Salvation

8 Cautions Concerning Teaching Individuals to Pray a Prayer to Be Saved

Kirk E. Miller

Before I can present to you my eight cautions for teaching people to pray a prayer to be saved, we must first set the basis of how one is actually saved.

In Ephesians 2:8 Paul states that one is saved by grace (God’s unmerited favor) through faith (belief, trust)[1]. The question is, faith in what? One must believe the Gospel. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul states that the Gospel, the good news, is “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (v. 3-4). In other words, one is saved by grace through truly believing that Christ died for His sins, was buried, and literally rose to life on the third day.

Now that we have formed a rather summary basis of how scripture states one is saved, let’s take a look at eight reasons why we shouldn’t teach people to pray a prayer to be saved.
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A Lowered View of God: Some Words on “Divine Selfishness”

Kirk E. Miller

Often times a plainly strange thinking finds its way into our perception of how humans/we relate to God. This false thought (although not often purposed) is thinking that instead of man being made for God, God was made for us, that God is for man, not properly vice versa. And of course the first problem with this statement is the word “made,” for God is eternal. He is the Creator, the maker, not “the made.” But not only is this the first problem, from here other issues develop.

We are told in Romans 1:25 that we have worshiped the created and neglected our “worth-giving” to the Creator. Why? Because in this mindset of ours, God has been lowered to our level. He has become just as much created as we are because we have made Him to be as if He was made for us. But this is completely false. Allow me to explain.
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Is Predestination Based on Whom God Foreknows Will Believe?

Kirk E. Miller

The Bible explicitly speaks about predestination, and therefore, the doctrine is undeniable. However, many disagree on how to interpret its meaning. One view in particular believes that God predestines to salvation all He foreknows will believe on Him. This view is commonly called conditional election because it states God chooses (elects) individuals to be saved based upon (conditioned upon) their foreknown future belief. It makes election conditional on man’s will in essence. The main text used to support this view is Romans 8:29.

Romans 8:29 – For those whom He [speaking of God] foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

From simply reading this verse, it is very possible to make the assumption that God’s predestining is based on His foreknowledge of people’s future faith in Him. However, I feel that the very next verse (v. 30) is vital to a proper understanding of what verse 29 is truly saying. Verse 29 by itself is an unfinished thought in many senses.
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