This is Satan's Greatest Lie...
"All you have to do to be saved is to sincerely say the 'Sinner's Prayer!' That's it!"
Very simple.
How do we know that it's a lie?
Because there is NOT ONE example of ANYONE being told to say ANY form of a prayer to be saved in New Testament scripture after Jesus rose from the dead. No example anywhere! There are 13 salvation examples from Acts to Revelation and in EVERY ONE of them belief is quickly followed by baptism.
EVERY example of salvational obedience in the New Testament after Jesus rose from the dead matches the Great Commission he gave his apostles in Mark 16:15-16...
15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16 NKJV)
Read the New Testament yourself, see if you can find one example of someone in the New Testament being saved by simply saying a prayer after Jesus rose from the dead.
You won't find one. Not one.
Ask your preacher or religious guide to show you one example of someone in the New Testament being saved by simply saying a prayer to be saved after Jesus rose from the dead.
They will not be able to show you, because there isn't any.
Oh, they will come up with all kinds of scripture they say proves prayer salvation but each scripture they quote is an ingredient of Mark 16:15-16 and NOT the whole of salvation.
21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (I Peter 3:21 NKJV)
Notice it plainly says baptism (obedience to the preached gospel of Mark 16:15-16) is what saves. This is in keeping with what the words of Jesus himself says in Mark 16:15-16.
In Acts 2:38 Peter tells the convicted multitude how to have their sins, past, present, and future, forgiven...
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38 NKJV)
They already believed, they asked what they should do and Peter told them to change their way of thinking and to add baptism to their belief to complete Christ's command of Mark 16:15-16.
Look at the following passage...
7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. (II Thessalonians 1:7-8 NKJV)
Notice the phrase "taking vengeance on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."
What is the gospel this passage says one MUST literally obey?
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, (I Corinthians 15:1-4 NKJV)
Notice Paul writes they received (believed) the gospel which saved them. The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ "according to the scriptures."
How does one literally obey the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ?
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. (Romans 6:3-7 NKJV)
See the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ there? See the "born again," the "newness of life" there? (John 3:3, John 3:5)
If a church does not teach belief and baptism as God directed connected salvational ingredients that church is going outside the teaching or doctrine of Christ...
9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. (II John 1:9 NKJV)
If you need help finding a church that teaches Bible based salvation, call 706 816-7190
If we can be of assistance in any way, feel free to
For Further Information Contact Marv Walker 706 816-7190
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