Decisional Regeneration & Altar Calls

How important is the new birth? Jesus said, 'Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God' (Jn 3:3). So unless one experiences the miracle of being born again, born of God, he will not go to Heaven. That is to say, though we are wrong about many things, this is a paramount doctrine that we must get right! We must clearly understand this which is a work of God, not a work of man. The new birth is a change wrought in us, not an act performed by us. We must be 'born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God' (Jn 1:13). Perhaps it would help to think through this doctrine practically in our evangelism. You may recall the best known evangelist of the previous generation, Billy Graham. Two decades ago the late evangelist preached his final crusade to as many as 82,000 people. Pastors.com proclaimed the crusade a great success, as 12,000 people made decisions for Christ. But since we cannot see any person's heart, nor the divine transaction of the Spirit of God as He gives new life those dead in their transgressions and sins, how can people affirmatively claim these as true converts? Without questioning the sincerity of Christian evangelists, nor maligning them, we seek to unite believers in the truth of regeneration. We desire to be true partners in evangelism. Join us for midweek Bible study as we study the practice of "Decisional Regeneration."