It is vacuous. It completely skirts the issue of whether the “repeater” really thinks they need a Savior. If you don’t think you need a Savior, what’s the point?
But of course, I am colored by my Methodism where you can always Fall from Grace so the prayer doesn’t ensure anything.
Also every Baptist I have met recently come across as Reformed. They define “Once Saved Always Saved” as classical “Perseverance of the Saints”. Strange.
To frame the person who prays it as “repeater” is to beg the question your own self. Watch about smuggling assumptions into the picture.
Yes, SBC Baptist leans either Calvinist or Calminian, with genuine salvation being permanent. That’s a robust affirmation of the destining power of God, which so happens to be true.
There’s a reason Baptists see a lot of miracles. The more ways God is praised, the more ways He blesses.
re: “It is vacuous. It completely skirts the issue of whether the “repeater” really thinks they need a Savior. If you don’t think you need a Savior, what’s the point?
But of course, I am colored by my Methodism where you can always Fall from Grace so the prayer doesn’t ensure anything.”
The “sinner’s prayer” is only a suggested prayer. It mentions the minimum requirements for salvation as given in the New Testament:
1- Admitting one’s helpless, sinful condition before a Holy God.
2- Professing belief that Jesus is God’s Son, and that salvation of one’s sins are only through His atoning sacrifice of Himself on the cross, and that Jesus rose from the dead.
3- Asking for God’s forgiveness of one’s sins and confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior of one’s life.
Any prayer is “vacuous” if the one saying it doesn’t really mean it - only God alone knows the heart of the one praying - right? Before one prays the “sinner’s prayer”, the one sharing his/her faith must explain what the prayer means before asking someone to pray the prayer. Since we do not have God’s insight into people’s hearts, if someone says they understand it and are willing to pray that prayer - who are we to judge whether or not they are sincere? Leading them through the prayer is not an automatic given that what they prayed was meaningless - right?
re: “Also every Baptist I have met recently come across as Reformed. They define “Once Saved Always Saved” as classical “Perseverance of the Saints”. Strange.”
I agree with you on that one. The SBC is going through a “Calvinist” controversy. I am aware that in the SBC’s history, that many were Calvinistic, but that is by no means universal among Southern Baptist churches. I can tell you that this “Reformed” Baptist movement is splitting churches apart.
In my city, at least one “reformed” SBC church refuses to allow any pastors preach at their church if they aren’t Calvinist in theology. There have been at least two SBC churches split over the issue as well.
I’ve been in the SBC all my life and I never heard the doctrine of predestination (the Calvinist view of predestination) that I hear from the “reformed” Baptists today. I did hear of “security of the believer” (the “once saved always saved” doctrine). But, that was never taught to me as being because we were “Calvinist”, but that our salvation is based on God’s promise to save all those who call upon Him for His forgiveness and profess faith in Christ Jesus.
Since our salvation cannot be earned by our righteousness, our security is also based on His promise to save us completely, now and forever - not because of our righteousness, but, because of His promise to do so.
The so-called “reformed” Baptists are tearing churches apart with their insistence on believing that God has already pre-determined who will be saved and who will be damned. That the individual really has no free will in acceptance or rejection - God has already fixed that before time began (in the Reformed/Calvinist view). They think that if you have the ability to respond to God’s gift of grace to you through Christ, that that somehow takes away from His sovereignty and His glory.
I do not believe that we have no ability to respond to God. I do not believe that God has fixed it so that only certain individuals are called to salvation, and others condemned to hell. That is not the God that I know from the Bible. I do know there is predestination, but not of the Calvinist interpretation. There are even some Reformed Baptist/Calvinists who believe the infants who die do not go to heaven, but that some actually go to hell because God has already ordained it so. I believe that is a terrible slap at the graciousness of God and at His character.
I really don’t wish to argue Calvinism with anyone as it is pointless and only generates heat, not light. I have dear brothers as friends who are Calvinist in their outlook, but we just choose not to argue about it. Instead we serve together Christ’s church and do what we can to tell others about the Gospel. But, I have seen it tear friendships and churches apart. That grieves my heart.