God's_Servant
New Member
Is there any biblical support for them. I am not saying that they are wrong, if done right I think it can be a good idea, but I cannot find it in the bible.
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Alter Calls
- Thread starter God's_Servant
- Start date
canadyjd
Well-Known Member
This has been discussed several times. You might want to check the archives for the discussions.
I don't give altar calls, simply because of the way they are used (IMHO, abused) by most churches today.
I do, however, urge people to come to Christ and to repent and believe the gospel.
I don't tell people to "pray to recieve Jesus into your heart", because I find that to be unbiblical. It also potentially confuses an unbeliever into believing the act of "praying to recieve Jesus into your heart" is what saves you... which is how it is presented.
peace to you
raying:
This has been discussed several times. You might want to check the archives for the discussions.
peace to you
From May 09 (total of 4 pages)
From Jan 09 (total of 3 pages )
From Mar 08 (total of 13 pages)
From Aug 05 (total of 5 pages)
Tom Butler
New Member
This has been discussed several times. You might want to check the archives for the discussions.
I don't give altar calls, simply because of the way they are used (IMHO, abused) by most churches today.
I do, however, urge people to come to Christ and to repent and believe the gospel.
I don't tell people to "pray to recieve Jesus into your heart", because I find that to be unbiblical. It also potentially confuses an unbeliever into believing the act of "praying to recieve Jesus into your heart" is what saves you... which is how it is presented.
peace to you
I'd rather rehash this than those 40-leven threads arguing over Calvinism.
I think you have it about right.
I too agree that urging sinners to repentence and faith in Christ is what is needed.
THe altar call as we know it is a modern man made invention on it's best day.
When it is abused it is really wrong.
USed properly I don't think they are heretical but why do we need to add something that God has not ordained in the Bible?
As far as the public declaration, the Bible does in fact ordain a means to do that with Baptism.
THe altar call as we know it is a modern man made invention on it's best day.
When it is abused it is really wrong.
USed properly I don't think they are heretical but why do we need to add something that God has not ordained in the Bible?
As far as the public declaration, the Bible does in fact ordain a means to do that with Baptism.
Robert Snow
New Member
I would not attend a church that did not give alter calls.
Tom Butler
New Member
I'd be interested in knowing why not?
Tom Butler
New Member
Would any of you accept an alternate plan whereby sinners are called to repentance and faith and inquirers are invited to remain after the service to meet with the pastor or a counselor?
Robert Snow
New Member
I was saved at an alter call and believe they are scriptural.
I guess this would be better than nothing, but I still prefer a good old fashioned alter call.
Steven2006
New Member
IMHO these verses have always sounded like an altar call. Peter preached his sermon (verses 14-36) then continued "with many other words" he "kept on exhorting them".
You can almost hear the harp playing "just As I Am" (OK, just kidding about that part) :laugh:
Now when they heard {this,} they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?"
Peter {said} to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
"For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."
And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!"
So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. Acts 2:37-41
.
You can almost hear the harp playing "just As I Am" (OK, just kidding about that part) :laugh:
Now when they heard {this,} they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?"
Peter {said} to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
"For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."
And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!"
So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. Acts 2:37-41
.
we still do altar calls....and lots of church members go down and pray at the altar, and this seems to make it easier when a lost person wants to
step out and confess before men, as the scripture tells us to.
I think a service without an altar call is empty and void.
step out and confess before men, as the scripture tells us to.
I think a service without an altar call is empty and void.
"If we make men think that conversation with ourselves or with our helpers is essential to their faith in Christ, we are taking the direct line for priestcraft. In the gospel, the sinner and the Savior are to come together, with none between." ---Charles Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry
Tom Bryant
Well-Known Member
I think altAr calls are scriptural. There had to be some sort of call for people in Acts 2 to get baptized. Now whether what is now called an altar call is what they did in the early church is another question.
I don't give them every week. It depends on if there is a specific call to to action. I always call people to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in every Sunday AM sermon. Yesterday's mesage was specifically aimed at salvation from 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, so I did, complete with "Just as I am".
But the call includes coming forward but also speaking with me after church or calling me during the week.
For me the public profession of faith is when a new believer is baptized.
I don't give them every week. It depends on if there is a specific call to to action. I always call people to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in every Sunday AM sermon. Yesterday's mesage was specifically aimed at salvation from 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, so I did, complete with "Just as I am".
But the call includes coming forward but also speaking with me after church or calling me during the week.
For me the public profession of faith is when a new believer is baptized.
Tom Butler
New Member
Since there are no altars in a Baptist church, maybe we should describe it in a different way.
In Acts 2, if Peter was planning to give an invitation, he never go to do it. It appears that his sermon was interrupted by his hearers.
In Acts 17, Paul's Mars Hill message ended with an exhortation, but nothing resembling today's modern invitation.
If we're going to use invitations, we need to use precise language, we need to make sure they're not manipulative, and we need to not make them an afterthought to the message.
How many times have you heard a message that is not evangelisticl in any way, and the preacher suddenly swerves into an invitation with little or no groundwork having been laid?
How many times have you heard the preacher equate "walking the aisle" with getting saved? Or equating "coming to Christ" with "come down here?"
Calling people to Christ is to serious to treat it lightly or routinely.
In Acts 2, if Peter was planning to give an invitation, he never go to do it. It appears that his sermon was interrupted by his hearers.
In Acts 17, Paul's Mars Hill message ended with an exhortation, but nothing resembling today's modern invitation.
If we're going to use invitations, we need to use precise language, we need to make sure they're not manipulative, and we need to not make them an afterthought to the message.
How many times have you heard a message that is not evangelisticl in any way, and the preacher suddenly swerves into an invitation with little or no groundwork having been laid?
How many times have you heard the preacher equate "walking the aisle" with getting saved? Or equating "coming to Christ" with "come down here?"
Calling people to Christ is to serious to treat it lightly or routinely.
An altarless Baptist church? Sad.
"Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. [Psalm 118:27]. . . .though we are bound to the altar of God, it is with the cords of love and the bands of a man, and not by a compulsion which destroys the freedom of the will. The sacrifice which we would present in honour of the victories of our Lord Jesus Christ is the living sacrifice of our spirit, soul, and body. We bring ourselves to his altar, and desire to offer him all that we have and are. There remains a tendency in our nature to start aside from this; it is not fond of the sacrificial knife. In the warmth of our love we come willingly to the altar, but we need constraining power to keep us there in the entirety of our being throughout the whole of life. Happily there is a cord which, twisted around the atonement, or, better still, around the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our only Altar, can hold us, and does hold us: "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then all died; and that he died for all, that they that live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." We are bound to the doctrine of atonement; we are bound to Christ himself, who is both altar and sacrifice; we desire to be more bound to him than ever, our soul finds her liberty in being tethered fast to the altar of the Lord." ---Charles Spurgeon, Treasury of David
"Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. [Psalm 118:27]. . . .though we are bound to the altar of God, it is with the cords of love and the bands of a man, and not by a compulsion which destroys the freedom of the will. The sacrifice which we would present in honour of the victories of our Lord Jesus Christ is the living sacrifice of our spirit, soul, and body. We bring ourselves to his altar, and desire to offer him all that we have and are. There remains a tendency in our nature to start aside from this; it is not fond of the sacrificial knife. In the warmth of our love we come willingly to the altar, but we need constraining power to keep us there in the entirety of our being throughout the whole of life. Happily there is a cord which, twisted around the atonement, or, better still, around the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our only Altar, can hold us, and does hold us: "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then all died; and that he died for all, that they that live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." We are bound to the doctrine of atonement; we are bound to Christ himself, who is both altar and sacrifice; we desire to be more bound to him than ever, our soul finds her liberty in being tethered fast to the altar of the Lord." ---Charles Spurgeon, Treasury of David