Jeremiah 38:20-21 (NIV) “They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared. But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me:

Many versions of the bile do not use the word surrender at all. Even here in Jeremiah’s word of prophecy it is used out of context to its true meaning, but this is as close to the true meaning as I could find.

Yesterday I mentioned that the one liners we use to invite others to come to the Lord do not contain enough information to obtain salvation. I used this word, surrender, and it is a difficult concept for the lost to understand.

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

It started in the garden and through no fault of our own that enmity fell upon all mankind, without belief or understanding.

Romans 8:20-21 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

If you do not believe in God then you cannot perceive that you are in the enemy’s camp, for if there is no God there is no enemy. But there is God and there is an enemy and even if you do not consider yourself to be at war with God, your commander does.

The only way out of the enemy camp and into the heavenly kingdom is surrender.