Very true.
I’m often amused at fundies who claim that praying the Believers Prayer and asking Jesus to come into their heart = Salvation.
Disclaimer: I’m an evangelical non-denom Christian myself - and NOWHERE in the Bible is this found as the (only) way unto salvation
“I’m often amused at fundies who claim that praying the Believers Prayer and asking Jesus to come into their heart = Salvation.”
No doubt this is a valid act of entrusting oneself to Christ alone for salvation, with child-like understanding... But as to the words, they are not Biblical.
To understand the Scripture, it’s good to understand the words, their meanings and contest, and especially the epistemology used in Scripture.
The believer is trichotomous in anthropology, having body, soul, and spirit.
The soul is comprised of its mind and its heart.
The mind is our thinking process where we take in the Word of God. After is is processed with positive volition and humility, remaining in fellowship with God, it is used by God the Holy Spirit to sanctify our soul, manifest by the output chamber of our soul, our heart.
Upon initial salvation, we are reborn with a regenerated human spirit, discernible from our soul. Our soul, is still scarred from our past thinking and from our old sin nature.
The new man, with the new human spirit, is able to receive the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, who makes the intake of His Word efficacious for His Work in sanctifying us.
Even upon initial salvation, our soul and heart is still scarred from when we were unbelievers. Our new spirit, with the work of of the Holy Spirit, is where He is able to begin regenerating us and sanctifying us.
As we learn Bible doctrine, faith in our soul, we are then tested. As we persevere in our testing through faith in Christ, that new thinking in our soul, which has been sanctified by God the Holy Spirit, now cleanses our heart, and slowly completes more and more sanctification of our soul.
Inviting Christ into our soul is like a barker inviting Christ into a stripper’s lounge. C’MON IN!, WE WANT YOU IN HERE! Only problem is that it is still a corrupt environment. It first has to be cleansed by God the Holy Spirit and what He provides.
Once it is cleansed, then yes, Christ, also dwells in us.