Something changed in me when I got saved at age 13. That “change” was the indwelling Holy Spirit. Before I was saved, I have no memories of anything about God in my life, I just draw a blank in my mind. The things of God meant nothing to me before age 13. I was led in kindergarten (in a Christian school) by my teacher to pray to be saved, and then my parents had me water baptized because the teacher told them I had been saved; but I wasn't saved. You don't get saved by praying a prayer, and that is all I did. I did not understand at that age (some kids do) what sin was, or the Gospel. I failed first grade and they put me back into kindergarten. That is a true story!
It wasn't until age 13, sitting in church one Sunday morning, that my life was forever changed. I don't remember the title of the pastor's sermon. I don't even remember what he preached about. I just remember that he said if you don't have the Holy Spirit convicting you about the sins in your life, you are not saved. For the first time in my life I fell under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and I very much wanted to be saved. I was shy and embarrassed to go down to the front of the church when the invitation was given. So the best I knew how, I cried out to God in my soul and asked Jesus to save me, and He did.
I didn't think about giving up my sins at all; that kind of thinking didn't even enter into the equation, but I knew that I was a sinner. Since I didn't go down to the altar, I didn't learn what I just did. That is why people really go down to the altar—to find out what just happened in the pew. The very second that a person places their trust (reliance) upon Jesus—trusting that He died on the cross for our sins, was buried and physically resurrected in His body three days later—they are immediately and forever saved. When we accept hose things as true, and make the decision to rely upon that 'GOOD NEWS' to get us to Heaven, God reads our mind and works the miracle of salvation. Only God can save a person. Salvation is a supernatural miracle of God in response to a person's faith.
I Couldn't Find The Peace That I Was Saved
I worried every day for the next seven years as a teenager. I cried. I feared. I asked questions to people without admitting that I wasn't saved, afraid of what people might think. I read every religious tract I could get my hands on. I loved Chick Tracts with all the cartoon drawings by Jack Chick. I didn't know they were corrupt back then. Every religious tract I viewed said at the end to pray a prayer, and I kept praying sinner's prayers, like they said; but I still didn't FEEL saved, struggling with my assurance. I didn't FEEL saved, and nothing could settle my soul. I would go through each religious tract over and over:- Admit your are a sinner.
- Realize that there is a penalty for sin,
- Believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins.
- Pray and ask Him to save you.
I heard some radio preachers foolishly say that if you don't KNOW you are saved, it must mean that you are not. Oh boy, not again! Not another prayer to be saved! Respectfully, my own church pastor said that very thing to me when I was 17 years old. I had finally mustered up the courage to go talk with him about my fears of not being saved. He assumed I must not be saved, since I couldn't find peace in the matter. So he led me in a sinner's prayer. Afterwards he rejoiced, and contacted my parents to let them know, and I was water baptized for the second time. I still remember the fear that gripped my soul as I was being water baptized, still not knowing whether I was really saved or not. Now I was really reluctant to tell anybody how I felt, because now the whole church thought I was saved.
You Don't Have To Pray To Be Saved
The worse thing a pastor can do to a person who is struggling with the assurance of their salvation, is to lead them in a sinner's prayer to be saved. Doing that obscures the truth of the Gospel, confuses the person more, and doesn't help them in the least to solve the problem! You don't have to pray to be saved. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. (1883-1968) emphasizes this great Bible truth...“'Pray to be saved. Ask the Lord to save you.' This is what I heard a minister say to a convicted sinner who came forward for prayer at the close of an evangelistic service. Nowhere in the Bible are men told to pray to be saved. There are examples where men did pray and were saved. Men are told to repent, to believe, to obey the Gospel, but the Bible never says to pray for salvation. It does say that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, but nowhere does the Bible command men to pray to be saved. I think I know why, God, who made the human heart, knew that it was not necessary to tell convicted sinners to pray. If a sinner can see Jesus Christ on the cross, it is as natural for him to pray as it is for birds to sing or flowers to bloom. 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.'” —Dr. Bob Jones Sr., “Comments On Here And Hereafter,” chapter: Prayer And Praise, page 163; Bob Jones University Press, Inc., © 1942Amen and amen! There is nothing taught in the Bible about praying a sinner's prayer to be saved. That is why I stopped using it years ago. When I witness to people now, I simply present to them 'The Gospel'–the Good News of Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). Anyone who comes to God as a needy sinner, receiving Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for their sins, believing that He is bodily risen from the dead, is saved. It's that simple!
What such a person needs is to be taught THE TRUTH that salvation does not require a prayer to be saved. Jesus has already paid for everyone's sins with His precious blood. That is why eternal life is a free gift. Anybody can have that free gift. All they need to do is take it, by faith alone in the 'GOOD NEWS' of Christ crucified, buried and risen. When I learned years later that I didn't need to pray at all, it solidified my knowledge that I was saved. I haven't had a single doubt (God knows I speak the truth) in about 30 years. But I really owe it to Pastor Max D. Younce for 100% solidifying my faith, in his helpful book titled: “SALVATION AND THE PUBLIC INVITATION.”
In his book, Dr. Younce admonishes all pastors to give people an opportunity to accept Christ as their Savior from the pew, without requiring them to walk down a church isle to find out how to get saved. Respectfully, if the pastor under whom I was saved had given me the opportunity to be saved in the pew, and simply would have explained to me how to be saved without leaving the pew, it may have saved me seven miserable years of worry and fear. Requiring people to walk an isle ADDS an additional step to the plan of salvation, which God does NOT require. Likewise, praying a sinner's prayer is an ADDITIONAL step which God does NOT require to be saved.
You Don't Have To Ask, God Is Already Offering You Eternal Life
Since Christ has already paid for our sins in full with His blood on the cross, God is OFFERING salvation to us freely. If we ask God to save us, He will say: “Why are you asking me to save you? I already promised that I will save anybody who BELIEVES on the name of my dear only begotten Son.” God is offering to us eternal life. It would be silly to ask God to give us something, that He is already freely offering to us. 1st Corinthians 1:21, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”The only requirement to be saved is to realize that we are a needy sinner. We are sinners (Romans 3:23). There is a penalty for sinning, which the Bible says is death (Romans 6:23; Romans 5:12). That includes the “second death” (Revelation 21:8b). That is what we deserve, which means we NEED a Savior. That is what I mean by “needy sinner,” we all NEED a Savior. That is the purpose of God's law in the Old Testament, to show us our sinnership, and bring us to Jesus Christ to be saved by grace through faith (Galatians 3:24-26). I strongly suggest that you memorize some of these Bible passages that I have mentioned. It will help you to get the inspired Words of God into your heart. We need to hide God's Word in our heart. God has PROMISED you eternal life in His Word. Titus 1:2, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” Jesus said in John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
“Lord, help me to preach today as if it were the last sermon I would ever preach.” —Dr. Jack Hyles
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