I'm not locked into a formula such as the "sinner's
prayer" or the "Roman's road" but we should be able to counsel
a weeping soul who is unsure - that is "give account
for the hope that is within us" and pray with them ie "comfort
them with the comfort wherewith we have been
comforted". I know a lady whose testimony is that she was told
from
the time she was a small girl that she was saved and
not to doubt her salvation even when she would go fwd to the
altar because of inward doubts. She taught Sunday
School and was 33yrs old and having an affair with a married
man before she was jerked to reality. So for
years and years well meaning religious ppl had helped to keep her
in bondage to sin.
On Thu, 21 Jul 2005 12:31:01 -0400 [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Some questions: Why is it that the "sinner's prayer" is nowhere to be found in scripture or even hinted at? Why is it that the phrase "born again Christian" is nowhere used in the biblical message and can only be established as we justify several passages of scripture? Why is it that no evangelist in biblical lit gives the command "ye must be born again?" JD
From: Judy Taylor <jandgtaylor1@juno.com>
How terribly sad - did somebody counsel and pray with this man who was obviously under conviction of the Spirit?You are judging him by "outward appearances" Bill. You can't know what goes on in the hearts of ppl - folk can makea great showing after the flesh or some may just live in quiet desperation. I would have taken this dear man seriouslyenough to go over the scriptures and pray with him so he can be sure of his eternal destiny rather than give him somefalse assurance.A born again person who is right with God knows they are born again and right with God. If they don't know thisit is a huge red flag - and this man was crying out for help.....Bill writes:Yes, in Christ in his resurrection, BUT not everyone is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, that comes by way of belief or faith in Jesus Christ. What we call our "conversion experience" does happen in this lifetime, and sometimes this can be a profound and life-altering experience; other times it is not so profound for people who have grown up in the church and spent their lifetimes worshiping the Lord. I think we are prone to base too much of our "faith" in religious experience and not trained well enough at basing it in the object of that faith: Jesus Christ.I watched a saintly ninety year old elder of our church break down and weep because he did not know for sure if he had been "born again." He had grown up in the church and could not remember a time that he did not believed in Jesus Christ, yet he had never had one of those earth-shaking conversion experiences that others had had. We, the church, had placed so much emphasis on that "born again experience" that we had misled godly people into doubting their salvation. The weight of the world was upon this man's shoulders, and he could not withstand the weight of it. He was as godly as anyone you would ever meet, had served the Lord faithfully his whole life, yet believe in "spiritual death" and the necessity to be "born again" and thus could not place his finger on a point in his life when he stopped being spiritually dead and started being a born again believer. We did that to him -- not the L ord.
