Decide to Follow Jesus...Is that Biblical?

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 1 John 1:12-13

To be born again one must receive the Holy Spirit, to be truly saved one must surrender their heart. But even the act of surrender is not of ourselves but of the Lord. When we truly seek His face, crying out to Him in brokeness, He then gives us the ability to surrender, and moves us to follow His decrees sanctifying us into the image of Christ.

God says, "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness" Ezekiel 36:25-29

 

So about deciding to follow Jesus. Yes, we must have knowledge of God in order to believe in Him, the deception occurs when we simply decide with a human decision, natural instincts, or an intellectual reasoning, without surrendering our heart. When this happens it's by human strength and not born of God. Therefore we never receive God's Spirit and remain captive to sin. The Word tells us, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires. These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. Jude 18 & 19

 

Ever meet someone who has claimed to follow Jesus for years, and believes they are, but their lifestyle just doesn't reflect it. Chances are they made a human decision but never sacrificed a broken heart. Psalm 51:17 tells us,
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart"  

Examine yourself and make sure you've given Jesus your heart, and not just your head. Repent and Beleive. "...if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" Romans 10:9