Asking Jesus into your heart

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As an evangelical I’ve often heard the phrase, “You need to ask Jesus into your heart”. Typically it is in an evangelistic service when the evangelist is asking for people to place faith in Christ. Often the more intellectual side of Christianity (Catholics and Reformed) who have a deep theology tend to scoff at the idea of “asking Jesus into your heart”.

However, as I’ve worked my way through the never ending Justified by Faith Alone thread I’ve come to realize what evangelicals who use that phrase are trying to convey.

They are trying to convey that salvation comes from a changed heart. Basically that the essence of Christianity isn’t what we say “I have faith” or what we do “I’m giving to the poor” but having a heart that has been changed from a heart of stone to heart of love. A heart that was opposed Christ changed to a heart that loves God and love others because of Christ.

I think that is what we mean by saying “Jesus come into my heart”. We are asking Christ to change our hearts and dwell in our hearts and give us a heart that reflects His love and His purposes.

1 Corinthians 13 makes a lot more sense to me when I look at it from that perspective.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

If love is equated with something we do in our own power or our own emotion then these verses don’t make sense. However, if you equate love with Christ living in “my heart” and working in and through me then it makes perfect sense.

I guess I wrote all of that to say that I’ve discovered that “asking Jesus into my heart” doesn’t seem so hokey to me after all.
 
Catholics also believe that salvation is the result of a changed heart but here are the differences…

We don’t see it as one moment (we need to persevere, not all persevere)

Its not necessarily about feelings (I used to be evangelical and there is a much greater emphasis on feelings during worship for instance)

The Sacraments: God transforms us through the grace He gives primarily in the Saceaments. He told the Apostles whatever sins they forgive are forgiven and the sins they don’t forgive are not forgiven. That’s Sacramental Confession to a priest, as the Apostles have successors on earth. Jesus said if we don’t eat His Flesh and drink His Blood we would not have life in us. That is the Eucharist. Protestants (evangelicals) don’t have these Sacraments but we can see them easily from the early Church

Protestants believe that our sins are covered by Jesus’ Blood whereas we believe they are washed away by His Blood and we are actually transformed

Once our sins are forgiven we are in a state of grace which means we share in God’s own life and He indwells us. But we need to stay in a state of grace. Each new mortal sin is us walking away from God again and then we need to come back and repent again. Protestants believe in a moment of salvation but sin IS leaving God so it can’t just be a moment, since we continue to sin after turning to God for the first time… I’m talking about mortal sin here. Venial sin doesn’t break the relationship

Catholics say a prayer inviting Jesus into our hearts known as the Spiritual Communion prayer when we can’t receive Communion. But in the Eucharist, He is literally within us. It’s much more than a spiritual presence as it’s Him in all ways, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Jesus’ Body is not everywhere though He is spiritually everywhere… His Body is only in Heaven and in the Eucharist. We get to unite ourselves to Jesus in a very real way after Communion.

As an evangelical Protestant, I believed in the Eucharist and I couldn’t believe it was just symbolic… but others around me saw it as symbolic. I didn’t realize back then there needs to be a priest for the Sacrament to occur. But since I believed in the Real Presence, I believed I was receiving the Eucharist in my symbolic Communion in the evangelical community. When I was becoming Catholic and figured out there needs to be a priest, there was a very strong sense of Jesus’ Presence in Catholic churches from the Eucharist. The experience of receiving Him in Communion there (after I became Catholic) is also much different than the Communion I had as a Protestant - even though I believed back then in the Real Presence too. Communion in the Catholic Church is very powerful and Jesus is literally there. This was like a sign to me, that the Catholics are right and have Communion the way it was meant to be.

God bless
 
Transformation in Christ, becoming like Him and living by supernatural charity, is certainly a good thing to promote; I’d say it’s at the center of the Christian faith, in fact. In connection with “asking Christ into your heart,” some questions that arise are:
  1. Is the supernatural change of heart a binary thing (you either have it or you don’t), something that exists in degrees, or both?
  2. Does it happen in an instant, over time, or both?
  3. What brings it about, and if it’s a process, what keeps it going?
I think the Catholic answer to #1 and #2 would be both; the state of grace is binary and bestowed by God or lost through our fault in an instant; but we can also grow in grace and charity and the other virtues, as well as diminish them through venial sin or negligence.

Concerning #3, Catholics would part ways with evangelicals who claim (in effect) that “Asking Christ into your heart” is the divinely ordained ritual that brings about or initiates the supernatural change. We would say, rather, that baptism initiates the change; and that change is continued and increased by the other sacraments, prayer, the practice of the virtues, etc.

The language of “Inviting Christ into your heart” seems to assume that He’s not there already; which may indeed be the case if one is not baptized, or if one has lost the state of grace through mortal sin. Certainly the sacraments alone are not enough; one also needs prayer and the practice of the virtues. But since God ordained the sacraments, we use them.
 
Ad_Orientem said:
Transformation in Christ, becoming like Him and living by supernatural charity, is certainly a good thing to promote; I’d say it’s at the center of the Christian faith, in fact. In connection with “asking Christ into your heart,” some questions that arise are:
  1. Is the supernatural change of heart a binary thing (you either have it or you don’t), something that exists in degrees, or both?
  2. Does it happen in an instant, over time, or both?
  3. What brings it about, and if it’s a process, what keeps it going?
I think the Catholic answer to #1 and #2 would be both; the state of grace is binary and bestowed by God or lost through our fault in an instant; but we can also grow in grace and charity and the other virtues, as well as diminish them through venial sin or negligence.

Concerning #3, Catholics would part ways with evangelicals who claim (in effect) that “Asking Christ into your heart” is the divinely ordained ritual that brings about or initiates the supernatural change. We would say, rather, that baptism initiates the change; and that change is continued and increased by the other sacraments, prayer, the practice of the virtues, etc.

The language of “Inviting Christ into your heart” seems to assume that He’s not there already; which may indeed be the case if one is not baptized, or if one has lost the state of grace through mortal sin. Certainly the sacraments alone are not enough; one also needs prayer and the practice of the virtues. But since God ordained the sacraments, we use them.
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I would agree with this…

Also in writings about the interior life (such as the Three Ages of the Spiritual Life by Fr Garrigou-Lagrange) we can see the the effects of the indwelling of God can deepen through Sacraments and prayer, so though God lived in the soul of all the baptized in a state of grace, the indwelling is deeper in some way as we grow in holiness… I’m still trying to figure out if the actual indwelling that changes or just the effects though
 
The True relationship with Jesus is through His Church and the Sacraments He instituted for us especially when we receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord in The Eucharist

But also through Catholic prayer daily such as with the Morning, the Nightly Examination of Conscience and of course meditating on the Mysteries through the Holy Rosary.
 
However, this is not initiation into Christianity! We absolutely must have Christ in our hearts and see Him in all others. But, that it not the recipe He gave us. “He who believes and is baptized” is what our Lord said. We’d best “Listen to Him” as said the Voice from the cloud. 1800-1900 years later, man changed this to the emotion-driven “ask Jesus into your heart” - this was after certain men rejected the Sacraments simply because they were “Catholic”. They forgot that the Orthodox have also done this since Christ walked this earth.

And what about the Holy Spirit? How can we be temples for Him? Read Acts: the laying on of hands after baptism.

One must first believe, which is a cognitive process, not emotional. Then, one must be baptized, which is a ritual which cleanses and saves, not an “ordinance” - which again is a man-made concept which arrived 1,600 years later.

Man’s broken nature always leads to ‘either this or that’ thinking. That is completely wrong. It is both this as well as that - in other words, we must believe, be baptized, have hands laid on us, have Jesus dwell in us (another Sacrament) as well as be temples of the Holy Spirit.

When man simplifies what God commands, he throws the baby out with the bath water.
 
I never thought there was anything weird about asking Jesus into my heart, and I’m a cradle Catholic. As a kid we used to sing a hymn at many Masses called “Receive in Your Heart” that had as its central theme, receiving Jesus into your heart.

The only weirdness I experience when evangelicals might tell me I need to “ask Jesus into my heart” or “accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior” would be me wondering why these people don’t get that I already have done both things as far back as I can remember.

Then again, I’m not a deep theological thinker so I’m probably missing some point that I wouldn’t understand anyway.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I never thought there was anything weird about asking Jesus into my heart, and I’m a cradle Catholic. As a kid we used to sing a hymn at many Masses called “Receive in Your Heart” that had as its central theme, receiving Jesus into your heart.

The only weirdness I experience when evangelicals might tell me I need to “ask Jesus into my heart” or “accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior” would be me wondering why these people don’t get that I already have done both things as far back as I can remember.

Then again, I’m not a deep theological thinker so I’m probably missing some point that I wouldn’t understand anyway.
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Our Lord said to have the faith of a child. There’s no need to be a “deep theological thinker.” At a time when I would visit different churches so often they each thought I belonged them, the pastor of a Nazarene church and I had a discussion about this. His parishioners all had simple faith while he and I both shared an educational skepticism that could prove a stumbling block.

When I am asked when I was “born again” I always respond when I was Baptized as an infant. Scripture tells us we need to be born of water and Spirit, and so we are. We were saved when Christ died on the cross, and we continue to be saved each and every time the Mass is celebrated anywhere in the world until the end of time. We believe, like our separated brothers and sisters that we are saved by the Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are a Resurrection people. Christ overcame death and lives within me. He instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper. Eucharist means celebration. It is indeed the Body and Blood of Christ that we consume, that transforms us when we receive Him in the Eucharist. The Eucharist, as the Catechism teaches is the “source and summit of our Faith.”

St. Paul reminds us that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. When Our Lord ascended into heaven He promised to send us an advocate. We are never alone. When I was about 10, a visiting priest told the story of a young boy about my age who answered the question, “How big is God?” “God is so big that the universe cannot hold Him and so small that He fits in my heart.”
 
lanman87 said:
As an evangelical I’ve often heard the phrase, “You need to ask Jesus into your heart”. Typically it is in an evangelistic service when the evangelist is asking for people to place faith in Christ. Often the more intellectual side of Christianity (Catholics and Reformed) who have a deep theology tend to scoff at the idea of “asking Jesus into your heart”.

However, as I’ve worked my way through the never ending Justified by Faith Alone thread I’ve come to realize what evangelicals who use that phrase are trying to convey.

They are trying to convey that salvation comes from a changed heart. Basically that the essence of Christianity isn’t what we say “I have faith” or what we do “I’m giving to the poor” but having a heart that has been changed from a heart of stone to heart of love. A heart that was opposed Christ changed to a heart that loves God and love others because of Christ.

I think that is what we mean by saying “Jesus come into my heart”. We are asking Christ to change our hearts and dwell in our hearts and give us a heart that reflects His love and His purposes.

1 Corinthians 13 makes a lot more sense to me when I look at it from that perspective.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

If love is equated with something we do in our own power or our own emotion then these verses don’t make sense. However, if you equate love with Christ living in “my heart” and working in and through me then it makes perfect sense.

I guess I wrote all of that to say that I’ve discovered that “asking Jesus into my heart” doesn’t seem so hokey to me after all.
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No it isn’t hokey. Just as the men of Judea and Jerusalem who were cut to the* heart *after hearing Peter’s speech–their hearts were changed. Now, as a consequence of a changed heart, they asked, what to do? Peter’s answer was, Turn away from your sins and have them washed away and receive the Holy Spirit! That is, repent and be baptized.
 
Yeah, so Romans 10:9
Romans 10:9New King James Version (NKJV)
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9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
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Some folks have tried to simplify Christianity into this one verse. But of course the NT has so much more to say than this.

And I wonder how many people at a Billy Graham event have legitimate conversions. 🤷

I think it’s a great start. The thief on the cross also had the baptism of desire…perfect contrition and saving faith.
 
Lenten_ashes said:
And I wonder how many people at a Billy Graham event have legitimate conversions. 🤷

I think it’s a great start. The thief on the cross also had the baptism of desire…perfect contrition and saving faith.
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Yea I have my opinions on this.

I have been to numerous of these services. Everyone looks down and the Pastor asks questions asking who acknowledge this and then you hear " I see you put down that hand" and so forth. Then afterwards he asks " everyone who accepts Jesus in their heart come forth an let us pray together". " This is the most important decision of your life".

Now I can and do respect that but I seemed like the greatest heathen there. I was just wondering what was going on.

I just don’t come from that or understand it that way 😊
 
***Gee, since there is nowhere in scripture that says salvation is a one and done thing, then I am completely comfortable with pointing out that I do so every time I receive our Blessed Lord’s body and blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist and it is more life changing for me than all the evangelistic services I was ever in in about 3+ decades outside of the Catholic faith ***
 
MichaelP3 said:
Yea I have my opinions on this.

I have been to numerous of these services. Everyone looks down and the Pastor asks questions asking who acknowledge this and then you hear " I see you put down that hand" and so forth. Then afterwards he asks " everyone who accepts Jesus in their heart come forth an let us pray together". " This is the most important decision of your life".

Now I can and do respect that but I seemed like the greatest heathen there. I was just wondering what was going on.

I just don’t come from that or understand it that way 😊
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What I see in some of these services is a lack of growth. It’s the same message each week. It is not that we as Catholics are called to be theologians or anything, but I fail to see hear much of a challenge.
Every Mass ends with “Go forth and serve the Lord.” We’ve been fed by Word and by Christ himself. We have been equipped to go into the fields.
I am not saying that I haven’t heard any good preaching. My son-in-law is great. His is also a mainline church. But there is something lacking outside the Catholic Church. Without that challenge, that call to spiritual growth, what is offered is simply bland.
 
Church_Militant said:
***Gee, since there is nowhere in scripture that says salvation is a one and done thing, then I am completely comfortable with pointing out that I do so every time I receive our Blessed Lord’s body and blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist and it is more life changing for me than all the evangelistic services I was ever in in about 3+ decades outside of the Catholic faith ***
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When I first became a member of the Charismatic Renewal, I heard a cowboy phrase it, “If you don’t refresh a water barrel, it gets wigglers.”
 
MichaelP3 said:
Yea I have my opinions on this.

I have been to numerous of these services. Everyone looks down and the Pastor asks questions asking who acknowledge this and then you hear " I see you put down that hand" and so forth. Then afterwards he asks " everyone who accepts Jesus in their heart come forth an let us pray together". " This is the most important decision of your life".

Now I can and do respect that but I seemed like the greatest heathen there. I was just wondering what was going on.

I just don’t come from that or understand it that way 😊
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Yeah, so i was part of a non denom mega Church for years. And they always had an altar call at the end of the service. And they really encouraged*** everyone*** to come up…even if you are already a Christian. “Re-dedicate” your life to Christ by coming up…if you are hanging on to any particular sin then come up. Sometimes there were like 3,000 in attendance and it seemed like half of them were going upfront for this.

Looking back on it…it actually seems rather Catholic to me, now. We call it confession/reconciliation .

Anyway, part of me would think, well, that’s nice…people are trying to get ‘right’ with God again. But then another part of me wondered how many were just thirsty for a emotional type of experience . I’m naturally cynical.
 
Lenten_ashes said:
Yeah, so i was part of a non denom mega Church for years. And they always had an altar call at the end of the service. And they really encouraged*** everyone*** to come up…even if you are already a Christian. “Re-dedicate” your life to Christ by coming up…if you are hanging on to any particular sin then come up. Sometimes there were like 3,000 in attendance and it seemed like half of them were going upfront for this.

Looking back on it…it actually seems rather Catholic to me, now. We call it confession/reconciliation .

Anyway, part of me would think, well, that’s nice…people are trying to get ‘right’ with God again. But then another part of me wondered how many were just thirsty for a emotional type of experience . I’m naturally cynical.
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I hear you.

My problem is rather the percentage who went up just because everyone was doing it. I was one of the few who remained seated (Nothing in my opinion to do with my Christianity). Sad thing is, I got more looks of actual sympathy rather than some" bad" looks.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I never thought there was anything weird about asking Jesus into my heart, and I’m a cradle Catholic. As a kid we used to sing a hymn at many Masses called “Receive in Your Heart” that had as its central theme, receiving Jesus into your heart.

The only weirdness I experience when evangelicals might tell me I need to “ask Jesus into my heart” or “accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior” would be me wondering why these people don’t get that I already have done both things as far back as I can remember.

Then again, I’m not a deep theological thinker so I’m probably missing some point that I wouldn’t understand anyway.
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Protestants (evangelicals) tend to think of this as a moment of salvation and once you’re saved you’re always saved no matter what… Catholics believe even if we are repentant and in a state of grace currently, we need to persevere and the primary way we receive grave is through the Sacraments. We receive Jesus into our hearts at each Mass… the difficulty is that a number of evangelicals tend to think we don’t "really " know God as Catholics. When I was evangelical I used to ‘evangelize’ Catholics with this assumption… Now I see I was very wrong in this
 
Lenten_ashes said:
Yeah, so Romans 10:9

Some folks have tried to simplify Christianity into this one verse. But of course the NT has so much more to say than this.

And I wonder how many people at a Billy Graham event have legitimate conversions. 🤷

I think it’s a great start. The thief on the cross also had the baptism of desire…perfect contrition and saving faith.
Click to expand...
My mom had a legitimate conversion by watching a Billy Graham event on TV. She followed up by going to church, being instructed and getting baptized. My brother grew up in a Christian home but had his conversion experience as he was driving a dump truck one afternoon as a middle aged man. Myself, I grew up in the faith and cannot put a specific time, date or event that I would call a conversion experience. I was an adult when I was baptized because I refused to be baptized in a Baptist or Non-denominational church (hated the yelling and guilting). I don’t think we can limit anyone’s conversion experience. The Holy Spirit works in many ways to bring His children into the fold.

God bless!

Rita
 
Church_Militant said:
***Gee, since there is nowhere in scripture that says salvation is a one and done thing, then I am completely comfortable with pointing out that I do so every time I receive our Blessed Lord’s body and blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist and it is more life changing for me than all the evangelistic services I was ever in in about 3+ decades outside of the Catholic faith ***
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👍

Yes, our conversion is a daily process throughout our lives!
 
Monica4316 said:
Protestants (evangelicals) tend to think of this as a moment of salvation and once you’re saved you’re always saved no matter what… Catholics believe even if we are repentant and in a state of grace currently, we need to persevere and the primary way we receive grave is through the Sacraments. We receive Jesus into our hearts at each Mass… the difficulty is that a number of evangelicals tend to think we don’t "really " know God as Catholics. When I was evangelical I used to ‘evangelize’ Catholics with this assumption… Now I see I was very wrong in this
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I know there are those Protestant churches who do teach and believe this way but, in my experience before I began to attend the LCMS church, we were never taught that the one experience guaranteed us eternity. We were taught to be mindful of our sinful nature and to confess our sins to Christ.
 
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