Brother Bob said:
Why all the scriptures "What must I do to be saved", you telling me they did not want to be saved.
That question is found but once as you quoted it, in Scripture, and is directly answered as well.
29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. (Ac. 16:29-34 - NKJV)
I believe if a person never becomes sorrow over his or her sins, they will die and go to a devil's hell.
Luk 13:3I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Hbr 12:17For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Brother Bob, if I were to believe what you have written above that you believe, then I would have to conclude that most of the people in Scripture, who seem to be among the saved, including most of those Jesus spoke about were never saved in the first place. BTW, if sorrow is what is really required, why did not Esau find a place of repentance? The word says "he sought it carefully with tears". How much more sorrowful does one have to get?? Yes, many people are going to hell, according to how I read Scripture, but it is because they "believe not". (
Jn. 3:18)
"Cry me a river!" may be a great song title,
but it does not necessarily have a single thing to do with getting saved. "Believe!", on the other hand...
And I also find no record that Jesus ever imposed this "becomes sorrow" (
sic) as any condition of salvation, to Nicodemus (
Jn. 3); to the woman at the well of Sychar (
Jn. 4); to the lame man at the pool (
Jn.5); to those near Capernaum (
Jn.6,
esp v. 47); to those at the feast (
Jn. 7); to the formerly blind man (
Jn. 9:35-38); to the known 'sinner woman' in the Pharisee's house who cane to jesus (
Lk. 78:37-50); to the blind beggar along the road to Jericho (
Lk.18:35-43); to the thief on the cross (
Lk. 23); to those John the Baptist preached to (
Jn. 3:34-36); to those to whom the apostles preached, including Lydia and the jailer (
Acts 16); to the multitude of 4000 (
Ac. 4); those Philip preached to, including the Ethiopian eunuch (
Ac.8); and Paul's own declaration that the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, and justification by faith is an integral part of the gospel in
Rom. 1:16-18.
Every one of 'em preached "believe/faith in the Lord", though!
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,[a] for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”[b] (
Rom. 1:16-17 - NKJV, my emphases)
This "sinners prayer salvation" is just too weak for me. I believe a person has to realize he is lost and in need of a Savior. Seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened. Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, departing from evil is understanding. If a man sits and waits for the Lord to get him by the hair of the head and save him, I am afraid he will come up short.
I teach people to repent and be born again, that they have sinned against God and need to seek Him.
I thought that conviction of sin was part of the job description of the Holy Spirit, and ours was to preach the gospel to people, and not the other way around. I believe there are Scriptures to both effects.
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; (
Jn. 16:7-9 - NKJV)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[
a] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age.” Amen.[
b] (
Mt. 28. 18-20 cp. Rom. 1:15;
I Cor. 1:17;
I Pet. 1:25; etc. - NKJV)
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (
Mk. 16:15 - NKJV)
I knew I had that "job description" thing right! :thumbs:
BTW, I do not preach any so-called "Sinner's prayer salvation", which I like to term as "decisionism", either. That is one of the most misused verses in Scripture, IMO, and does not refer to that at all, but is a request not for 'mercy', in the sense we normally use this, but for the Lord to be "propitiated" for him at the mercy seat, and in his stead.
[Edited to add!] Nor do I preach and teach any "Mourner's Bench salvation", either. Both are a travesty of the gospel of salvation by faith. I'll add that I often say I do not preach any "Turn or burn!", "Forsake or bake!", "Try and cry or fry!" religion. What I do preach is salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, based on the sacrifice of His precious blood for my sins on Calvary!
Seek the Lord while He may be found.
Isa 55:7Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
While there is certainly one sense in which we are to seek the Lord, as was Israel, in
Isa. 55:6-7 (where for some reason, either you left out, or my quoting of your post caused it to be omitted) you left out the part of the verse that says "Call upon Him while He is near" (
Is. 55:6b), just before
Isa. 55:7, this is specifically said to that nation, and I would offer that one cannot "
return to the LORD" unless one
has already been with the LORD. One simply cannot
return to a place one has never been!
I would say this is referring not to one's personal salvation, but to Israel (and by application, us today) as disciples. The seeking always began with God, not us. From the time of Adam in the garden, it was the LORD God that sought Adam, not the other way around. It was the LORD that sought Jacob, as he slept. It was the Lord who sought Moses, at the burning bush. It was the LORD, through the prophets, who sought out Saul, David, and Hezekiah. It eas the Lord who sought out Paul on the road to Damascus, the same as today, culminating in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (
Lk. 19:10 - NKJV)
11 He came to His own,[
c] and His own[
d] did not receive Him. (
Jn. 1:11 - NKJV)
I'm glad He is the one who did the seeking, and not leaving it up to me.
Ed
