2nd Corinthians 11:3-4, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”
Pastor Tom Malone (1915-2007) once told a story about a student who brought a lost man to the “altar.” Dr. Malone said he overheard the sinner say, “I don’t feel like getting saved today.” The student said, “You don’t have to feel like it, you just need to believe what Jesus did for you on the cross.” The sinner responded, “But I want to feel something.” Again the student assured him it was not a feeling he needed. He only needed faith. Finally the sinner knelt and prayed, asking the Lord to save him. Dr. Malone said, “As soon as the two of them stood, the student asks, how do you feel?”
One of the issues confusing pastors and sinners, is the concept that one must “feel” a certain way or his salvation is not real. The problem is we have made feeling a synonym for conviction. Now, feeling may follow conviction. However, feeling need not, and many times does not. Feeling is not conviction, nor is conviction a feeling. Conviction is a conclusion that one comes to about an issue. Some who get saved may weep and tremble, while another may laugh and shout. Then, there are those who show little or no emotion. Now, who of us can say for sure which person REALLY got saved? The answer is, none of us.
Getting saved is the easiest thing in the world. For the life of me, I can’t figure why pastors and evangelist want to put razor wire between the sinner and the Savior. What saith the Scripture? ...
Romans 10:8-13, “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”Many people misunderstand this Scripture passage, reading too much into it, claiming that Romans chapter 10 only applies to the future salvation of the physical nation of Israel. That is heresy! Romans chapter 10 is about God's simple plan of salvation. The Apostle Paul plainly states in Romans 10:1 that his concern is for the salvation of the Jews (Israel). Paul was a Jew himself, so he naturally desired to see his own kinsman saved. Paul is recruiting soulwinners among the Gentiles, to go preach the Gospel to the Jews. We are saved by BELIEVING the Gospel (i.e., the Good News of Jesus Christ crucified on a cross, buried and physically risen the third day from the dead).
What saith the Scripture? Romans 10:12, “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.” The preceding verse from Romans 10:12, clearly refutes the heretical idea that Romans chapter 10 is only about the future salvation of the physical nation of Israel. Numerous religious people have unsuccessfully tried to convince me, that since the Gospel doesn't require praying to be saved, they say Romans chapter 10 cannot be about getting born-again (because Romans 10:13 says to “call” upon the name of the Lord).
However, please read the following passage:
Romans 10:13-15, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”
Romans 10:12 plainly teaches that God will save BOTH Jews and Gentiles alike, without prejudice, to those who “CALL” upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Please look at these helpful related Bible verses:
1st John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
I love that! God is so willing to forgive you and me, that even while we are confessing our sins to Him, He just goes ahead and forgives us! And again we read in the Old Testament:
Isaiah 65:24, “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”
I love that about God! The Lord is so excited about showing us mercy, that even while we are confessing, He forgives us. Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Repeatedly throughout the Holy Bible we are taught that salvation comes simply to those who BELIEVE. Genesis 15:6, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”
Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do! The Scripture simply tells us what to believe:
1st Corinthians 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
There is a false doctrine in many of today's churches, which says that you must audibly and publicly confess Christ to be saved. That is false! Those false prophets cite Romans 10:8-13 as their proof text, errantly claiming that confession is necessary to be saved. The demonic Churches Of Christ preach this heresy, which is a counterfeit Gospel.
In the Gospel of John, there is no mention of “confessing” Christ to be saved! According to John 20:31, the book John is God's Gospel tract for all humanity, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Therefore, everything that we need to know to get to Heaven is found on the pages of the Gospel of John. God made salvation so simple, that even a small child can understand it! Just BELIEVE! John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. ”
Whether a small child, or a hardened sinner, anybody can be saved if they will only BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Acts 16:30-31, “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” The important phrase “And thy house” means that the Roman jailer's family could also be saved, if they would simply BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!!! God's free gift of eternal life is offered to ALL mankind, if you want it.
Then we hear the criticism about “the sinners’ prayer.” We hear that “one, two, three, repeat after me,” won’t save the sinner. Now, I am one of few preachers who exposes the falsehood that you must pray a prayer to be saved. No one needs to pray to be saved. To be honest, I borrowed parts of this blog from Pastor Ken Blue in Washington state. I follow Pastor Bob Gray Sr. on social media. I saw this article today by Pastor Ken Blue on Brother Gray's website. At first I was excited. I always get really happy and rejoice when I find a fellow Christian brother who preaches only a free grace Gospel.
However, I was soon thereafter frustrated when I read Pastor Ken Blue say that God's method to be saved is a “Sinner's Prayer.” WRONG! Oh boy, folks, I am going to go to seed [to become worn] exposing the Devil's lie that prayer is God's way to be saved! As I just explained to you dear reader, the entire Gospel of John strongly disagrees with Pastor Blue! Not once in the Gospel of John are we taught to do ANYTHING other than simply BELIEVE on Jesus to be saved. John chapter 19 tells us about Jesus' death on the cross and burial, and then in chapter 20 we read about the dear Savior's bodily resurrection on Sunday.
THE TRUTH is that saying a “Sinner's Prayer” is NOT how you get saved. Having said that, there is absolutely nothing wrong with praying a sinner's prayer. One of my favorite sermons by Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) is titled: “Our Fundamentalist Heresy.” Dr. Hyles explains the folly of adding unnecessary things to the Gospel; such as, “inviting Jesus into your heart or life” and “praying a sinner's prayer.” It is fine to do these things if they accompany FAITH, but as Pastor Hyles explains, WE ARE SAVED BY BELIEVING!!! John 6:37, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
I had to edit the article by Pastor Ken Blue, because he errantly teaches that praying is the Bible way to be saved, and that is wrong. All you need to do dear friend is to BELIEVE. You just take God at His Word, as He has recorded in the inspired Holy Bible. Simply BELIEVE the record which God has given to mankind, the Good News of His only begotten Son, who died on a cross to pay our massive incurred debt of sin (2nd Corinthians 5:21).
I got saved at age 13 in 1980. But I was confused for the next several years, crying often in fear and worry that I wasn't saved. In hindsight, at age 55, I now realize that it was because every pastor and religious tract taught me to pray to be saved, which utterly confused me. I kept wondering for years, “Did I pray right?” I thought, “What if I left something out?” All the time I did BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God.
All my trust was in Jesus alone to save me, because of what He did through Calvary's cross to pay for my sins. I say “through Calvary's cross” because Jesus' literal liquid blood needed to be applied to the Mercy Seat in Heaven (Hebrews 9:12, 22-24; 12:24). I BELIEVED that Christ died and three days later He miraculously resurrected bodily from the dead. Being taught to pray confused me. So I feared that maybe I hadn't gotten something right. I was terrified of missing Heaven, and going to burn in Hell forever. I hope my own difficult testimony is enough to convince you dear reader, of the dangers of requiring people to pray a “Sinner's Prayer” to get to Heaven. Nowhere in the Gospel of John are we taught to “pray” to get to Heaven. I mean, God can see your heart, so why would you need to pray? Think about that.
I believe in easy believism. To some churchgoers, there is a mindset that we are in some kind of “Laodicean period,” where people have no interest in salvation. That mindset conditions our attitude toward the lost. So, we put every obstacle before them, and if they aren’t willing to jump, then we beat them up in a foolish attempt to confirm our doubts. I think we should remove every obstacle between the sinner and the cross, and do everything in our power to get people to accept Christ; so did Jesus, and Paul. Believing is easy for those who believe.
“…unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; 21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. 22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” 1 Corinthians 9:18-22
What could be easier than getting saved? I found this image message on social media recently, which I like A LOT...
Amen and amen!
My hope is built on nothing lessThan Jesus' blood and righteousness;I dare not trust the sweetest frame,But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;All other ground is sinking sand,All other ground is sinking sand.
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