Why can’t I make a decision to believe in Jesus?

“If y’all ever find a possum and it looks lost, just point his nose in the direction of the closest state highway. Possums always find their way home . . . which of course is the centerline of any state highway.” That’s what our tour guide at Blakeley State Park, home to one of the last battles of the Civil War, told us. In his estimation, all possums end up as roadkill on a state highway. Alabama is a unique place.

The need for spiritual life

Roadkill is a fair description of people. All people by nature are spiritual roadkill. Dead. Squished. Splattered. Biblically, you can’t argue this. It’s actually a theme in the New Testament. Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Paul put it this way to the church in Colosse: “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ” (Colossians 2:13). It’s why Paul could say this to the Christians in Corinth: “I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3).

So how do we come to faith? You can’t urge a dead possum to move when another semi approaches. “Quick! Mr. Possum! You must move, or you will become more squished!” It’s a moot point. The possum is dead. It is also useless to urge a spiritually dead person to decide to become alive in Christ.

Acts chapter 9 is the medical manual for spiritual heart surgery. Saul was dead, but he didn’t look dead to most people. He was a good guy. He was a really, really good guy. By all outward moral standards, he really didn’t seem like roadkill. But on the road to heaven, he had found the centerline. He was a self-righteous, pompous man. He was absolutely dead on the inside. It would have been ridiculous for someone to try to convince Saul to accept Christ into his heart when his heart had been flattened by a fast-moving oxcart. Roadkill.

Enter stage left . . . the Holy Spirit. He shoveled Saul off the road and delivered him to a skeptical accomplice named Ananias. The Holy Spirit breathed life into him through the words shared by Ananias and the waters of Baptism. It was the Holy Spirit’s rescue from start to finish. Amazingly, the Holy Spirit has the power to give life even to the most splattered.

The comfort of God’s promises

Often, we Lutherans find ourselves in the minority when it comes to this understanding of Scripture. Many Christians in the United States believe you have to make a decision for Christ to really be saved. This was the conclusion of a Seventh-day Adventist Bible information class manual: “It would seem that Christ has apparently done 99 percent of what it takes to be saved. All that is left is the 1 percent. All that is left is a decision on your part.”

I get where they are coming from. Your evangelical friends will quote Scripture verses like Revelation 3:20: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” But Jesus is talking to Christians here, not dead possums.

Our decisions are never good enough, but God keeps his promises.

Here is where you can make a difference. When speaking with a friend about this, it is easy to argue who is right. Of course it is because we know we are right. But that is not the point. Why does it matter if God has grabbed a hold of us when we were dead in our sins or whether we grabbed on to him in our decision? The biggest reason it matters . . . where the rubber hits the road . . . is confidence in your salvation. This is the blessing of our belief.

I recently read an article from a Baptist pastor entitled “An Unhealthy Fear of the Lord.” He pointed out how churches publish the number of times children made a decision for the Lord at summer camps. His challenge was this: How many times have those same kids committed their lives to Christ? And if so, why? They did it over and over again—out of fear. It was an unhealthy fear of the Lord. If our salvation requires even just 1 percent of human effort, there is a 100 percent chance of it failing. If you know any backsliding Baptists, this is exactly what they fear: “Did I do it right?”

Don’t kid yourselves. Lutherans ask for decisions too. It’s called confirmation. Do you remember what you promised?

Do you this day, in the presence of God and of this congregation, acknowledge that in Baptism, God gave you the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation? I do.

Do you reject the devil along with all his lies and empty promises? I do.

Do you believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit? I do.

Do you believe all the books of the Bible to be the inspired Word of God? Do you intend to continue steadfast in this teaching and to endure all things, even death, rather than fall away from it? Do you intend faithfully to conform all your life to the teachings of God’s Word, to be faithful in the use of the Word and sacrament, and in faith and action remain true to God—Father,  son, and Holy Spirit—as long as you live? I do, I do, I do.

This commitment to our Lord is important, but it’s not what brings us comfort. The real comfort is what the Lord has done for us by bringing us to faith and forgiving us our sins. We hear that forgiveness every Sunday after we confess our sins.

God, our merciful Father, has forgiven all our sins. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Redeemer and Savior. Jesus paid the penalty for our guilt by his death on the cross and freed us from death by his resurrection from the grave. We have peace with God now and forever. (Christian Worship, p. 155)

Feel free to debate doctrine all you want. But I would argue it is more important to bring healing to broken souls than to prove you are right.

This is comfort for those who are afraid their decisions aren’t good enough: “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:18). Our decisions are never good enough, but God keeps his promises. “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).

Next time you see Mr. Possum, remember how spiritually dead everyone is by nature. Then be confident in the salvation Jesus won for you and all people and rejoice in the work of the Holy Spirit.

Author: Thomas Spiegelberg
Volume 112, Number 05
Issue: May 2025