What Saves a Person?<\/a> It is loaded with verse references and rather than take my word for it, I would like you to look up the references, read them for yourself and look at the context and make sure the verses are being handled true to the writer’s intention. Only after you get through the whole of it and compare it to what you have done can you answer the question of whether you are yet saved from your sins.<\/p>\nCan a person be saved? Of course. That is why Christ came into this world. In fact, faith has two fundamental components: a belief that God exists and that God rewards those who seek Him. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him<\/em>” (Hebrews 11:6). For years you did not believe in God. Oh, you had a concept of God that you believed in, but that concept was not founded in truth. You did not understand who God was, so you did not believe the God who revealed Himself in the Bible existed. That faith has awakened, but now you are struggling with the second foundation of faith — believing that God would actually save those who seek Him. Again, the core of the problem is that you have your own ideas of how a person ought to be saved, but you need to trust in what God has actually said is necessary for you to be saved.<\/p>\nI wish you well in your journey of both learning about God and learning to trust what He says.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I got saved by saying a sinner’s prayers at 19. I spent most of my twenties high-handedly sinning and being agnostic or universalist – I believed all religions were partially true. I read the Bible and Quran occasionally for inspiration. Three years ago I started going to a Baptist church and had true faith…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1571,47,1226],"class_list":["post-51981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-forgiveness","tag-salvation","tag-sinners-prayer"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24310,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sinners-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":51981,"position":0},"title":"The Sinner’s Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bob Myhan The so-called sinner\u2019s prayer is the prayer of an alien sinner for the forgiveness of sins. An alien sinner is one who has never been saved and is not yet a citizen in the kingdom of God. The sinner\u2019s prayer has had many incarnations over the years\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/prayer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24314,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/praying-a-sinners-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":51981,"position":1},"title":"Praying a Sinner’s Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jarrod Jacobs via \u201cCommon Questions -- Bible Answers\u201d (Southside church of Christ, Owensboro, Kentucky) A while back, I received a sample packet of tracts from \"The Tract League\" (a.k.a. \"Faith, Prayer, & Tract League\") out of Grand Rapids, MI. According to their form letter addressed to the \"Pastor,\" they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25394,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-you-be-baptized-even-after-saying-the-prayer-of-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":51981,"position":2},"title":"Must you be baptized even after saying the prayer of salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wandering if you had to be baptized, even after saying the prayer of salvation to be completely saved. Answer: Just one small problem -- there is no mention of salvation coming through prayer in the Bible. To claim to be saved by saying a prayer, then, is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39923,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sinners-prayer-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":51981,"position":3},"title":"The Sinner\u2019s Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 9:1-19 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A key feature of salvation in many denominations is the praying of the sinner\u2019s prayer. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is generally presented at the end of a service to tell people how they may be saved. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Each \u201cSinner\u2019s Prayer\u201d varies in detail, but generally carry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24308,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-it-matter-how-you-are-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":51981,"position":4},"title":"Does it matter how you are baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I get confused about baptism.\u00a0 I believe a person should be baptized by immersion.\u00a0 Some feel the mode does not matter - just as long as you get baptized.\u00a0 I have attended a Baptist church that says baptism does not save you - that the thief on the cross\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25681,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-cornelius-need-to-work-before-or-after-his-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":51981,"position":5},"title":"Did Cornelius need to work before or after his salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I just wanted to say thank you for the sermons you provide online. I actually came across your web site this evening as I was searching for resources on\u00a0Cornelius and his salvation, as I think his life greatly parallels many in today's culture. I do have an inquiry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51981\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}