How is salvation accomplished?

[Bro. Ruben]

I believe “by Grace thru Faith”.

For many years, I observed preachers taught the non-believers simply to “pray and ask Jesus to come into their hearts” so they might be saved from their sins.

However, nowhere in the NT is the “alien sinner” authorized to pray for forgiveness of his sins; nowhere is he promised that God will answer his petition requesting the remission of his sins.

The preachers add: “accept Christ into your heart through prayer and he’ll receive you. It doesn’t matter what church you belong to or if you ever do good works. You’ll be born again at the moment you receive Christ. He’s at the door knocking…. Just trust Christ as Savior. God loves you and forgives you unconditionally. Anyone out there can be saved if they accept Christ, now! Let’s pray for Christ to now come into your heart.”

And the prayer the alien sinner is urged to pray frequently goes something like this: “Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.”

Now, where, exactly, in the Scriptures does it teach that, in order to be saved, one should “pray to ask Jesus to come into his heart”?

Can anyone provide a single biblical reference to substantiate such a claim?

Some people claim this teaching:

The salvation that Jesus freely gives is not conditioned on prayer; rather, it is conditioned on the “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5; 16:26). Truth be told, the alien sinner can pray for salvation as long and hard as he wants, but that prayer will not result in such. God has stated—in plain, easy-to-understand language—exactly what the alien sinner must do to be forgiven. And that cannot be accomplished through prayer. It is fruitless for the alien sinner to pray to God to “send Jesus into his heart.” God will not respond to such a request, and, additionally, salvation is not accomplished via prayer.

What can you share?

God bless.

 

[canadyjd]

Exactly what must the alien sinner do to be forgiven?

 

[exscentric]

Think the Old Testament saint was to lay his hand on the sacrifice as it was killed, admitting that due to his sin the sacrifice had to die.

Seems a good picture of what the lost must do, place their hand on Christ and realize He died due to their sin. No, not literally

Believing what God says seems to be the key to me - faith.

 

[OldRegular]

God the Father, forseeing the fall, chose before the foundation of the world certain unto salvation. Jesus Christ, God the Son, paid the penalty for the sins of those so chosen. God the Holy Spirit regenerates or makes alive those chosen who are spiritually dead in sin and gives them the faith to believe. [Ephesians 1&2, Romans 8: 28-30]

 

[Clean1]

Have you ever heard the saying, "No Jesus, No Peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace?" The prayer that you say when you get saved doesn't save you. You have to come to a point were you realize that you cannot get to heaven on your own and your bound for Hell and you can't do anything about it. The Bible says repent or you shall perish in Luke 13:5. You have to WANT to be saved and want to turn from your sinful ways. You just cant say the prayer and say, "Oh I must be saved now." Doesn't work that way. Romans 10:9-10, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Your right Bro. Ruben in where it says that there isn't any scripture to back up a prayer that has to be said. But, "with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." You have to confess that your a sinner and that you want to ask Jesus to save you from hell and confess that He rose from the dead.
See where the prayer comes from? And here is something else I'll throw in... doesn't exactly pertain to this subject, but just something to throw at those who believe in works gets you saved...
If all it took was good works to get to Heaven then whey did Jesus Christ have to die? God gives us a free gift... eternal life. If we had to earn that gift then it would be a wage not a gift. And if you have to work to get to a point to be good enough to get saved how do you know when your there?

 

[canadyjd]

Clean1

Are all the people who can't speak bound for hell?

 

[Linda64]

From another of my posts in another forum on the same topic--SALVATION/ELECTION:

Salvation is simple--Admit you are a sinner (Romans 3:23); Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved (Acts 16:31); Confess (1 John 1:9), confess Christ before men (Matthew 10:32); Come unto Me and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).

Going into these long and drawn out dissertations gets to be redundant.

Jesus Christ came to save sinners--the Bible says we are all sinners (Rom. 3:23). Election is based on the foreknowledge of God--pretty basic (Eph. 1:1-14)

 

[Robert J Hutton]

Acts 16 v 31 answers the OP.

The sinner's prayer is in the Bible - the tax collector who said "God be merciful to me a sinner" Jesus said that he was justified.

Kind regards to all.

Bob

 

[canadyjd]

The bible certainly has sinners praying, (ie. the tax collector) but it doesn't have the "sinner's prayer" that is poured out across America every week.

peace to you

 

[Hope of Glory]

Salvation is an event; justification is a process. We're all, each and every one of us, a sinner; that doesn't make us unsaved.

Apparently, the Philippian jailor was not saved. He was simply told to believe (punctiliar action) on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved. They apparently forgot to tell him all that other stuff. Poor guy.

 

[rozy]

Originally posted by OldRegular:
God the Father, forseeing the fall, chose before the foundation of the world certain unto salvation. Jesus Christ, God the Son, paid the penalty for the sins of those so chosen. God the Holy Spirit regenerates or makes alive those chosen who are spiritually dead in sin and gives them the faith to believe. [Ephesians 1&2, Romans 8: 28-30]

...unbelievable

John

3:

16

Simple

 

[Clean1]

Originally posted by canadyjd:
Clean1

Are all the people who can't speak bound for hell?

No! Like I said, the prayer doesn't save u, Jesus does. If that was the case then everyone who cannot speak would have no hope whatsoever of going to Heaven. The Bible says that all u have to do is realize that ur a sinner in need of a saviour, believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he was raised from the dead on the third day, and that he will save you from hell. People who cant speak still have a soul.
But remember, just believing that Jesus is God doesn't save you. The Bible says in James 2:19, "...the devils also believe, and tremble." If it was based on just believing then Satan would have a place in heaven and we know that can't happen! All that people who cannot speak have to do is realize that they cannot get to heaven on their own and that they need help from God. They can say all that they need to say in their hearts and minds. They can think just like anyone else. Romans 10:9, "... and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
Rom:10:10,"For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness..."
1 Samuel 16:7, "...for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." God only cares about our hearts. If God was basing salvation on what man could say then people who cannot speak have no hope.

 

[Robert J Hutton]

Romans 10 v 13 "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved". If people pray from their hearts to Christ to save them then He will. We do not have to make things complicated.

Kind regards to all.

Bob

 

[Clean1]

I agree Robert. God made things very simple for us and that is, in my opinion, why it is hard for so many people to come to know Jesus as their personal saviour. They think that there is a catch or that there HAS to be more than just asking Him into our hearts to save us.

 

[bjonson]

Originally posted by rozy:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by OldRegular:
God the Father, forseeing the fall, chose before the foundation of the world certain unto salvation. Jesus Christ, God the Son, paid the penalty for the sins of those so chosen. God the Holy Spirit regenerates or makes alive those chosen who are spiritually dead in sin and gives them the faith to believe. [Ephesians 1&2, Romans 8: 28-30]

...unbelievable

John

3:

16

Simple </font>[/QUOTE]What is unbelieve, rozy, is that you are disparaging the position of every well-known theologian that could be named prior to the last 50 years or so! oldregular simply posted what the protestant church articulated and preached with power (including Spurgeon and Edwards) for centuries.

It's a real shame that we are having to defend the true faith all over again...

 

[bjonson]

John 3 - discussion with Nicodemus...

Can someone tell me what Nicodemus was told to do in order to have eternal life?

 

[Hope of Glory]

In John 3:3, Nicodemus is told that in order to see the Kingdom (spiritual salvation), he must be born from above. He must be saved. That is accomplished by believing (aorist) on the Lord Jesus.

In John 3:5, Nicodemus is told that in order to enter the Kingdom (rewards; salvation of the soul), he must be born of water and spirit. This is obedience.

 

[pinoybaptist]

Originally posted by Hope of Glory:
In John 3:3, Nicodemus is told that in order to see the Kingdom (spiritual salvation), he must be born from above. He must be saved. That is accomplished by believing (aorist) on the Lord Jesus.

In John 3:5, Nicodemus is told that in order to enter the Kingdom (rewards; salvation of the soul), he must be born of water and spirit. This is obedience.

Jesus was not telling Nicodemus to make himself born again, or that he has to be born again first.

He was telling Nicodemus of the necessary spiritual standing of Nicodemus in order to understand what He (Jesus) was saying.

Only those who have been born again (regenerated, quickened) thru the power of the Holy Spirit and by the will of God can understand the things of the Spirit.

No man can pray himself to the condition of rebirth. Rebirth comes from God.

Listen to John 1:12 and [pay close attention to verse 12]:

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power F2 to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

[pinoybaptist]

Regarding the title-question of this thread: How is salvation accomplished ?

First I would like to ask: Are you saying that salvation has not been accomplished yet ?

If so, then why is Jesus called Savior ?
Is He a Savior, or is He not ?
Is the work of salvation is not Christ's to accomplish, or has not been accomplished by Christ, then are you saying man is the one accomplishing it ?
How ?
Why then, and to what purpose, did Jesus endure such painful, humiliating, ordeals ?
Why then, and to what purpose, did God allow His only begotten Son, to ordain such humiliation ?
Please.
Enlighten this confused soul.

 

[bjonson]

Originally posted by pinoybaptist:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Hope of Glory:
In John 3:3, Nicodemus is told that in order to see the Kingdom (spiritual salvation), he must be born from above. He must be saved. That is accomplished by believing (aorist) on the Lord Jesus.

In John 3:5, Nicodemus is told that in order to enter the Kingdom (rewards; salvation of the soul), he must be born of water and spirit. This is obedience.

Jesus was not telling Nicodemus to make himself born again, or that he has to be born again first.

He was telling Nicodemus of the necessary spiritual standing of Nicodemus in order to understand what He (Jesus) was saying.

Only those who have been born again (regenerated, quickened) thru the power of the Holy Spirit and by the will of God can understand the things of the Spirit.

No man can pray himself to the condition of rebirth. Rebirth comes from God.

Listen to John 1:12 and [pay close attention to verse 12]:

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power F2 to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

</font>[/QUOTE]You are correct. Although repenting and believe is required to be saved, the dead in sin soul must first be quickened by the Holy Spirit before the need is even understood.

I agree with your post.