Theology in the Raw - 725: #725 - Are We Saved By Reciting the Words of a Magical Prayer?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Are we saved by simply reciting the words of some magical prayer? I addressed this question in this teaser episode of a Patreon-only podcast. If you want to listen to the fuller length version, the full version of this podcast, you can go to patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw. That's patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw. And you can support the show for as little as five bucks a month. Get access to this episode and other premium content like it but for now let's see what i say about this tough question so I completely agree with you.

Starting point is 00:00:49 We're not saved by saying some magical prayer. We're not saved by noises, certain kinds of noises coming out of our mouth. We're not even saved by repeating the words that somebody tells us to repeat. saved by repeating the words that somebody tells us to repeat. And this gets into the weeds of the relationship between faith and works and obedience and justification or justification and sanctification. And I think Scripture is a lot messier on those questions than people realize. I mean, we're saved by, you know, just the classic example of Romans 3 and James 2. Paul says we're saved by faith and not by works. And then James says we're

Starting point is 00:01:32 saved by works and not by faith alone. Like almost a direct like difference there. And I think they are actually two sides of the same coin. When we confess Jesus, God doesn't look at how good we've been up until that point and say, well, you're still not good enough. Why don't you come back in a few weeks? And, you know, once you've piled on a few more, you know, good deeds, then your faith will be valid. Kind of, you know, that's not, that's, that's what Paul's kind of combating. James is combating this pseudo, this kind of confession that has no obedience following it. That if you say you have faith, but no works and your faith is actually not faith. It's simply a vanilla verbal confession that wasn't actually somebody giving their allegiance to Jesus Christ.

Starting point is 00:02:18 So honestly, at the end of the day, I think, you know, how are you saved? You're saved by following Jesus. You're saved by believing in Jesus. You're saved by believing in Jesus. You're saved by confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior. I do believe in this, the thing we used to debate back in the 80s of lordship salvation. Like, I do think that when you confess Jesus as Lord, that's not just reciting some prayer. It's not just verbalizing some commitment. It is saying, you are my Lord. I'm giving my life to you, which means I am going to live for you. And so that salvation should work itself out.

Starting point is 00:02:53 This is why the Bible talks about us being saved, that we have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. There's a past, present, and future aspect to our salvation. Doesn't mean we work for our salvation, but genuine salvation will issue in obedience because salvation is giving your allegiance to Jesus. I actually had more to say about that question, and I went into more details about faith and works and some complicated theological issues surrounding that important question. If you want to unlock the full-length episode of this podcast, of this podcast episode, you can go to patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw, support the show, do a good deed, and you get access to other premium content like this full-length episode.

Theology in the Raw - 725: #725 - Are We Saved By Reciting the Words of a Magical Prayer?

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