There are those now who are trying to make a case against
The Sinner’s Prayer. The argument is
that it is superstitious and unbiblical, or so goes David Platt’s
conclusion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPhEEzjU8xQ
(accessed on November 21, 2017) He says
it is nowhere in the scriptures. To that
I say, neither is abortion or the rapture, but conclusions can be made from
other scriptures about God’s instruction on those subjects.
To address what the Bible says about salvation and how
someone may have come up with The Sinner’s Prayer (I have no idea who came up
with it or how, but Biblically it appears to be okay to me) let’s go straight
to the Bible. No better place to start…or
end, for that matter.
The argument some people make is that what the Bible
actually says is that we should orally confess that Jesus is Lord and believe
in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead. The basis for that is Romans 10:9, which actually says:
that if you confess with your
mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you
will be saved. That is absolutely
true. However, are we not taught that we
should compare scripture with scripture?
Is that ALL the Bible says about salvation, or is there more?
Can we also offer these scriptures? (From the New American Standard Bible, NASB)
John 1:12 – But as
many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God even
to those who believe in His Name…
There is no mention of confessing with your mouth or believing that God
raised Him from the dead here. Neither
is there mention of receiving Him and believing in His Name in Romans 10:9. So we must believe in His Name and receive Him.
John 3:16 – For God
so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in
Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
There is nothing from Romans 10:9 here. "Believe" is mentioned in both but with different meanings. In Romans 10:9 it is that we are to believe
that God raised Jesus from the dead. In
John 3:16 it is that we are to believe in Jesus. Two distinctly different ideas. So we must believe in Him.
Romans 6:23 – For the
wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord. Again, there is no mention
of confessing with your mouth or believing that God raised Him from the dead
here. Neither is there mention of John
3:16’s message of believing in Christ. So we must believe salvation is free to us but we must accept this gift.
Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not as a result of
works so that no one may boast. Again, there is no mention of confessing
with your mouth or believing that God raised Him from the dead here. So we're saved through faith and accept His free gift.
Ephesians 3:17 – …so that
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…
None of the previous scriptures contribute to this one’s
message except Ephesians 2, which says you’re saved through faith. If you don’t accept Christ into your heart,
how is Ephesians 3:17 going to happen? If you're a Christian, not only has He come into your heart, He is DWELLING there! No one DWELLS at your house unless you invite
them. Just like there are probably not
squatters in your house (I hope!) there aren’t squatters in your heart. If someone is in your heart, you’ve allowed
it. You’ve invited them in. So by faith we must invite Christ to dwell in our hearts. He does not force His way in.
It appears to me that God offers us a free gift: salvation through Jesus Christ. It also appears that we must take ALL the scriptures on salvation (and surely I have not listed them all here) and compare them, put them together, and tell the whole story. Let me ask you this: if I stand in front of you holding a wrapped
gift and tell you that it’s yours, don’t you have to accept it? Don’t you have to walk up to me and take it
from my hand? I guess I could put it on
the ground in front of you and walk away, but you still have to pick it
up. You still have to accept it. Accepting the free gift of Jesus Christ as
our salvation is VERY Biblical, in my humble opinion. The gift is there. If you never accept it, do you really have
it?
God is not going to force Himself into your heart. If Ephesians 3:17 is true...and it is...it’s up
to you to invite Jesus Christ into your heart.
Have you done that?
Or have you left His beautifully wrapped gift lying on the ground and
walked away?
