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Is Prayer Necessary for Salvation?

DHK

<b>Moderator</b>
Originally posted by Kathryn:
Jesus Christ supplies all our needs for salvation. Because of freewill we accept or reject his gifts. We can accept or reject the gifts of faith, hope, and love. Faith doesn't come from me, it comes from God. Big difference.
You are entitled to your opinion. But your opinion is unsubstantiated by Scripture. Without Biblical support, it holds no more value than that of a Hindu's philosophy.
DHK
 

Kathryn

New Member
And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Faith, hope, and Charity are all gifts supplied by God. Faith doesn't come from me. You say faith is a requirement for salvation and is not a gift from God. I am saved by Grace though faith as the Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches.
 
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dianetavegia

Guest
Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (Increase my faith!)

Ro 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. (God gives faith)

2Co 10:15 Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,

Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

AFTER WE ARE SAVED... The fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.

Lord, increase MY faith!

Diane
 

Kathryn

New Member
Diane:
I agree, with the above Scripture that God gives us the gift of faith, and increases it, if we ask. Faith comes from God not us. It comes from hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have to ask, that is a most important teaching of the Gospel. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Matt 7:7-8

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with me. " Rev 2:20.

This is why prayer is a basic necessity of Salvation by Grace through faith. The thief on the cross prayed to Jesus, admitted he was a sinner and asked to be remembered in Jesus' kingdom.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

[ March 22, 2004, 09:03 PM: Message edited by: Kathryn ]
 
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dianetavegia

Guest
Romans 10:8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
I believe prayer is necessary for salvation because prayer is communication with God and for us to repent and confess our sins, we must talk to God in our own way. Feeling guilty is not enough!

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
We could list all the miracles of Christ that are in scripture (we know there were too many for the disciples to list them all) and we'd see that people ASKED for healing, ASKED for forgiveness, ASKED for understanding, wisdom, guidance, God's presence..., etc.

Acts 8:20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. 21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. 23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
Also, EVERY promise God gives us begins with an IF and has a THEN.... If my people... then I will heal their land...

Diane
 

Kiffin

New Member
I will look. I said what Scripture teaches:

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
No one here disputes that.

No, I don't believe in universal salvation that all will be saved. There is much more to the Gospel such as:

"Ask, and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Matt 7:7-8
Those verses are not dealing with personal conversion but is teaching on how to pray but not how to be saved

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with me." Rev 3:20
That verse is Christ calling the Church of Laodecia to repentance and has nothing to do with how to be saved.

Salvation requires prayer. This is how we knock. This is how we open the door. It is also how we repent for our sins.
No it is not. We repent of our sins by having a change of mind and by turning from them. Prayer may indeed be the fruit of it but is not the cause. To say Prayer is a requirement for salvation is to add to the plan of salvation. Show me one place in the book of Acts where anyone prayed for Salvation.

My Calvinist theology does not always agree with the late Dr. John R. Rice's watered down Arminianisn but Dr. Rice addressed this very subject and I believed stated it very correctly,

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Many people believe that a sinner cannot be saved without a period of prayer, without consciously calling on God. However, the Bible does not say that a sinner must pray in order to be saved. In fact, immediately following the verse in Romans 10:13 is an explanation which shows that calling on God is an evidence of faith in the heart and that it is really faith which settles the matter. Read it again.

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?"--Rom. 10:13, 14.


"How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?" Certainly every one who is to be saved must believe. Prayer is evidence of faith. No matter how long one prays, if he does not trust in Christ, he can never be saved. If he trusts in Christ without conscious prayer, then he is saved already. There is just one plan of salvation and just one step a sinner must take to secure it. That step is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! (What Must I dO to Be Saved? Dr. John. R. Rice, Sword of the Lord Publishing)
 

Kathryn

New Member
Kiffin:
An example of prayer being necessary for salvation is the thief on the cross. He prayed directly to Jesus, confessed he was a sinner, and asked for Jesus Christ to remember him in His kingdom. He didn't just believe and keep his mouth shut. He acted. He was saved by Grace though faith.

[ March 22, 2004, 09:52 PM: Message edited by: Kathryn ]
 

Kathryn

New Member
Diane:
I believe prayer is necessary for salvation because prayer is communication with God and for us to repent and confess our sins, we must talk to God in our own way. Feeling guilty is not enough!
Good point! Judas felt terribly guilty, yet he did not ask for forgiveness of his sin, he didn't pray.
 

Yelsew2

New Member
Originally posted by Kathryn:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> It is not a gift. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."
This is how God gives his gift of faith. This is why the Great Commission was given to the Church to go out to all nations making disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all He commanded. The Gospel of Jesus Christ must be brought to the whole world. </font>[/QUOTE]Kathryn, God gave his Only Son, God gave His Word, God abides in HIS Grace. We, God's created man, are witnesses to God the Son, we have the word of God, and even while God abides in His grace toward us there are many who do not have faith! What ever could the problem be? Is God not capable of given FAITH to everyone?

The Fact is, God does not give faith to anyone! But because you refuse to read Ephesians 2:1-10 and get the full context from which you extract vs 8 to prove a point you cannot prove, you will never understand what vs 8 and 9 really say.

God gives every reason for us to have faith, but does not give us faith! God made man with the innate capability do develop and retain faith because faith is needed where Knowledge is lacking! Faith is strictly a human attribute!

Deity has no thinkable need for faith because God is all knowing, All seeing, All hearing. Is there anyone anywhere that God needs to have faith in? God says He knows of none!
 

Yelsew2

New Member
Diane,
I believe prayer is necessary for salvation because prayer is communication with God and for us to repent and confess our sins, we must talk to God in our own way. Feeling guilty is not enough!
Confession of sins, and repenting is not part of believing in God unto salvation. Confession and repentance is a "fallout activity" resulting from previously coming to the Christ in FAITH.
 

Kathryn

New Member
Yelsew:
Faith is strictly a human attribute!

Deity has no thinkable need for faith because God is all knowing, All seeing, All hearing. Is there anyone anywhere that God needs to have faith in? God says He knows of none!
God has no need of faith. The gifts God gives us are not needed by God. He is the object of our faith, He is the object of our hope, and He is love itself. God gives us everything we need for our salvation. “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19


Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me , to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith . (God gives faith) He gives faith, hope, and charity because we need it, not Him.
 

Kathryn

New Member
Yelsew, the Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches "you are saved by Grace", not by any "human attribute" as you call it. Faith is not a human attribute.


Ephesians 2:1
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

Ephesians 2:2
in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

Ephesians 2:3
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Ephesians 2:4
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

Ephesians 2:5
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved),

Ephesians 2:6
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 2:7
so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

Ephesians 2:9
not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
 

Yelsew2

New Member
Yelsew, the Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches "you are saved by Grace", not by any "human attribute" as you call it. Faith is not a human attribute.
Kathryn, Can you name for me another species in God's creation that has faith, needs faith, is able to have faith? I know of none.

What other species:
Talks of faith?
Reads about faith?
Tells other's about faith?

So, then faith is strictly a human attribute, an attribute being something that is true of the one having it.

Faith is not an attribute of God, though faithfulness is! But faith and faithfulness are not the same thing.
 

Kathryn

New Member
Yelsew:
God gives the gift of faith to humans who accept it. Only humans have the need for faith. Only humans were created with immortal souls.

"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

Holy Scripture teaches "By grace you have been saved." Eph 2:5

"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Rom 12:3 (God gives faith)

Maybe you are confusing the gift of faith, with the human ability to believe something. Humans are able to believe in all sorts of things, yet this is not the gift of faith from God. Faith comes from God, not us. If we need more faith, we can ask for it. This is a promise from the Word of God. You seem to be talking about believing. If you have the gift of faith your belief will be in Jesus Christ and all he taught, did, and commanded. This is salvation by Grace through faith.

[ March 23, 2004, 01:57 AM: Message edited by: Kathryn ]
 

neal4christ

New Member
We want facts from the Word of God; not assumed assumptions.
Show me sola Scripture, from the Bible. Does your church have altar calls? Show me from the Bible. In fact, show me where "faith alone" is mentioned in the Bible, please.

In Christ,
Neal
 

Yelsew2

New Member
Neal,

About salvation, the bible says:
Jesus the son of God atoned for all sins for all times. The RESULT? Sins are paid for and the penalty, death, is not assessed against the sinner as justice for his/her sins.

"not of works", No man can earn salvation!

That takes care of the things that would prevent one from receiving salvation....Right?

Wrong! There is one other factor that keeps one from recieving Salvation and that is LACK OF FAITH in God, Devoid of faith in God, NOT having faith in God.

God behaves in accordance with HIS grace toward all mankind equally, no man getting more or less of God's grace than any other. So Grace is not dispensed to individuals like a commodity, but provides the environment in which all mankind are to operate. Should God change from being Gracious toward his creation to being Just, everything God created would be subjected to His wrath or Justice.

God gave us His only Son, who atoned for sin
God gave us His Holy Word so that we could hear it.
God created man with the ability to have faith.

So now with sins atoned, and Works not a factor, that leaves FAITH ALONE as the only factor in man's SALVATION while God's Grace Prevails.

Salvation is by FAITH ALONE!
 

Brother Adam

New Member
Originally posted by DHK:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Brother Adam:
Kathryn,

DHK and Yeslew2 insist that something like baptism is a work of the law, done by man, instead of a work of God that man merely participates in, thus baptism cannot be tied in anyway with redemption, as you and any other liturgical church sees it.

As you can see from DHK's post it is the application of the head knowledge to the heart that they believe saves, and the normal means of doing this is through prayer. You will never get them to say "yes" to your question though.
You must be one special person Adam.
The Bible says that no man has seen God face to face, and lived.
Even when Christ was on earth, concerning baptism Jesus baptized no one, only his disciples baptized.
But now Jesus is not here in person.

So tell me: Have you ever seen God baptize anyone?
Have you ever seen God being the recipient of anyone's baptism?

Is baptism always done by a man?
Is the recipient of the baptism always a man (mankind meaning inclunding women)?
If the answer is yes here, Adam, then it is a work of man and not of God. Man does it. Man receives it. It is a work of man and not of God. God commands it, but God isn't doing it. Man is doing it, carrying out the command of God. Therefore it is still man's work. A relgious work, yes, but the work of a man, nevertheless. Works have no place in God's economy of salvation. If they do in your understanding of salvaton, then you are not saved, for one can only be saved through grace, by faith, without works. You either believe the Bible or you don't.
DHK
</font>[/QUOTE]ROFLMAO!!!
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Yelsew,

Paul preached a new covenant, one in which the works of the law, that is, Mosaic law, no longer matters. Christ fulfilled the law giving us a better covenant of which he is the mediator.

Man participates in the new covenant through faith. Saved by grace, through faith, right?

I think you are mixing up the mosiac law with the fruits of the Spirit- those actions which God enables us to do through the grace He gives us. I think you would agree that once we are no longer of the world we cannot live of the world correct?

I don't think Kathryn is trying to imply that she has not recieved the justification for her sins, and is trying to do good works to earn it. Is that what you are trying to imply she is implying?
 

DHK

<b>Moderator</b>
Originally posted by neal4christ:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />We want facts from the Word of God; not assumed assumptions.
Show me sola Scripture, from the Bible. Does your church have altar calls? Show me from the Bible. In fact, show me where "faith alone" is mentioned in the Bible, please.

In Christ,
Neal
</font>[/QUOTE]Neal I was very specific in my answers.
#1. All doctrine must be grounded from the Word of God. The Assumption of Mary is a Catholic Doctrine. Altar Calls are not doctrine. We don't always give an altar call at our church. It is not a doctrine of the church. Neither is taking up a collection. Neither is having an usher. You need to get into your mind what is doctrine.

#2. I have explained very carefully through an exegesis of Ephesians 2:8,9 how this passage teaches that salvation is by faith alone. If you don't believe it then you don't believe the Bible. It is as simple as that.
DHK
 

DHK

<b>Moderator</b>
Originally posted by DHK:

POSTED AGAIN FOR NEAL'S SAKE:
Let's look at the verse more carefully and examine what is what.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

First: "For by grace are ye saved"
Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Paul makes it clear: if salvation is by grace, works have NOTHING to do with it. It is either by grace or by works. You can't have both. The one nullifies the other.
We know that salvation is by grace. Over and over the Scripture tells us that salvation is by grace. Three times in Ephesians two alone it tells that we are saved by grace. But what is grace? Simply defined grace is God's undeserved favor to man; that is all. It is the merit from God that we do not deserve. God doesn't have to send us rain; He doesn't have to make the sun to shine; He doesn't have to keep the air "breatheable" with oxygen; He doesn't have to keep the earth rotating on its axis and revolving around the sun. All of these he does through his grace and his mercy. His mercy, because He loves us and shows us compassion. His grace, because in spite of our rebellious natures and we don't even deserve these things, He gives them to us anyway.

It was out of love, mercy, and especially grace, that God incarnate (Jesus Christ) came down and died for our sins. He shed His blood on our behalf. He paid the penalty four our sins, a penalty that we could never pay, a penalty that could never be paid by works no matter how many works we would be able to do. He paid the penalty of death with his own blood
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)
When Christ hung on the cross, with his last gasping breath, he cried out "It is finished." (John 19:30), meaning that the work of salvation was done. There was nothing more to do. There was nothing man could add to it. Not baptism, church membership, any sacrament, NOTHING that man could do would merit salvation. It was ALL of grace. The penalty had been paid. Christ had paid it. "It is finished." Then "He have up the ghost and died."

"saved by grace" refers to Christ's part in the work of salvation. Christ did it all. Man did nothing. It is all of grace. Nothing is of man. Christ paid the penalty, man paid nothing. This alone nullifies the doctrines of purgatory and of baptismal regeneration. It is the grace of God that saves, not any work of man. Christ, by His grace, saves; not man, by his works.

"through faith" That great work on the cross is meaningless unless it is appropriated through faith. That is why Paul said to the Philippian jailor, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." To believe is to have faith. Believing is an action word here. It is not mere intellectual assent. As Romans 10:9,10 point out is "believing in thy heart," that saves. My parents are Roman Catholics. They believe all the orthodox doctrines about Christ: His deity, death on the cross, burial, resurrection on the third day, His power to save, His coming again, His virgin birth, etc. And yet they are not save. If they believe that Christ is God, and that Christ saves, why are they not saved? Because they have not appropriated that knowledge to themselves. They have not believed in their hearts. It is all head knowledge. To equate saving faith or belief to intellectual belief (such as the demons have) is wrong.
Salvation is by faith, and faith alone. Eph.2:8,9 clearly teaches that.

FAITH + NO WORKS = FAITH

1 + 0 = 1

FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS EQUAL TO FAITH ALONE.

Salvation is by faith alone. The verse plainly teaches this.
It also teaches it in the verse part when it say that salvation is by grace. As we see through Romans 11:6, If salvation is by grace it is impossible for salvation to be by works; the one nullifies the other. Any person claiming that works has anything to do with salvation does not comprehend the Bible's teaching on salvation.
DHK
 

Kathryn

New Member
Yelsew:

You seem to be confusing believing, which is what humans can do, and the gift of faith from God. The gift of faith comes from God. God gives us what we need for our salvation. Holy Scripture tells us so. We can accept or reject the gift of faith. We hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what he did, taught, and commanded. Our human response is to turn our hearts to God and believe the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ. We turn our hearts to God when we accept His gift of faith. Salvation is by Grace through faith. I have already provided all the Scriptural support previously.
 
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