Invite Jesus into your heart through prayer
Revelation 3:20
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and
will dine with him, and he with me.”
This
verse is taken out of context if it is applied to mean initial conversion. This
is written in a letter to the church in Laodicea,
i.e. to those that have already been baptized and have already
been born again. This is not a verse about conversion. It was written to
people who were already Christians (the church—see verse 14) and
who were growing weak, in order to urge them back to a closer walk with God.
Many
teach out of error that one only need say a prayer that goes something like
this in order to be saved:
"Jesus, I know that I have sinned against you. I have sinned by my own choice. I take the responsibility for it. I know that I have earned punishment from You, and that the fair punishment would be death. Jesus, I believe that You died in my place. Forgive me for my sin. I cannot cover up or take my sin away, I am relying totally and completely on You. I am completely helpless. You are the only one who can save me. I reject my sin, I turn away from it, and I repent. Please come into my life, wash away my sin, and show me how to live my life in a way that is right and pleasing to You."
Nowhere in scripture do we see anyone “praying for
salvation.” Although the thoughts and attitudes expressed in this prayer are
exactly correct, it needs to be followed up with baptism into Christ so
that your sins will be forgiven. Saying a prayer for salvation may sound
reasonable from a human standpoint, but it is totally unbiblical and foreign
to the New Testament.
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Scripture |
Prayer of “invitation to Jesus” taught? |
Baptism taught? |
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NO! |
YES! |
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NO! |
YES! |
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NO! |
YES! |
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NO! |
YES! |
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NO! |
YES! |
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NO! |
YES! |
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NO! |
YES! |
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NO! |
YES! |
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NO! |
YES! |
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NO! |
YES! |
If you have prayed a
prayer like this, you have been stopped just short of the “one yard line”
(to use a term from the sport of American
football) You may have asked the Lord
to show you what He wants you to do in your life. So keep going. Don’t
stop now. Go get baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
If you have prayed such a prayer asking God to save you, He is responding to your prayer right now by telling you what HIS salvation plan is and that you have not heard the full story! He has heard your plea and wants to save you. God wants you to know His salvation plan involves being baptized for the forgiveness of your sins.
The work of the cross is God’s offer of life…
Baptism is our acceptance.
This page updated June 23, 2002