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NASB | Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 10:9 because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. |
Bible Question:
Alter Calls........ I would appreciate any biblical applications AND opinions/experiences of anyone who would like to respond. I am asking because it has come up several times in my church services where the Pastor has brought the gospel to a clear understanding......and then does not give an "alter call" to those who would respond at that time.....I feel this is crucial to those who are feeling the tug and want to answer the call....they are left without that opportunity AT THE TIME. During these times the Pastor has imparted the salvation message....it leads right up to that expectant point of one taking a step of faith and then "wham" shuts the door. I would appreciate anyones comments and wisdom about this. Also, for those who would think to ask me....no, I have not been in a church that have had alter calls...so I am not familiar with seeing it implimented in church. I just feel that during those times that the Pastor leads there that there should be an alter call...not every sunday. I am planning to ask my Pastor about this too. Thank you all......Hugger P.S. I did a search on this but did not find any questions and answers on this subject on the forum. |
Bible Answer: I know exactly where you are coming from as our pastor does the same thing. It wasn't until I read one of his books that I found out what he was doing, and then it made sense to me. He mentioned that there are fallacies in Christianity such as baptismal regeneration, church membership regeneration, and decisional regeneration. Most true believers know of the first two but not many are aware of the last. I mentioned in another post that there are a lot of so-called believers that think that they are saved because they went forward in someone's service. Really all they did was to jump through someone's psychological hoop. The key is in John 20:30-31 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. The only thing that can help a person when going forward in any service is one on one with God's word being opened up by someone who knows Scripture; a good example is in Acts. Acts 8:26-35 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 27And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 34And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 35Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. We must remember that faith comes by hearing God's word not by walking an aisle. There are some that have faith in the fact that they went forward and they tell how they came to God. There is no mention of Jesus Christ and what He did for them. They are no more saved then before they got up out of their seat. I hope this helps but if I were you I would still talk to the pastor. CDBJ |