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NASB | John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 1:12 But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the right [the authority, the privilege] to become children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name-- [Is 56:5] |
Subject: Are we presenting the gospel scripturaly |
Bible Note: Hi Doc, See, this is why I should never say I am done with a topic - there is often something to draw me back in! :-) Ok, I will concede your point that there are those who will teach that if you simply mouth these words as a mantra, you are forever saved, no matter what you actually believe or do. I do not personally know any that do, at least to my knowledge. But I would suggest that the problem lies not with the notion that we approach God through prayer, but that Christ crucified is not being preached. (Or that whatever it is that John or you or others feel is missing, is missing) Let us not fault those who, after they have preached the gospel, invite the repentant to pray, and fault what their choice of words may be, but let us rather fault those who claim that salvation is available without repentance and commitment, at the only cost of a puff of breath, sufficient to say a couple of sentences. To continue with the example of baptism, should we then say, since there are so many that teach faulty doctrine of baptism that we should not baptize? Of course not. Now, we do have a lot of different opinions over HOW one is baptized. Immersed, sprinkled, poured, etc., and it seems that we have differing opinions over how one receives Jesus. With this prayer, with that prayer, with no prayer, but neither do we say that one shouldn't receive Jesus. We just want to insure that we know what we are saying as we say it. It is the Bible that says we "receive Him." Its the receiving that is important. I really have little regard for the method, so long, as I have already said, as we are not talking about the ridiculous, or profane. But if John is simply refering to those who would suggest that we "ask Jesus into our heart" without a correct presentation of the Gospel, then that is a different matter than what I have responded to. Love in Christ Mark |