BIBLICAL QUESTIONS & ANSWERS...

No!  There's nothing in the Bible about "asking Jesus" into one's Heart to be saved.  Revelation 3:20 states, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."  Howbeit, this Scripture was spoken to believers (the church of Laodicea); not to lost sinners.  To teach that a sinner needs to "ask Jesus to come into their heart" will likely confuse young children.  How do you invite Jesus into a muscle that pumps blood?  I do NOT believe it is heresy to teach sinners to ask Jesus to come into their heart to be saved.  Not at all.  BUT, the bottom line is that a person DOESN'T have to ask or invite Jesus into their heart to be saved.  We must not require this of sinners to be saved.  Believing is enough.  One need only come as a guilty sinner, and BELIEVE on Jesus as their Savior to be eternally forgiven.  Salvation is receiving; NOT giving.

No!  There is nothing in the Scriptures about "being sorry" for one's sins to be saved.  2nd Corinthians 7:10 states, "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death."  The Apostle Paul was speaking to the church, concerning the man mentioned in 1st Corinthians 5:1-5 who was living in open fornication in the church.  He was a believer (1st Corinthians 5:5).  The man afterwards repentant, because of godly sorrow, i.e., the convicting power of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 12:5-8).  A lost sinner, who has not the Holy Spirit, cannot reasonably be expected to have godly sorrow before salvation.  Being "sorry" for one's sins is a matter of growing in grace, which requires time.  The church at Corinth was carnal (1st Corinthians 3:1), and certainly had no "sorrow" over the overwhelming abundance of sins in their church.  This is why Paul wrote 1st Corinthians—to rebuke them sharply.  Jesus never asked anyone to "be sorry for their sins" to be saved.  Rather, one need only come as a guilty sinner, and BELIEVE on Jesus as their Savior to be eternally forgiven.  Salvation is receiving; NOT giving. 

Yes!  Mark 1:15 states, "And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."  Carefully notice that repentance is synonymous with believing the Gospel (i.e., the "good news" of God's plan of redemption through Jesus Christ crucified).  There is much perversion today by unscholarly men, who misrepresent the true Biblical meaning of the word "REPENT," which is the Greek word metanoia, meaning "a change of mind."  Dishonest men claim that "repent" in the Bible means to forsake one's sin as part of saving-faith; BUT, such heresy goes against the plainest teachings in the Bible.  Salvation is of God; not men.  There is no self-righteousness involved.  Eternal life is a "free gift" (Romans 5:15), which cannot be acquired through any amount of self-righteousness (Ephesians 2:8,9). 

Biblical repentance is "a change of mind" concerning sin and the Savior, which causes a lost sinner to believe on the Lord for forgiveness of sins to be saved.

Genesis 15:6 states... "And he [Abraham] believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness."  Also see Romans 4:3-5.  Abraham's faith was COUNTED for righteousness.  Why?  Because Christ's righteousness is imputed to the believer... "And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God" (James 2:23).  Abraham was saved by faith alone, and then his faith was "made perfect" (James 2:22) in the eyes of MEN by works. 

It is important to make a distinction between a believer who repents FROM sin in one's life (as a part of growing in the Lord); verses an unsaved person who must repent OF sin to be saved.  Romans 3:19 clearly tells us what the purpose of God's Law is in salvation... "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."  All that God requires to be saved is that one come as a sinner, and trust upon the Lord Jesus Christ to be forgiven.

Romans 3:19 DOESN'T teach that sins must be forsaken to be saved.  The whole notion of "Lordship Salvation" is unfair to a new believer, because even mature Christians struggle with the temptations of sin.  It often takes years before a believer grows enough in the Lord to be willing to consecrate their life to God.

So, "Yes," a lost sinner must repent to be saved; but not in the sense of giving up their sins and making a commitment to live anew for God.  You won't find the phrase "repent from sin" in the Bible.  In sharp contrast, Acts 20:21 speaks of "repentance toward God."  So Biblical repentance is not the forsaking of sins; rather, it is turning towards Jesus Christ to be forgiven of sin. Jesus died on the cross to pay for our debt of sin, He doesn't require that we forsake our sinful bad habits to receive God's free gift.

We must keep the FRUIT of the believer's faith separate from the ROOT of the believer's faith, or else God's simple plan of salvation will be corrupted by self-righteousness.  Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do.

No!  Salvation is not a process.  There are not 2-steps to salvation; but rather, 2-parts to one step.  Repentance and faith are two separate parts of the same step.  One who has believed on the Lord for forgiveness has repented of their sins.  This is Biblical repentance concerning salvation.  The Gospel of John mentions the word "believe" 85 times; yet the word "repent" is never mentioned.  Clearly, if repentance were something different than BELIEVING ON THE LORD, then the Bible would have said so.  It is obvious that believing on the Lord is repentance.  In repentance, one TURNS from the awfulness of sin to the Precious Savior to be forgiven. 

Some false teachers, like Aiden Tozer, teach that salvation is a process.  Mr. Tozer teaches that a person must "intend" to turn from the act of sin itself, before he can qualify for salvation.  This is "qualification by works" as a prerequisite to salvation.  The plain teaching of the Scriptures is that even the vilest sinner can be saved by simply believing on the Lord... "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). 

No!  This is perhaps the most popular, and damning, misconception concerning salvation today.  Although it is true that "repentance" is required for salvation, the word "repent" doesn't mean what a lot of people think.  "Repent" in the Greek (metanoia) simply means, "a change of mind."  Thus, repentance is a change of attitude concerning one's sinnership and the Savior, and NOT a change of lifestyle or surrender to Christ.  The heresy of "Lordship Salvation" requires a lost sinner to be willing to forsake their sinful lifestyle as a prerequisite to salvation.  This is unbiblical.  In effect, Lordship Salvation combines the FRUIT of one's faith with the ROOT of their faith, which is nothing less than WORKS SALVATION.  The FRUIT is a result of the indwelling Holy Spirit, but only if a believer chooses to Walk in the Spirit.  Fruit is not automatic. Abraham was justified in the eyes of men (James 2:21) when he offered up Isaac in Genesis 22; BUT, Abraham was justified in the eyes of God when he believed on the Lord in Genesis 15:6.  A person does not have to forsake anything to be saved except the sin of unbelief.  One need only come as a guilty sinner and BELIEVE on Jesus as their Savior to be eternally forgiven.  Salvation is receiving, NOT giving.

No!  What if a person were mute?  I've read several Gospel tracts which lead the reader to "pray a prayer."  Although there's certainly no harm in praying a sinner's prayer for salvation, it is NOT necessary.  The danger is that many people will think prayer alone can save them.  It cannot.  Any prayer that is not based upon faith in Jesus Christ is void. 

There MUST be repentance.  The sin issue must be dealt with, i.e., a man must come to Christ as a guilty, hell-deserving sinner to be saved.  Only guilty sinners who "call upon the name of the Lord" shall be saved (Romans 3:19;10:13).  The word "call" in Romans 10:13 is the Greek word "epikaleō" and means "to appeal unto," i.e., to believe on Jesus for salvation. 

Romans 10:10 states, "For with the heart man believeth..."  Thus, salvation is of the heart.  I believe that soulwinners need to teach people that prayer by itself cannot save anyone.  There must be belief in the heart.  Ritualism cannot save.  It is the precious, literal, physical blood of Jesus Christ that washes one's sins away (1st John 1:7), in response to our faith in Jesus Christ.  Catholics pray, pray, and pray; but they are wasting their breath (Mark 7:6-13; Matthew 6:7).  They only have self-righteousness (Romans 10:3,4). 

No!  "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).  One who believes on Christ is saved safe and secure.  The only "unpardonable sin" is rejecting Jesus Christ as one's Savior, to which there is no remedy.  A person who dies in their sins (John 8:24) will burn in Hellfire forever, suffering the wrath of God against sin (2nd Thessalonians 1:8,9). 

There are numerous examples of believers in the Bible who commit the most horrible sins.  David killed Uriah and stole his wife in adultery (2nd Samuel 11:1-24).  Samson had sex with a prostitute (Judges 16:1).  Noah got drunk (Genesis 9:20,21).  Moses murdered an Egyptian and hid the body (Exodus 2:12).  Yet, these men found forgiveness in Christ. 

No!  It is God's salvation; not ours.  How can we lose something that wasn't ours to give in the first place?  If we cannot earn salvation by good works; then how can we lose salvation by bad works?  We cannot.  Jesus promised in John 6:37, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."  To claim that a believer can lose salvation is to call God a liar.

In Philippians 2:12 the Apostle Paul states, "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."  Carefully notice that the Bible doesn't say to work out God's salvation.  In the Book of Psalm, David uses the phrase "thy salvation" 21 times.  David understood that salvation was of God alone; and not men. 

Some false prophets claim that salvation can be lost by apostasy and sinful living.  This is not so.  Oftentimes people find churchianity and religion; but they reject Christianity, i.e., Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away" (2nd Timothy 3:5).  America's churches are filled today with religious imposters, who are not saved, and are hellbound in their sins without Jesus Christ.  They never were saved to begin with.

Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be "born again" to get to Heaven (John 3:3-7).  The Bible never speaks of being born again, and again, and again.  No, just once!  Just as the physical birth is irreversible, so is the spiritual birth into God's family. 

In Galatians 5:4 the Apostle Paul states, "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."  The context of this Scripture is clear... works salvation is a road to Hell.  God's grace offers salvation to all men through Jesus Christ: "For by grace are ye saved through faith..." (Ephesians 2:8).  If one neglects such wondrous grace, refusing to believe on Christ for salvation, then no grace remains for that Christ-rejecter.  This is what the Bible means in Galatians 5:4 when it speaks of "fallen from grace."  Anyone who tries to earn their way into Heaven, by self-righteousness, has missed their only way to Heaven through Christ (Romans 10:3,4).  Again, salvation cannot be lost for the believer.  No believer can "fall from grace"; but an unbeliever can reject the grace of God that bringeth salvation.

Once saved—always saved.

No!  This is impossible.  Just as it is impossible for a human being to be born twice from its mother's womb, so it is impossible to be born again TWICE into God's family.  2nd Corinthians 5:17 states, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."  We read in 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."  Every born again Christian is sealed with the Holy Spirit of God at the moment of salvation.  God has promised to NEVER leave nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  We may forsake God, and not feel His presence anymore in our life; but God never abandons His own.  Romans 10:17 states the cure, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."  Studying the Scriptures will increase one's faith.

You can only be saved once, and you can never lose it.  Salvation is a free gift, paid for by Jesus' precious physical blood (Romans 5:15; Hebrews 9:12; 1st Peter 1:18,19). 

No!  Water Baptism won't save a person anymore than walking into a garage makes one an automobile.  Water Baptism is an "ordinance" which the Lord instituted for BELIEVER'S ONLY.  The same is true of the Lord's Supper.  I am saddened that so many people today are following the damnable lies of a man who's been dead for 460 years—Martin Luther (1483-1546).  Luther openly taught that "Baptism saves" and that even a person without faith could be saved through water baptism.  Blasphemy!!!  Luther also denied the Rapture, The 7-year Tribulation Period, the Restoration of the Nation Israel, and the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem.  Luther was an unsaved heretic!

The Bible plainly states that salvation has always been by faith.  We read in Acts 10:43, "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins."  No one in the Old Testament was baptized, but the Gospel message was the same then as today.  The thief on the cross wasn't baptized.  Paul said in 1st Corinthians 1:17, "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel..."  If water baptism were necessary for salvation, then certainly the Apostle Paul wouldn't have made light of it. 

In 1st John 5:13, the Apostle states, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."  John wrote his Epistle so that we could "KNOW" we are saved.  Interestingly, John never mentions any kind of baptism, nor speaking-in-tongues, et cetera.  Obviously, water baptism is not a part of saving-faith.

Baptism is a work.  It would be self-righteousness to rely upon baptismal water to wash one's sins away.  1st John 1:7 plainly states, "...and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."  It's Jesus' blood that cleanses away our sins.

Baptism is symbolic of the Lord's death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:4).  Water Baptism is one's public profession of faith in Christ, just as a wedding ring signifies that a person is married.  Baptism is NOT a Sacrament, i.e., it has no efficacy or special grace it bestows upon the recipient.  It is just water.

No.  Some people do experience emotion, joy, and relief; however, most people don't feel anything at the time of salvation.  Remember, salvation is NOT an experience; it is a lost sinner placing faith in Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins.  Emotions and feelings are not necessary for salvation. 

This is why "feeling sorry" for one's sins is NOT a part of saving-faith, because sorrow is an emotion.  The Bible simply asks us to BELIEVE on Jesus Christ for salvation; not get emotional and have an experience.  "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).  That's a promise from God.

Certainly, the Apostle Paul had a remarkable salvation experience in Acts 9; but this is out of the ordinary.  One's salvation is not based upon feelings or a past experience; but rather, upon the precious written Promises of God's Word.  As the song goes... "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible TELLS ME SO."