-
Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!
No sinner's prayer--No salvation?
- Thread starter Tom Butler
- Start date
I turned away from my sins and by faith I received Jesus as savior and Lord-----thats how I instruct people to be saved
I never ask them to "Pray the sinner's prayer!"
I ask them----Have you repented of your sins???
Have you received Jesus as savior and Lord??
If you've done those two things by faith believeing with all your heart---you can be saved
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the LORD Jesus(there is the repentance and the receiving) and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved"
I never ask them to "Pray the sinner's prayer!"
I ask them----Have you repented of your sins???
Have you received Jesus as savior and Lord??
If you've done those two things by faith believeing with all your heart---you can be saved
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the LORD Jesus(there is the repentance and the receiving) and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved"
Faith alone
New Member
Tom,
Where does the Bible speak of a "sinner's prayer?" Where does the Bible say that we are saved by doing anything else other than believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior?
Revelation 3:20 was written to a church, and does not speak of how to become a Christian. We are not saved by inviting Christ into our life or heart. Revelation 3:20 speaks of how we, as believers, can get to know Christ better - He wants that.
In John 1:12 when it refers to "receiving" Him it means that His own (the Jews) did not accept Him as the Messiah - they did not believe that He was the Christ. It does not mean to "receive Him into your life." Those who do trust in Him become God's children - they're born spiritually.
That is all man's distortion of the gospel - not intentionally, of course. But a person can certainly be expressing faith in Christ by inviting Christ into His heart, or when he says some "sinner's prayer." Baptists give people an opportunity to pray a prayer every week. The focus needs to be on Christ though, and on trusting in His work to save us.
FA
MikeinGhana
New Member
"For by grace (a free gift) are you saved through (the vehicle of) faith (two sided coin).
Saving faith is like a two sided coin. One side is belief, belief in what God has said about Himself, the sinner, and redemption. Belief, however, is not enough. The Devil, for the most part, certainly believes the same things we believe about God, the sinner, and redemption. The other side of the coin is trust. Until a person acts on what he believes by placing all his hope and trust in the finished work of Christ he is not saved. The sinner's prayer can be said without belief or trust and it is ineffectual. The calling upon the name of the Lord, whether verbalized or in the mind, is simply a visual expresion of placing that trust in Christ.
BTW Tom, if you are seriously sweating it (and I doubt you are) you need to ask yourslf what are you trusting in at this moment for salvation, Christ (saving faith) or the fact that you prayed the prayer!
Saving faith is like a two sided coin. One side is belief, belief in what God has said about Himself, the sinner, and redemption. Belief, however, is not enough. The Devil, for the most part, certainly believes the same things we believe about God, the sinner, and redemption. The other side of the coin is trust. Until a person acts on what he believes by placing all his hope and trust in the finished work of Christ he is not saved. The sinner's prayer can be said without belief or trust and it is ineffectual. The calling upon the name of the Lord, whether verbalized or in the mind, is simply a visual expresion of placing that trust in Christ.
BTW Tom, if you are seriously sweating it (and I doubt you are) you need to ask yourslf what are you trusting in at this moment for salvation, Christ (saving faith) or the fact that you prayed the prayer!
Tom Butler
New Member
Mike, I think you misread me. I did not pray any prayer when the Lord saved me. The Lord granted me repentance and faith as a 9-year-old boy, and by His grace, I am still trusting Him and rest in the promise that no one can take me away from Him.
Tom B
Tom B
Tom Butler
New Member
Ron Arndt said
I heard a young preacher on TV over several sermons tell his audience how much God values them, how much He approves of them, that part of their problem was doubting how much God thinks of them. After each message, he called on people who needed to, to say this prayer... Why should anybody want to pray that prayer if they're so wonderful in God's sight? After being hold how much God approves of them.?
You are right on the money.
Tom B
Amen, Ron, that'll preach. To paraphrase several great preachers, theologians, etc., "No one can be saved unless he is convinced he is lost."
I heard a young preacher on TV over several sermons tell his audience how much God values them, how much He approves of them, that part of their problem was doubting how much God thinks of them. After each message, he called on people who needed to, to say this prayer... Why should anybody want to pray that prayer if they're so wonderful in God's sight? After being hold how much God approves of them.?
You are right on the money.
Tom B
MikeinGhana
New Member
No Tom, I understood but meant for my post to simply express the truth of salvation. My point was, if you are trusting and believing you are saved. I was making no judgment as to your particular situation.
I trusted Christ as my Savior when I was a young boy of 8 or so. While the details are very hazy in my mind I do know that day I trusted Him alone. Did I pray a prayer? Probably. But what saved me was the trusting and believing.
I trusted Christ as my Savior when I was a young boy of 8 or so. While the details are very hazy in my mind I do know that day I trusted Him alone. Did I pray a prayer? Probably. But what saved me was the trusting and believing.
Tom Butler
New Member
Sorry,Mike I misunderstood you when I thought you misunderstood me. I think we're back on the same page now.
Tom
Tom
A person that wants to be saved should just talk to God. That becomes their "sinner's prayer". Whether it is verbal or not doesn't matter. It doesn't have to do with any particular words. Since I include someone's recieving Christ in their mind that person's sinner's prayer, I guess they could not be saved without one (whatever form it may come in).
Why the unspoken 'need' to complicate something so simple? I'm not particularly into "tooting my own horn", but read my post, and that of 'Tom Butler' - the last two on page one (Thanks, Tom, for the lofty words I did not deserve) and the those on page 2 by 'Faith alone', and MikeinGhana. The only answer to "What must I do to be saved?" is given by direct answer in Scripture! "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you SHALL be saved!" (I capitalized 'shall' for the simple reason that shall, unlike will, in this sentence, conveys absolute certainty, as contrasting merely the mode.) Here, the KJV, at least (I don't have the time, at this moment to cite other versions) gets the force of the verb correctly.)
Church time, I see.
In His grace,
Ed
I beleive it is fine to pray the sinner's prayer, but I see how that can cause some people to have a false sense of security.
Here is what "The late Great Adrian Rogers has to say on the subject:
The Bible never uses such an experience as the sinner's prayer as proof of salvation. It never points back to some time when you believed on Jesus Christ. Biblical faith is not just an intellectual exercise. The Bible doesn't say he who has beleived; it says he who beleives.
People will say, "If you cannot show me the place and moment when you received Jesus Christ, you are not saved." That is not biblical. The Bible never says you know when or if you are saved by something you remember in the past. It says "He that believes."
I am not saying there is not a time when you received Christ. There was a day. Absolutley. But that is not the test. The test is, do you believe in Jesus Christ now? Are you trusting in Him today? Is there evidence in your life today that you are the offspring of the living God? That is the proof of your salvation.
Here is what "The late Great Adrian Rogers has to say on the subject:
The Bible never uses such an experience as the sinner's prayer as proof of salvation. It never points back to some time when you believed on Jesus Christ. Biblical faith is not just an intellectual exercise. The Bible doesn't say he who has beleived; it says he who beleives.
People will say, "If you cannot show me the place and moment when you received Jesus Christ, you are not saved." That is not biblical. The Bible never says you know when or if you are saved by something you remember in the past. It says "He that believes."
I am not saying there is not a time when you received Christ. There was a day. Absolutley. But that is not the test. The test is, do you believe in Jesus Christ now? Are you trusting in Him today? Is there evidence in your life today that you are the offspring of the living God? That is the proof of your salvation.
reformedbeliever
New Member
I could not have said a "sinners prayer". I was sitting in a class on Ephesians, and when I learned that God had chosen me before the foundation of the world, not based on my goodness, but by His mercy and grace alone, my heart broke and I cried. I didn't cry aloud but the tears were streaming and I was trying my best to not cry aloud. You see, I had always wanted to be saved, but I knew my innermost being. I knew that God had to know me intimately, if He was God. I knew I could not have been saved because of any goodness in me. When I realized that Christ died for me just as I am... it broke my heart. He did that for me while I was spitting in His face! Wow! That day an old man died and a new one was born. I was born of the Spirt and have never been the same person. I now follow Jesus out of true love for Him, as a result of what He did for me. The true repentence is not being sorry for your sin...not being sorry for being guilty of sin, but being sorry that Jesus suffered and died for our sin. Once you understand that kind of love, then you are truly repentent of any sin... past, present, and future. It was all our sin that He died for. What a Savior huh? I thank Him daily for His sovereign grace... that He truly loved me before I loved Him.
Diggin in da Word
New Member
Matthew 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
From "What Must I Do to be Saved?" by John R. Rice (almost 50,000,000 distributed and still counting!)
"CAN ONE BE SAVED WITHOUT PRAYER?"
"In the Bible there are many cases of sinners who prayed like the thief on the cross or the publican in the temple. In fact, Romans 10:13 says:
'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.
The Lord encourages the sinner to pray, and the Lord hears and answers the sinner's prayer, if that sinner trusts in Jesus Christ for salvation when he prays. He heard the prayer of the thief on the cross, of the publican in the temple, of blind Bartimaeus. But the Scripture says, '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!
Some way we preachers have left the impression on this poor world of sinners that God is hardhearted and that it takes many tears and loud cries and long periods of sorrow before He will hear and save the sinner. We have left the impression that God does not care whether sinners are saved or not, and that sinners must some way touch the heart of God and get Him ready to forgive. What a slander on a good and holy God who 'so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' Man's sins are already paid for, God's wrath is already turned away from any sinner who wants to be saved. Both the Father and the Son are a million times more anxious to save every sinner than the sinner can be to get saved! Thank God, I do not have to beg God to forgive my sins. He will do it the minute I am willing to trust it with Him."
John R.
Asahikawa, Japan
"CAN ONE BE SAVED WITHOUT PRAYER?"
"In the Bible there are many cases of sinners who prayed like the thief on the cross or the publican in the temple. In fact, Romans 10:13 says:
'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.
The Lord encourages the sinner to pray, and the Lord hears and answers the sinner's prayer, if that sinner trusts in Jesus Christ for salvation when he prays. He heard the prayer of the thief on the cross, of the publican in the temple, of blind Bartimaeus. But the Scripture says, '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!
Some way we preachers have left the impression on this poor world of sinners that God is hardhearted and that it takes many tears and loud cries and long periods of sorrow before He will hear and save the sinner. We have left the impression that God does not care whether sinners are saved or not, and that sinners must some way touch the heart of God and get Him ready to forgive. What a slander on a good and holy God who 'so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' Man's sins are already paid for, God's wrath is already turned away from any sinner who wants to be saved. Both the Father and the Son are a million times more anxious to save every sinner than the sinner can be to get saved! Thank God, I do not have to beg God to forgive my sins. He will do it the minute I am willing to trust it with Him."
John R.
Asahikawa, Japan
Tom Butler
New Member
John, so well put by yo' grandpappy. Reminds me of the story of a missionary who was preaching to a group, when suddenly a man stood up in the middle of the sermon and cried out "I believe."
Tom B.
Tom B.
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
And yet scripture tells us that "with the mouth confession is made unto salvation".
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
And yet scripture tells us that "with the mouth confession is made unto salvation".
Amen, Tom. Belief is from the heart--prayer is a work.