Yes, I agree. It goes back to the Garden. God and Adam had relationship up until the point where he ate the forbidden fruit.
My contention is that faith takes action. I do not believe that by simply reciting the sinner's prayer at one time in one's life, that there will be an eternal reward. One has to actively practice that faith throughout one's life by developing that relationship. Without it, how will Christ be able to intercede for us as we sit in the Judgment Seat since we never took the time to know Him?
Thanks for the links. I will check them out later when I have more uninterrupted time.
We are not saved through the works that spring from receiving Jesus as Lord .......we are saved through the trust that ‘receives Jesus as Lord’...... Trust precedes actions,... and it is this trust that is at the heart of saving faith. .....You rely on Him as your savior AND Lord. ...in order to have Jesus as Savior you must have Jesus as boss.
The Law was put into effect to lead us to Christ, to show us that we CANNOT do it ourselves.
He judges us on whether we believe Him and in Him, not on our works, which are all tainted with sin even on our best day.
God did for us what we cannot do for ourselves because we CANNOT do it ourselves.
That's the greatness of the mercy and grace of God.
He does it for us, and then offers it to us as a free gift, simply for the taking.
The actual words, like in the sinner's prayer, are not important. It's the heart that counts. Someone can recite the sinner's prayer and still not be saved if all they're doing is counting on having done a work to get them in.
There's a difference between intellectual assent and saving faith that produces works.