In reading church history, I came across the question in early Puritan writings, “have you closed with Jesus?”
I think it’s a useful phrase for today because it gives us a practical description of what actually needs to happen for a person to accept the good news of Jesus, to be “saved.”
Think of it in terms of closing on a house.
You can look at a house, admire it, know all about it, walk around it.
Think that you might like to own it.
Have the ability and resources to buy it.
You can even make an offer on it.
But until you CLOSE on the house, until you exchange something of value to you, until you sign your name, and take ownership, it isn’t yours.
That’s a great illustration of what it means to accept the gift of salvation in Jesus.
You can look at Him, study all about Him; you can go to church, and spend time there.
You can read a book, look at charts, infographics and verses but until you exchange your life, your will, your all to Him as much as you can, you haven’t closed with Him.
Once you have closed with Him—He is yours, salvation is yours and you have a forever home with Him.
To carry the analogy one step further, to be a responsible homeowner, you are now responsible for the maintenance of your new home.
You want to keep things in good repair, you take on the upkeep duties necessary for comfortable living.
So too, in the Christian life, you take on the duties of discipleship, time in God’s Word, time in prayer, time with other Christians and other spiritual practices to make your home with Jesus all it can be.
The closing question of this book, after you’ve read the explanations, evaluated the responsibilities, considered the cost, is:
Have you closed with Jesus?
Don’t put it off, do it now—make the good news of salvation your eternal possession.
If you want to know more, check out any of the following resources:
- A short book—The Good News of Salvation in Jesus, why you need it and how to get it. The book contains a detailed and clear explanation of salvation, has explanatory infographics, and a final concluding, challenging article calling readers to a salvation decision. The link is to a free PDF of it; it is also available on amazon in print.
- A video—that is essentially an overview of the book, and a clear explanation of salvation
- A podcast that is the audio version of this video and the book
- 3 infographics that illustrate how to become a Christian with a page of text containing a sinner’s prayer.