[redleghunter]

>> There are no instances of “personal” in the scriptures but your comments are reflective of theology in the modern world, it being wholly personal in nature.<<

Among the terminology used in Scripture to describe the spiritual dynamic of Salvation are: “pick up your cross and follow Jesus”, “be born again”, be “seed in good soil”, “justified by faith”, “saved by grace”, at “peace with god”, “in Christ”, have your “name written in heaven”, be one of the “chosen elect”, have “Christ in you.”

Many of the above can be described as personal in both word and especially in deed. But no, the exact term is not in scriptures. However the personal lives recorded demonstrate such. For example, being chosen by The Son of God as a disciple is quite a personal experience.

Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb and then being the first to encounter the Risen Christ was quite personal. Thomas declaring “My Lord and My God” again quite a personal experience. Pentecost. Personal. Being baptized...personal.

I agree the term itself is not specifically found in scriptures and as you noted the use of “my” God is personal in nature.

For we know:

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”(Romans 10)

[af_vet_1981]

But no, the exact term is not in scriptures.

It is therefore a modern custom to use "personal savior." Where did it come from ? It came from the same country that introduced another modern convention to the world, Mormonism. There are thousands of other modern inventions that America has introduced to religious expression, so "personal savior" is altogether American, and highly correlated to the "sinner's prayer," and the "Four Spiritual Laws." It is new, and at best, Extra Scriptura.

From one of your own, perhaps, though he is now beyond evangelical.
Today, I want to talk about this business of having a “personal Savior” and a “personal relationship” with the Lord. Actually, I’ve already spoken on this subject. Here it is.

As stated previously, the sinner’s prayer eventually replaced the biblical role of water baptism. Though it is touted as gospel today, this prayer developed only recently. D. L. Moody was the first to employ it.

Moody used this “model” of prayer when training his evangelistic coworkers. But it did not reach popular usage until the 1950s with Billy Graham’s Peace with God tract and later with Campus Crusade for Christ’s Four Spiritual Laws. There is nothing particularly wrong with it. Certainly, God will respond to the heartfelt prayers of any individual who reaches out to Him in faith. However, it should not replace water baptism as the outward instrument for conversion-initiation.

The phrase personal Savior is yet another recent innovation that grew out of the ethos of nineteenth-century American revivalism. It originated in the mid-1800s to be exact. But it grew to popular parlance by Charles Fuller (1887–1968). Fuller literally used the phrase thousands of times in his incredibly popular Old Fashioned Revival Hour radio program that aired from 1937 to 1968. His program reached from North America to every spot on the globe. At the time of his death, it was heard on more than 650 radio stations around the world.

Today, the phrase personal Savior is used so pervasively that it seems biblical. But consider the ludicrousness of using it. Have you ever introduced one of your friends by such a designation? “This is my ‘personal friend,’ Billy Smith.”