Anyway, he left me a comment on my post "Defending the gospel: No confession required." In it he says that we must do works for salvation, Christ did not do all of the work for us, according to him. Now he has written his own post on the "sinners prayer". Here it is below in red font.
"SINNER'S PRAYER" by steve finnell
There are those who advance the position that, by saying, the Sinner's Prayer your sins will be forgiven and you will be added to the Lord's church. The question remains, can saying a prayer save anyone? Let us investigate that supposition.
The typical sinner's prayer: "Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I believe that you have died for my sins and arose from the grave. I now turn from my sins and invite You into my heart and life. I receive You as my Lord. Amen."
The birth of the church of Christ was A.D. 33 the Day of Pentecost. How were they saved?
Acts 2:22-41.....36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ---this Jesus whom you crucified." 37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren what shall we do?" 38 Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The events on the Day of Pentecost that lead to salvation.
1. Peter preached the death, burial , and resurrection of Jesus.(Acts 2:22-35)
2. Peter proclaimed Jesus as both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:36)
3. Men believed the message and were convicted of their sins and ask what they should do. (Acts 2:37)
4. Peter told them to repent and be baptized (immersed in water) so their sins could be forgiven and they could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
5. How were they saved? Act 2:40-41..."Be saved from this perverse generation" 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. (Notice they were not saved until they were baptized).
PETER DID NOT TELL THEM TO SAY THE "SINNER'S PRAYER" IN ORDER TO BE SAVED.
What did they have to do to be saved?
They needed to have faith: John 3:16, Mark 16:16
They needed to repent: Acts 2:38, Acts 3;19 (repentance means to make a commitment to turn from sin and turn toward God).
They needed to confess: Romans 10:9-10, Acts 8:36-37.
They needed to be baptized: Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:20-21.
The apostles never taught the sinner's prayer as the terms for pardon.
No one is questioning the sincerity of those who recite the SINNER'S PRAYER, the question is, can the SINNER'S PRAYER SAVE ANYONE?
Now let's consider the error of this teaching by Mr. Finnell. "There are those who advance the position that, by saying, the Sinner's Prayer your sins will be forgiven and you will be added to the Lord's church. The question remains, can saying a prayer save anyone? "
When people believe the gospel of the grace of God, they always pray when they do it. That does not mean AUDIBLE prayer, but calling upon God in your heart. This is the plan of salvation in the Bible, at least for the present dispensation that was committed to Paul along with the new gospel (Romans 16:25, Eph. 3:1-9, Col. 1:24-27, Gal. 1:11-12, Gal. 2:7-8, 1 Cor. 15:1-4, 1 Cor. 4:1). God knows the heart of man, if you (believing the gospel) call upon God in your heart then He will save you. We see this in the book of Acts after the dispensation of grace had been revealed to Paul in Acts 9.
Acts 10:
[36] The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
[37] That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
[38] How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
[39] And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
[40] Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
[41] Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.
[42] And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
[43] To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
[44] While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
[37] That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
[38] How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
[39] And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
[40] Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
[41] Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.
[42] And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
[43] To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
[44] While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
Acts 13:
[38] Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
[39] And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
[39] And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Acts 15:
[7] And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
[8] And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
[9] And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
[10] Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
[11] But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.
[8] And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
[9] And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
[10] Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
[11] But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.
Galatians 3:
[2] This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
[3] Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Acts 16:
[30] And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
[31] And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
[31] And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
When most people refer to calling upon the name of the Lord for salvation, they are not talking about uttering words that will magically grant salvation if you say it just right. When people say "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved", they are referring to calling upon God from the heart as we saw in Acts 10 and 15.
I do admit, some people confuse this with Matthew 10:32, which speaks of tribulation saints having to keep their testimony of Jesus Christ to be saved, they cannot deny Him in the tribulation because they must "endure to the end" according to the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 10:22-32, Matt. 24:13-14, Mark 13:13, Heb. 10:38-39, Rev. 12:11, Rev. 12:17, Rev. 14:9-12). However, we in the dispensation of grace are not going to go through the tribulation, this age was a mystery while the tribulation is of Old Testament prophecy.
We are not appointed unto God's wrath on the Jews (Rom. 5:9, 1 Thes. 1:10, 1 Thes. 5:9) and we have a rapture that was a mystery committed to Paul (1 Cor. 15:51, 1 Thes. 4:15). Therefore the confession before men that we see in Matthew 10:32 is in a different dispensational setting with a different gospel--that has no effect on this age we are living in now.
So Mr. Finnell has a "straw man argument" when he asks the question, "Can prayer save anyone"...because prayer is not what we believe saves someone and it is not how we receive Christ. We receive Christ by believing, not by praying. John 1:11-13 "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. "
We are not appointed unto God's wrath on the Jews (Rom. 5:9, 1 Thes. 1:10, 1 Thes. 5:9) and we have a rapture that was a mystery committed to Paul (1 Cor. 15:51, 1 Thes. 4:15). Therefore the confession before men that we see in Matthew 10:32 is in a different dispensational setting with a different gospel--that has no effect on this age we are living in now.
So Mr. Finnell has a "straw man argument" when he asks the question, "Can prayer save anyone"...because prayer is not what we believe saves someone and it is not how we receive Christ. We receive Christ by believing, not by praying. John 1:11-13 "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. "
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your questions or comments welcome.