The altar call is basically being used as what baptism was in the New Testament-- the public acknowledgement of the receiving of Christ.
The altar call has come under assault on several fronts. Not just the calvinists now, but also the Church of Christ and other Campbellistic groups, who would stand outside Billy Graham crusades handing out literature asking "where in scripture is there an altar call?". Knowing their position on baptismal regeneration, I began saying to myself, "what do they want; for graham and others to set up a baptismal pool and baptize everyone on the spot?" Of course, the Campbellites would believe that only baptism by one of their ministers would be valid. Maybe then they should have such rallies and just baptize everyone into their church. But I'm sure they wouldn't want that. Every group wants to make sure that the people claiming to accept Christ really understand what they are doing, are they sound? etc., and start to learn the Bible. Most churches have membership classes, and baptism has become associated with the act of joining an organized church fellowship, And since nonone wants just anyone to join their church, no one just baptizes anyone who comes without knowing them. Originally, the church was not a corporate "organization", and people were baptized directly into Christ, and then it was up to them to find a local fellowship of Christians to become a part of. Now, it is all "organization" oriented, many of them outright false (cults, etc), and even among the "orthodox", we believe we have more truth than others (such as this Calvinism debate!), so we can't just baptize someone into Christ and then tell them just to go fellowship somewhere. (This is precisely what Billy Graham is criticized for often). So Baptism remains associated with local church (or at least denomination) membership.
So something else now had to take the place of baptism at the evangelistic rally. Just calling them up to the altar without the water is just as public, but also allows for the ministers to pray with the person, perhaps talk to them, give them literature or New Testaments, get their name and schedule future meetings. This then will hopefully lead to baptism, membership and growth in Christ. Of course, like baptism, going down to the altar itself does not save, but should mark the acceptance of Christ, and if not, once the ministers explain it to him more in depth, hopefully then he would accept Christ. Of course, nothing is guaranteed, so people are wrong if they just pronounce someone saved simply for coming down to the altar.
I had been planning for some time to address this topic, but after Frank was booted for suggesting baptismal regeneration, had no real opportunity in this forum. This also helps discuss the passage he and others of a Campbellistic bent use, about how "baptism doth now save". It's baptism "by one spirit into one body" (becoming a Christian) that saves, and water baptism was the outward symbol of this transaction. But now unfortunately, many have come up with this new symbol, and this is what is causing all of this confusion. This is not necessarily justifying altar calls as the new "baptism", but just showing why it has taken its place. What do others who do not believe in altar calls think should be the public acknowledgement of Christ?
