How can we get more people to come forward and accept the Lord during the altar call?
From your question, it appears you are involved in seeking to win souls for Christ and are concerned about those who refuse the invitation to accept Christ as their savior. I truly appreciate your work and your desire for lost souls to be saved. The Lord instructs us to “…do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:5). We should all, as believers on the Lord Jesus, have a great desire to have people believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Lord has told us to do the work of an evangelist, He will certainly bless our efforts in the presentation of the Gospel to the lost.
With that said, I am leery of the so-called “altar call.” I grew up in a church group where the altar call was a part of almost every service. There would be a Gospel message and then a plea for people to come down to the altar to accept Christ as their savior. While it is a commendable thing to long for people to be saved, to ask people to do something that the scripture does not mention can be confusing and dangerous. In my experience as a young man, I saw many people answer the plea to “come to the altar.” Yet, these same people would respond to this altar call over and over again. I have also seen people base their salvation on the fact that they went to the altar and were saved through repeating the “sinner’s prayer.” It is a most dangerous thing to base our salvation on words we repeated after someone prompted us to say them. The response to this altar call can be the result of a form of peer pressure that leads to false testimonies and false conversions.
Salvation comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in Acts 16:29-31, “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED.” We read in Ephesians 2:8-9, “FOR BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Titus 3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but ACCORDING TO HIS MERCY HE SAVED US, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”
I find it much more effective and honoring after giving a Gospel message to ask if there are any who would like to speak to me after the service to talk about their salvation. That way, I can get a better sense as to what is going on in their hearts and determine if they are really exercising faith in Christ, rather than going down front to an altar and reciting some words that they may not feel in their own hearts. To entice people to come to the altar can stir up emotions which is contrary to faith. It can cause peer pressure which is contrary to faith. It can give a sense of being saved just by repeating some words which is contrary to faith.
I pray you will continue to be faithful in presenting the Gospel with others but leave the results with the Lord. Let Him use the Word presented to work in the heart and bring about true repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus. It may not include a trip to the front, and it may not even include words spoken. True faith is born in the heart. (CC) (657.6)