What would Jesus say?
“Rededicating your life to Christ” is a popular phrase in student ministries. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to find a summer camp or an outreach event where it didn’t come up. Young people who have wandered away from Christ are encouraged to come back to Him. In our high school ministry, I regularly interact with young people in this position. But instead of telling them to “Rededicate their life to Christ,” I think of what Jesus would say to them.
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In the Greek language, the phrase “will never walk” is worded as strongly as it can be. It is a way of saying that this cannot happen. It is impossible for followers of Christ to continue in sin. Christians don’t walk away from the Lord and keep living like the light doesn’t exist. They cannot go back to a life of darkness.
So, if someone says that they wandered away from the Lord into a lifestyle of sin, then they were never really converted in the first place. They don’t need to “rededicate,” they need to repent. Repentance is the act of turning from sin. It is a radical redirection of our life as we respond to God bringing us out of the darkness and into His glorious light. There is no switching the light on and off.
The call to repent is common throughout the New Testament. It is even used for religious people or those who thought they knew God. In
20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. (ESV)
the apostle Paul says that we will prove our repentance by our deeds. From the time we begin following Christ, walking with Him will become our consistent pattern. We may fall into a sin or struggle with temptation, but not without the conviction and correction of the Holy Spirit. Our life will change from the way it was before. As Jesus said:
46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. (ESV) -
What do you think? Why do people use extra-biblical phrases like “rededicating your life to Christ?” Why are phrases like this so popular today?
MMMMmmmmmmMMMMMMmmmmmMMMM!!!!!
im feelin this blog!!!
it is so true what people, even at churches, say about “rededication”. i think it is just a catchy phrase that the church tries to get people in the doors. when bobby quoted John 8:12, it just proves that we don’t “accept Jesus into our lives” or in this case “rededicate or lives to Christ” but we follow Him as we were called to do so.
again, AWESOME blog bobby!!!
im feelin it
as you would call “heckatightsweetness!!!”
I remember a blog about this last year. Read the definitions below out of the dictionary. How can you “re” do something that you say you’ve committed to? I think it’s a contradiction and it’s one of those that sounds so “spiritual” when you say you went forward and rededicated your life. It was dedicated in the first place, you wouldn’t need to rededicate.
The problem is the pride involved in telling people that you really didn’t get it the first time. You should rejoice and give God serious praise for pulling you out of a life that was fooled into a false Christianity.
Main Entry:
2ded·i·cate Listen to the pronunciation of 2dedicate
Pronunciation:
\ˈde-di-ˌkāt also ˈde-ˌdē-\
Function:
transitive verb
Inflected Form(s):
ded·i·cat·ed; ded·i·cat·ing
Date:
15th century
1: to devote to the worship of a divine being; specifically : to set apart (a church) to sacred uses with solemn rites
2 a: to set apart to a definite use b: to commit to a goal or way of life
First, I love John Porter’s comments…LOL. I totally understand his excitement because I feel the same way….AMAZING post. I especially love how you brought John 8:12 in…how you will never walk in darkness. Fabulous verse.
In response to your questions as to why…I would guess that:
1.) it seems a whole lot easier to say that you “re-dedicate”…instead of owning up to the fact that you were a sinner walking in darkness.
2.) PLUS…if you really weren’t a Christian before, than you’ll actually have to get baptized (gasp!).
3.)I was one that held-on to the “re-dedicate” line of thinking for a while…and I think a lot of it was cultural. A “Christian” was who I had been since I was little…I had claimed that for 20 years. It was part of my upbringing. And it was hard for me to let go of that, probably becuase it was “who I was”…culturally.
Great post. Love it.
As my sweet sister-in-law so eloquently comments (love ya, Sarah!), rededication was a common “lingo” that I had heard in the Christian community growing up in Orange County, while growing up in a Christian home. So, when I fell into major patterns of sin in college, I immediately labeled my repentance and submission to God three years later as a “rededication.” God, and Pastor Mike’s faithful preaching of the Word, revealed to me that I was actually reborn that wonderful day in 1996, not in my childhood as I had believed.
Pride kept me from fully embracing, for a couple of years, the fact that I had not been saved from my wretched sin until that point. When I was humble enough to admit that fact, I was rebaptized and shared my true testimony with others.
So, to answer you question, I think pride, false teaching and ignorance all play a part in perpetuating the idea of “rededication.”
thanks Bobbie for the post it is a reminder to pay close attention to the terms of art being being thrown around. I will pay closer attention to how I listen and how I speak to those “back slidden” Christians
Ps thanks to those of you how offered your insights
I think people like to believe in the idea of “rededication” because they don’t want to consider that someone they love who claims to be a Christian might not actually be saved. That leads to a whole bunch of complications. It’s very uncomfortable to confront someone who claims to be a Christian about the fact that they’re living in darkness, and the idea of “rededication” is a convenient way of shrinking back from that. If we cut out this false idea that you can have “fire insurance salvation” it causes us to look more seriously into our own lives to see where we stand with the Lord, and then into the lives of our friends and family. It’s scary to think what we might find when we do that, but it’s better than being lulled into a false sense of assurance.
I grew up believing that you became a Christian by asking Jesus into your heart. I must’ve done that 20 times – always thinking I was “rededicating” my life to him, when I really had just missed the true gospel by a hair. It wasn’t until I came to Compass, where Pastor Mike and Pastor Bobby took these popular “christian” ideas and disected them biblically, that I found out what the gospel really is. I fear for whoever came up with those phrases that people now think are the means of salvation. We really need to test everything we hear by what God’s word actually says. I’m thankful for Compass, where we get reliable teaching.
Great post, Pastor Bobby! I was trying to explain this very concept to a group of teen girls in MA this past weekend. I love the verses you used, and wish I would have read this post while I was on the east coast. I used the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 to demonstrate that some people can be like the seed sown along the path or the rocky ground or the thorns–they may appear to bear fruit for a short while but really never had any root. Thus, these people tend to think they need to “rededicate” their lives to Christ, when it reality they need to surrender their lives to Christ for the very first time. Jesus said it himself in Matthew 7–some will call him “Lord” and be able to rattle off a list of things they did in his name, but he will still turn to them on the day of judgement and say, “Depart from me I never knew you.” I’m so glad that the high school students at Compass are being prepared to combat the lie of “rededication”. Great post!
Excellent to bring this up. I have been thinking about this, and have told some friends about it since Pastor Mike brought up 1 John 3:6. That No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. I have heard this many times. “away from the lord”, “Backsliden” and the best like Pastor Mike said “your own personal savior” Turn and Trust my friends, turn and trust. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit Pastor Bobby. Amen.
Bobby, this principle of “re-dedication” brings to mind another one that is fairly common, a re-dedication in marriage, renewing of the vows. My question is, if you were not serious the first time around, what will it be like, say, another 6 months down the road? Vows should not need renewing if you were sincere.
Bobby,
I feel like I have reached a point where I need to repent. I have been saying I go to church, but I haven’t been walking in Christ. I have been just doing my own thing and it’s not working. I typed in “rededicating your life to God” in google and it took me right to this blog. I know there is no lukewarm when it comes to walking in God’s light, so I guess I’ve been ice cold. I am repenting of all my sins and I want to start walking in Christ. Thank you for this blog. I don’t expect a response, but if you could recommend some books or teachings I can fill my head with, I’d love it.
Great post, and I know one student ministry you won’t hear rededicating your life preached.
I am NOT in disagreement with what you are saying…..
My question would have to be though; what about the parable of the prodigal son?
what about ‘once saved always saved?’
My own thoughts on that would be that IF you have truly givin your heart to Jesus there is no desire to sin. No desire to hurt the heart of your Saviour, yet how many times do we make that decision to sin…. for myself, too many to want to confess to you. If we are honest we all do. a conscience decision to ‘blow it’
None of us will ever even measure up to our own standards….the salvation of works……hence the reason for dedication (UNBIBLICAL!)
I actually stumbled across your blog because I was doing a search on why Christian think they need to rededicate their lives…
Personally I think we have it wrong in SOOOO many ways.
so many of of ‘worship’ services are nothing more then hype and emotionalism.
Our churches do not resemble what I see the ‘new testament church’ example was.
So many times its a one man show, and he (the pastor) is the exalted one. sad but true.
We have become little more then (for a lack of better words) christian pharisees, with our silly little laws, in which we don’t even know why we do what we do.
Back to THE Book….maybe He will, as He said He will: lead us and guide us into ALL truth.
my question…what to do when our beliefs become our god…when we have GOD in such a box that we will not allow anything to be tested….
Let me ask you……
what do you know you believe?
just because you yourself are convinced of it…
not because you are made to believe….
but because it is a part of you.
something NOBODY can ever convince you differently of?????
something that has become a part of you…
what do you know is REAL????
can you place it all on the alter?
…all what you have believed,
and allow the truth to be tried by fire?
so….what is the basis behind tradition?
not our silly little traditions that don’t mean anything….
but I’m thinking about the pharisees….
they wouldn’t allow their beliefs to be tried….
they made their beliefs their god.
Set in their ways unwilling to get a new wine skin,
so that they could be filled with new wine…
so The good God He is, poured out the new wine
destroying the old wine skins.
hmmm, Ive NEVER seen a wine skin, but I assume its made out of skin…..
and when that (animal hide) skin gets old, it gets inflexible, hard and crusty….
unmovable, unable to adapt to a new shape, a new concept….
what happens to us when we are more convinced of our beliefs then we are of our God?
the God who created the heavens and the earth….
the God who took h2o…and made that in to water….
the God who took dirt and made a man….
the God who took a rib, and made a woman ….
the God who weighed out the water in the hollow of His hand,
and measured the universe with His span….The God who can do anything!
is it a wonder why we must keep getting that new wine skin,
we cant keep Him in a box…..
my beliefs are NOT my God.
I lay them all down.
this one thing I do know….
Christ crucified, died rose again, paid my sin debt, seated at the right hand of God, His Blood forever on the mercy seat
He is makin intercession for me to the Father….
sorry…just my thoughts….and a bit off topic, lol
The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy but Jesus came so that we may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10).
I am a christian. The reason is because Christ came, he died, was crucified, and resurrected. By his wounds and blood, I got saved.
Living as a christian is always have been a spiritual warfare. Nothing in the bible would say that once a person believed in God, he will be free from any temptation and the wiles of the enemy. As frail and weak are we, christians tend not to lean/depend on the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22) that would lead to falling into sin. But never did they intend to live in sin.
I haven’t heard of any christian who is free from temptation nor sin while living as a christian. Probably the closest to mind would be Billy Graham.
My point is, we might also be misled to think that the power of the cross never happened to a “christian” because we always have measured our salvation based on the things we do(or the things we don’t do).
For it is by grace I got saved through my faith, not by my works so that I can’t boast. It is a free gift from God.(Eph 2:8)
Just my thoughts, I also don’t believe in re-dedication as a spiritual term, Repentance is the biblical term. Repentance for both non-christians and christians.
Hello, I have read the comments discussed about rededication and I believe that THERE IS Biblical truth that SUPPORTS REDEDICATION. Revelation 3:16-20 (Christ’s message to the church at Laodicea) “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. Because you say I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing, and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from ME gold refined by fire so that you may become rich and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, therefore be zealous and repent. Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to hime and will dine with him and he with ME(NASB). Most church’s use this as an evangelical message, this is wrong. Christ has some hard words for this church because they ARE BELIEVERS (other examples see 1 Cor 3:1-4, Heb 5; 11-14, 2 Peter 2:9) who need to repent of their lukewarm, stagnant state. But they are believers, the Word clearly says “Those WHOM I LOVE, I reprove and discipline…” (see Heb 12: 5-11). So we’ve established they’re saved and this problem is more than isolated sin or doctrinal error but a total stagnation of growth and obedience in which they had to Repent from and buy gold refined by fire which is tantamount to rededication.
Hey Andrew,
Thanks for leaving a comment and joining the discussion on “Rededicating Your Life To Christ.”
First thing we need to keep in mind is that this letter is written to a church and not an individual. I think that there is a strong case he is talking to non-Christians within the church. He says that he wants to vomit them out of his mouth in verse 16. He calls them wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked in verse 17. He is telling them that he is outside their church in verse 20. Can you imagine Jesus saying that to one of his little ones? All three of these statements strongly say that at least some of the people in this church are not really Christians.
I understand what you are saying that Jesus says he loves them in verse 19. However, just because love is expressed in Scripture does not mean that the recipients are saved. For example, in John 3:16 when it says that God loves the world we don’t interpret this to mean that every single person on earth is saved. We think that because God loves us he sent Jesus. Jesus’ expression of love to the church at Laodicea does not mean that they are Christians right now, it could be the kind of love where he wants them to become Christians as a response to what he is saying. His love is expressed in the rebuke and discipline he is giving them.
So I don’t see how the letter to this lukewarm church makes a case that “rededicating your life to Christ” is a biblical concept. If anything it seems to underscore the idea that their might be many people who call themselves Christians but are really not.
Take a look at Revelation 3 again and let me know what you think!
Also, I just wrote a new blog that uses these same verses in Revelation 3:19-20 and talks about how we should use them in evangelism. Check it out: http://www.compasschurch.org/blogs/pastorbobby/asking-jesus-into-your-heart/
So, you’re saying that if someone was ever truly a Christian, there is no point in their life where they may fall away…that they were never a Christian to begin with. What about Peter, denying Christ 3 times prior to the crucifixion? He was a disciple, so he was surely called by Christ (he was a Christian). Are you saying when he denied Christ, it means he was never a Christian? He is the one whom the early church is based on (The Rock, as Christ said of him), then died a martyr’s death for the cause. And you don’t believe after denying Christ 3 times he later re-dedicated his life to Christ? Respectfully, I wholeheartedly disagree with your logic…
“My wayward children, come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts” Jeremiah 3:22
I think what Scott and I want to emphasize is that Salvation’s Power rests in Jesus Christ and not man’s choice. Sure we choose to believe but what we believe in is Christ’s completed work for eternal life. (2 Tim 2:13, Romans 8:38-39) I think the Grace of God is something lacking in a lot of churchs but as believers we have to address this problem in love (1 Cor 13; Gal 5:21-23) realizing that some expositors/pastors and theologians may be just trying to keep sin out of the flock (Heb 12:1; 1 Cor 5:7-13) rather than trying to make Christians doubt their salvation. Look at the nation of Isreal and how many times they fell into sin? For a leader or a teacher in the church this can be a tremedous pressure and responsibility.
At the same time bad doctrine with good intention can cause more harm than good. As a health care worker I may have all the best intention in the world when I perform a medical proceedure on someone but if something goes wrong the patient can be worse off than when I started. My point is we need to return to Faith alone in Christ alone period for salvation. When others try to add something we should stand strong but in love. Take a pastor or theologian who holds to a faith + something doctrine, instead of drillling him with doctrine and “Chritianese” we should remind him our salvation, walk with Jesus Christ, and entrance into heaven is not based on our spiritual works but again, the finished work of The Cross and Ressurection so even if one abandons a bad doctrine they’ve held to for years or even decades (which would be hard by human standards) they should realize our whole spirituality is based on God’s Precious Gift Jesus Christ so correcting years of error is not something to be distraught over, rather something to be thankful for.
I have to agree with Scott James and Andrew here…
I was “Born Again” and found “Salvation” a long time ago. For whatever
reason, I fell away from everything I had learned and ended up in a
pretty bad life style. (I had become lukewarm)
Now, the thing I do want to make perfectly clear here, was that while I
was in sin, I knew every time that I was doing something wrong. Unlike
before I was saved, I used to be able to live pretty much how I wanted
and it didn’t bother me one bit. After being saved, that was no longer the
case. I thought about God/Jesus on a daily bases, and every time I did
something I knew I shouldn’t be doing, it drove me crazy inside. Now,
if that’s not being “in the light”, than I don’t know what is. The Holy Spirit
was lighting up ever one of my sins, and convicting me for it.
It got so bad in fact, that I finally “rededicated” my life to Jesus. It’s not
a “catch” phrase or anything fancy, but it’s the easy way of saying that
I repented of my sins, confessed them to God as well as admitting that
I had broken His Laws, and said that I would start following His Will for
my life again instead of my own will.
Repentance is very much Biblical, as is the parable of the prodigal Son.
If the prodigal son had not walked away from something he had previously
had, then there would be no way that he could return to it, the parable
makes it perfectly clear. (Luke 15:1-2, 11-32)
There is far to much in the Word of God both OT and NT about repentance,
being lukewarm, God crying out to His people to come back, to once
again get out of our sins, and start following His Righteous Laws and ways.
I thank God for having His Holy Spirit convict me every time I did
something wrong, because His Holy Spirit brought me back to our Father
in Heaven. Praise Him!
As Christians, we are constantly attacked by Satan more than I believe non believers are. Satan tries so hard to drive us away from God. Sometimes, death happens (whether of Satan’s doing or God’s doing or just a sad accident). In any case, Satan tries to use that against people when they’ve lost someone. Haven’t you encountered people who lost someone that blame God, and are Christians? They say that they hate him, but they did pray the prayer and whole-heartedly meant it. It’s not uncommon for Christians to stray away from God. We are human. And sometimes we don’t even realize that we’re straying away. Sometimes we think we are acting spiritual when really we’ve developed “our idea” of spiritual doings and don’t even realize that we’re not listening to God. It doesn’t make us horrible people or non-believers because we’ve strayed. Look at how many times David in the book of Psalms, sinned against God. And yet, God called him “A man after my own heart.” Rededicating your life is another way of saying that you’ve strayed (because YES its possible) from God and you are ready to surrender and repent. Christians always need to repent because we go on sinning. We are human. And we may be made anew, but the battle against temptation is only harder. You cannot take yourself out of God’s hand and no one else can either. So it doesn’t mean that if a Christian strays away he/she has lost salvation. Please do not insult churches or people who use the term “rededicate.” You may have your own opinions and beliefs but people genuinely want to come back to the Lord. So in enscence they realize that they haven’t been living life for God and so they rededicate their life because you can in fact lose your dedication to someone. It is possible for Christians to do that. The war against Satan is hard. As Christians, though we have God to guide us through the holy Spirit, he still gives us free will to decide whether we do right or wrong. He doesn’t force us. And though Jesus paid the price for our sins, we still have to repent. Jesus is the lamb that was sacrificed and it covers everyone of our sins. And because of that, all we have to do is ask for forgiveness. Be careful of what you insult. Do not be like Jonah in which you end up hating those who need a change of heart. Because God is a God of love, we need to build a stronger love with God. And that takes time. Rededication is sometimes a way of a spiritual infant passing into spiritual adulthood. As a Pastor, Preacher, Teacher, Friend, Relative who call themselves Christians, we need to encourage people who rededicate their lives to truley fall in love with God. Because when we start developing a selfless love for God, we don’t want to sin anymore because it hurts him. And as we see new believers we need to encourage them to fall in love with God as well. Be encouraging to people. Not discouraging. I pray this helps you. Recently, I “rededicated my life” because God gave me a wake up call. I’ve been a spiritual infant taking advantage of God’s love and not showing God more praise and love. I got saved when I was seven, so there was a lot I didn’t understand. But now that I know how much it means for God to love me, I realize that he deserves as much love as I can possibly give him. It took a while to realize that because I have been growing up and going through a lot of changes and have finally reached the point where I understand that. So I told the Lord that from now on, I will focus on him. Now that I am an adult, I realize more and understand more than I did when I was a child, so I’m ready for him to take my life into his hands and guide me in his will. Lets just say I’ve leveled up. ^.^ And I genuinely feel like I’m closer to him. And please remember to tell people that it is important to forgive others. No matter what another person does to them, it is important that we forgive them always. For if we cannot forgive others, how can we expect God to fogive us. Hope that helps. Praise be to our Lord God. I’m looking forward to seeing him in heaven. :)
I really like this.
You’re very inspirational.
:)