In modern Christianity the number one form of invitation after a lackluster topical sermon seems to be "Jesus is knocking on your heart, won't you let Him in today?" Preachers that use this invitation are sorely missing the mark. They will often use Rev. 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will dine with him, and he with Me." One of the problems with the invitation given so often is that Jesus was speaking of the lukewarm church Laodicea that bore His name. It was not for professing unbelievers. These people claimed His name for their church but they were "neither hot nor cold".
We are told over and over in scripture that the heart is evil and corrupt. God will "remove your heart of stone and replace it with one of flesh". Why would Christ knock on the door of an evil, cold, stone heart and ASK to come in if He was going to remove it? It is that same corrupt heart that leads us to the pride in thinking that we can either keep Jesus out or let Him in at our own will. Salvation is of the Lord and if His will is to save a wretched sinner (like myself), He by no means needs my permission. He did not need anyone's permission to create the heavens and the earth, nor did He need permission to create you or me. We must remove this heretical teaching from our pulpits and our "hearts".
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