Jesus saves, but the 'sinner's prayer' do not. Too long we have objectified the process of "believing in our hearts that Jesus is Lord and confessing that He is raised from the dead". This objectification has almost become an idol which we pass on to those we want to bring to the Lord. Just 'say' the idol and all things will be settled and we will be in Paradise. Then we continue with our old sinful ways and brandish our immunity 'idol' of the sinner's prayer each time we are challenged by fellow believers or the Spirit to live a holy life. As long as we have the immunity idol, we cannot be 'voted' out of the 'Salvation' island. Or so it seems.
It is quite ironical that the verse in Romans 10 that I paraphrased above seems to be written in the present tense (at least in English anyway, can't read Greek). Does that mean that believing and confessing are a continuous process which never ends until we finish the race like Paul or endure to the end like what the Lord did?
I think it is difficult to justify a belief that concludes decisively that we are saved merely because we have, for a moment in time and space, believed and made a confession, counting that forever as the evidence that we have believed in our Lord Jesus Christ. But in actual fact, we might have lost that faith and first love a long time ago. This is the danger of relying on the method of sinner's prayer, instead of relying on the sole and living guarantor of our salvation, the Holy Spirit, who is ever prompting us to put to death our sins and live as Jesus did.
Jesus saves, but the 'sinner's prayer' do not. Too long we have objectified the process of "believing in our hearts that Jesus is Lord and confessing that He is raised from the dead". This objectification has almost become an idol which we pass on to those we want to bring to the Lord. Just 'say' the idol and all things will be settled and we will be in Paradise. Then we continue with our old sinful ways and brandish our immunity 'idol' of the sinner's prayer each time we are challenged by fellow believers or the Spirit to live a holy life. As long as we have the immunity idol, we cannot be 'voted' out of the 'Salvation' island. Or so it seems.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite ironical that the verse in Romans 10 that I paraphrased above seems to be written in the present tense (at least in English anyway, can't read Greek). Does that mean that believing and confessing are a continuous process which never ends until we finish the race like Paul or endure to the end like what the Lord did?
I think it is difficult to justify a belief that concludes decisively that we are saved merely because we have, for a moment in time and space, believed and made a confession, counting that forever as the evidence that we have believed in our Lord Jesus Christ. But in actual fact, we might have lost that faith and first love a long time ago. This is the danger of relying on the method of sinner's prayer, instead of relying on the sole and living guarantor of our salvation, the Holy Spirit, who is ever prompting us to put to death our sins and live as Jesus did.
Agreed !
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