Summary
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The article argues the “altar call,” though “all but universal” and an “essential part of evangelism” today, is a “very new phenomenon.” “For nearly nineteen centuries no one had ever heard of the practice,” making it “not a matter of Biblical command or precedent.”
The author asserts, “No one is ever saved ‘as a result’ of an altar call. We are saved only as a result of the gospel,” and “God is not restricted to this modern method.” Dangers include confusing faith’s meaning, fostering “false assurance,” and resulting in “false converts.” Charles Spurgeon advised, “Cast yourself on Christ, now, at once, ere you stir an inch!” The altar call “rests on an unscriptural view of human ability,” as “Salvation is a work of God alone.” Ultimately, the system “offers no help at all but only harm.”