Posted on 12/15/2010 9:33:19 AM PST by wmfights
“All you gotta do is say this prayer.”
Really? If you just say these magic words you’re saved? Think again or, actually, read again…read the Gospels again, the book of Acts again and the Epistles again and guess what you’ll find? Not once does Jesus or any of his followers ever lead one person through “the sinner’s prayer” for salvation!
Saying a prayer never saved anybody. It’s faith alone in Christ alone based on his finished work on the cross that regenerates the lost soul, nothing else.
I was once on a national radio show where a guy called in and wanted to know more about salvation. The host said, “Hey, just say this prayer and you’ll be saved.” I reminded the host that there will be a lot of people in hell who said the sinner’s prayer but never genuinely believed the gospel message. He reminded me that he was the host…(INSERT AWKWARD MOMENT HERE)…But I didn’t back down. Why? Because the way of salvation is nothing to be trifled with on the air or off.
Sure, if you want to lead someone through a prayer of thanksgiving after they put their faith in Jesus that is great. But don’t ever insinuate to anyone that it is the quoting of a prayer of salvation that saves. We are saved by faith in Christ, nothing else (John 3:16,36; 5:24; 6:47; 20:31.)
“You must turn from your sins first.”
No!!! If I could turn from my sins before I came to Christ then why would I need to come to Christ in the first place? We come to Jesus as totally depraved sinners who are totally deprived of the capacity to do good (Romans 3:10.) That means we couldn’t turn from our sins if we tried!
In his classic book, On Christian Liberty, Martin Luther wrote, “…trees must exist before their fruits, and the fruits do not make trees either good or corrupt, but rather as the trees are so are the fruits they bear; so the person of a man must needs first be good or wicked before he does a good or a wicked work, and his works do not make him good or wicked, but he himself makes his works either good or wicked.”
An unregenerate person is unable to turn from their sin (i.e. produce good fruit) until the nature of who they are is transformed through faith in Christ! When we make turning from one’s sin a precondition of salvation we are asking a lost person to do the impossible. Why? Because a bad tree can’t produce good fruit (Luke 6:43.) Only when we are made new in Christ can we begin the process of turning from our sins. And, by the way, we won’t completely succeed at this process until we are dead (Romans 7:21-25.)
“Sure you’re saved by faith in Christ BUT….”
Everyone preaching a damnable message has a big BUT…
…BUT you have to get baptized …BUT you have to surrender all …BUT you have to keep the 10 Commands …BUT you have to _________________ (fill in the blank)
The unbelievable thing about salvation is that it is only through believing! We believe in Christ and we are saved. This simple act of trust transforms us from the inside out and puts us on a trajectory of transformation.
Paul puts it bluntly in Galatians 3:1-3, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?”
Adding a “BUT” to the gospel is an act of the flesh. It is corrupting a message. It is a virus that is spreading sickness faster than the flu.
It’s time to wash our hands.
I have shared with you some things NOT to say when communicating the gospel. So what do you say? How about what Jesus said in John 3:16? “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Now that’s good news…no if’s, and’s or but’s about it.
Repent! And be baptised.
What about: “Death to Infidels”???
Also avoid “BOOM!”
The author’s second point is in error. Repentance and turning away from sin as in no longer continuing to pursue that sinful nature is stated in the scriptures as being one of the two conditions for salvation. In truth, there are 10 steps of logic / faith that a person must accept before becoming a Christian. And as these 10 point are mostly sequential, the failure to accept all 10 creates serious risk to salvation.
What does that belief mean or require:
1) That there is a God
2) That God is the one, only and true (perfect) God
3) That God being perfect, can not accept or tolerate sin and will judge and separate those that sin from himself
4) That God made man with the right of self awareness and self determination
5) That Man sinned against God and chose a sinful nature
6) That unless that sin is atoned for, the punishment for that sin is eternal separation from God (see#3)
7) That God in his grace and mercy created Jesus to pay for and atone for our sins so that we may be saved
8) That Jesus came and died, rose again and paid for our sins
9) That I am a sinner and my past life was lived in sin.
Now here is the tipping point, the point where belief turns to action, the “repentance point”.
10) That I no longer wish to live in sin and that I will accept Jesus and his teachings to govern my life so that I might be saved and in doing so, I will turn away from (repent) my former sinful life and follow Jesus. And as an act of obedience to the new Lord of my life, I will outwardly show this by being baptized in his name in front of others.
A failure to believe or faith in any of those 10 foundational items seriously jeopardizes the “believe” part of Mark 16:16. As to my prior point, children that do not yet believe, or anyone for that matter, are not in alignment with Jesus teachings.
I once read a letter to Dr. Billy Graham. A woman said she’s asked Jesus to come into her heart many times. But so far - he hasn’t done so. What’s wrong?
Dr. Graham gave some sort of reply, but I was lolol.
"Mormons suck" (or something to that effect)
Awesome experience if you've never gone to the conferences they hold - absolutely transforming...
Agree with everything you said there with the exception of one word: “created.”
How do you reconcile this with Ephesians 2:8-10?
I've yet to meet a Christian that has met the criteria of perfection you seem to lay out in item 10 - we all fall short...we simply can't meet the perfection expected by God...
therefore, the act of grace on the cross.
Faith alone in Christ alone.
Bookmark.
bookmark
Yes, that one would definitely go on the list.
Just curious, do you tithe?
How about including “Merry Christmas”?
Yes he does run Dare2Share. I haven't been to his conferences, but from reading the article I can see why they would be transforming.
I sped through the list and missed that. Good catch.
Col.1
[16] For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
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