Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

When we teach that someone needs to rededicate their life to the Lord, we diminish the power of the Gospel, deny the finality of Christ’s finished work, and obscure the ongoing work of grace in those who are truly born again.

If someone makes a profession of faith, walks an aisle, prays a prayer, cries at kids camp, feels something euphoric at a revival, or says they gave their heart to Jesus, only to walk out the door and shortly thereafter return to the same unrepentant life of sin, that person was never truly born again.

They do not need to rededicate their life to Christ. They are still dead in sin. They need the Gospel.

They do not need moral reform. They do not need to turn over a new leaf, get their act together, work on themselves, or become a better version of themselves. They do not need to try Jesus or simply ask Him into their heart. They do not need a makeover. They need to hear the weight of their sin before a holy God.

They are not on the right track and merely lost their way. They are on the broad road to destruction. They are enemies of God. There is nothing to rededicate.

They must hear the call of the Gospel to repent and believe. They must hear who God is, who they are, who Christ is, and that every man everywhere is commanded to repent and believe.

Rededication language implies that they were once doing well, lost their way, and now need to try harder. That is a works based gospel, and it cannot save.

It is the work of God to regenerate the heart.

When a person is truly born again, their life will demonstrate the power of the Gospel at work in them. They will still sin and may even fall into grievous sin, but they will not be able to enjoy it. They will be miserable in it. They will be repentant. This is evidence of the Spirit’s work in them. They will not need to rededicate their life to the Lord. They will repent and find grace sufficient. They will continue and finish as they began, by the grace of God.

We must be careful with the language we use when calling men to life in Christ. No man has ever truly rededicated his life to Christ. He cannot. Salvation was never his work. It is all of grace.

It is a cruel lie to tell a man that he simply needs to come and commit to do better. That is works, not grace. We lead men to believe that if they just rededicate themselves to Jesus, they can finally please God. It is a lie, and it is devastating.

No man will ever be able to do enough to please God, and he knows it. That is why he gives up. That is why he throws his hands up and says he may as well throw himself fully into sin because he cannot get himself right with God no matter how hard he tries. In many ways, he understands the law better than those trying to help him. What he needs is not another call to recommit. He needs the Gospel.

Yet many remain convinced that if he prayed a prayer, walked an aisle, cried at a revival, or gave his heart to Jesus at some point, then he must be saved and only needs to rededicate his life to the Lord. That is not love. It is devastating. How many have heard that lie, tried it, seen its bankruptcy, and concluded that they tried Jesus and were too far gone to be helped. As wrong as that conclusion is, it exposes a truth. He could never save himself.

We must stop perpetuating the lie that men simply need to rededicate their lives to the Lord. They were either never born again and need the Gospel, or they are regenerate, living in sin, and need repentance and discipline. Scripture knows nothing of a category where men revive themselves by renewed commitment.

It is not what they do. It is who He is and what He has done.