I’ve seen something happening in the Western Church that concerns me. Some have assumed that faith in Jesus happens without a commitment from us. Faith in Jesus is not an assumption or something that just happens. At some point, our faith in the Lord must have a moment of decision when we choose to call upon the Lord and surrender our lives to Him. 

After the powerful demonstration of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached a message. As he preached, he noted a prophecy from the prophet Joel about the Lord pouring out the Spirit upon all people. In that pouring out, the Lord would cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below. Old men would dream dreams and young men would see visions. Everyone, sons and daughters alike, would be impacted by the Spirit’s manifestation. The ultimate goal of that miraculous outpouring would cause belief in the hearts of unbelievers.

As Peter concluded his sermon, he quoted Acts 2:21, “But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The alternative was those who did not call upon the Lord would not be saved. The same word for calling on the Lord was used by Paul in Romans 10:13, “For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Again, those who don’t believe would not be saved. 

John 3:16 relates the words of Jesus in a similar way as Peter and Paul, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The choice to believe is expressed 263 times in the New Testament and 84 times in John alone. It is an important word that involves a choice on our part.

Expressing our commitment to follow Jesus in this life has eternal consequences. Making a place for that choice to be expressed is important in whatever way we make that choice available. For many of us, it is a day we will always remember. My day was on Easter Sunday when I was eight years old and walked down the aisle of our church to publicly surrender my life to Jesus. The knowledge of what happened on that day has kept me coming back to the Lord and asking for forgiveness when I strayed from His calling on my life and desperately needed to return to Him.