If you’ve heard me preach more than one sermon then you know that when I offer the invitation I say almost exactly the same thing every time. What has become my “traditional” invitation came about after a brother in Christ convinced me that I wasn’t including “everything” that someone needed to do in order to be saved. While I was reluctant to make the changes he suggested, I admitted to myself that his logic was sound. As someone preaching and teaching the Gospel I am responsible for the Words I speak that could affect someone’s eternity!
It was then that I decided to squeeze as much salvation language into 15 seconds or less that usually goes like this: “we invite you to come forward placing your faith in Jesus as the Son of God; and then repenting of your sins, submit to God’s will by being immersed in the watery grave for the forgiveness of your sins – and then rising up out of the water, continue to live your life for Him until Jesus comes back again or you go to be with Him.”
After composing my “invitation opus” and sharing it about 3 or 4 times, the same brother in Christ informed me that there was even more that was necessary for salvation. It was then that I asked him what he thought about Mark 16:16, where Jesus says: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” My question was simple to my brother in Christ: Did Jesus say everything that is necessary for someone to be saved? He looked at me with a blank stare and said, “yes.”
It was then that I learned how complicated and convoluted we can sometimes make both the Gospel message and the response to the Gospel message. The Apostle Paul speaks about how some had attempted to complicate the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, saying: “1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
Paul did not make the Gospel message complicated. He preached “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Of course, we know that he didn’t just preach that Jesus was crucified. He included also Jesus’ burial and resurrection because that is the Gospel! In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Paul writes, “1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
When it came to the response to the Gospel, Paul knew what every Apostle of Christ knew and preached: baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 16:16; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38). In the simple act of baptism the believer is saved.
The simple Gospel message is that Jesus came to die for our sins. He was crucified, buried, and then rose again. If someone wants to be saved from their sins and live forever with God, then they need to believe those truths and do what Jesus says to do to be saved. Jesus tells us that if someone believes in the Gospel, then they must be baptized to be saved.
I realize that some might be like the brother in Christ that tried to convince me to expand the invitation to include every Biblical reference on how someone is saved. While all of those teachings of God’s Word are important, they are not always necessary for every situation. That is why after someone has obeyed the Gospel, we teach them to observe all of the things that Jesus commanded. This is when, as a discipler, we shift from discipling the lost to discipling a babe in Christ to maturity.
