, also.

Tom: Correct. Yeah. Well, John:14:17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
See All...: “Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him, but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you.”

Dave: Amen. That’s what the Bible says, so I’m not going to quarrel with it.

Tom: Dave, would this go beyond the Holy Spirit? There are other scriptures that talk about the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us. But that is the Holy Spirit, isn’t it?

Dave: Well, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one. And in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. You’re complete in Him, so the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, and particularly indwelling the believer. It’s only because of what Christ did, His death upon the cross; it’s only because God himself became a man, and man and God have met together in the person of Jesus Christ that God can live within us when we open our hearts to Him. Whoops, there’s that saying again, Tom. We believe in Him as our Savior, He comes to live within us.”

Tom:  Right. And again, going back to our topic for today, that’s the only way—well, that is the basis of the Christian life—Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Dave: Amen.