As a retired pastor, I am still amazed at the number of people who came forward week after week repenting of sins and seeking salvation. It was often the same people week after week. No matter how much I preached it, no matter how much I taught it, so many never seemed to grasp the idea that the cleansing of sins, salvation, and righteousness are free gifts given to us by our Father.
People would cry, “I’ve been seeking after God for years. I’ve laid at the altar and pleaded over and over for God to guide me, to save me, to help me, and nothing happened. I leave the altar the same poor sinner as when I went up there.”