If you are still a slave to sin, you are not a servant of Christ.

Romans 6:16  “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”

You cannot free yourself, or even purchase your freedom. You must be made free by Christ, purchased by his blood.

 Romans 6:18  “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”

 Romans 6:13  “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”

2 Corinthians 5:17  “Therefore if ANY man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Are you a new creature? Is your life dramatically different than it was before you were saved? Have your heart and desires been changed?  Can you honestly say that you have been made free? Have you come from darkness to light? Has your old self been crucified with Christ?

Some might say, “Well, I grew up in Church, so my life isn’t much different.” Or, “I was always pretty good, so I didn’t really need to repent.”

The bible tells us that if ANY man be in Christ he will be a new creature, NOT just the really bad ones! We are ALL unrighteous sinners, dead in sins and trespasses. When the Holy Spirit brings us to new life and comes to live within our hearts, there WILL be a change! 

If you have always been good and there is no change, then you are NOT saved. Why would you even need a Savior if you were not a sinner? What would you need to be saved from? Jesus came to call SINNERS to repentance, NOT the righteous (self-righteous).

Matthew 9:12  “But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.13  But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Only when you see your sin the way God sees it and are broken and contrite before him, recognizing your well-deserved condemnation can you possibly see your need for a Savior.

There is NO salvation without repentance & No new life without change.

John 16:8  “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”

The Holy Ghost convicts the world of sin and righteousness & judgment. You can preach the gospel all day long to someone without conviction and it will only be foolishness to them.

1 Corinthians 1:18  “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;”

-Why? Because just as only they that are sick need a Physician, only they that are convicted of their sin and God’s judgment upon them see their need for a Savior.

-How does the Holy Spirit bring conviction of these things? Through teaching of God’s righteous rule and reign and by the preaching of the law.

Romans 7:7   “ Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”

Galatians 3:24  “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

Proponents of Easy believism/Prayerism usually preach merely the gospel facts (the death, burial & resurrection of Christ). They generally assume that a clear presentation of this basic message is sufficient effort to warrant leading someone through a prayer.

In the book of Acts however, we read of Paul reasoning and disputing in the synagogue for days at a time. In chapter 17 we see him preaching to the men of Athens. He did not simply give an ABC’s or 123’s gospel message; he preached to them the true identity of God, who he is, his hand in creation & his personal relationship & availability to men. He preached God’s righteous judgment and the coming resurrection as well as the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Then when some said, “we will hear you again”, and clung to him, he continued preaching to them. As a matter of fact, NEVER did he lead anyone through a prayer or pronounce them saved, even if they WERE convicted. Instead he simply instructed those who believed to be baptized. Shouldn’t we do the same?

Most Fundamental bible believing Christians would immediately refute the Pope’s, or anyone else’s claims to pronounce salvation (or damnation) upon anyone. They would quickly cite: 1 Timothy 2:5  “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”

They would also insist that biblical salvation is not obtained by works done by men. Ephesians 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

They would be absolutely right on both accounts, and yet when it comes to evangelism, they themselves claim that same power, pronouncing salvation upon any who follow after their own prescribed works (praying a prayer). Subverting the Holy Spirit, they instead call upon the power of man’s will for salvation. Assuring the unsaved that a decision is the same as faith, they immediately lead them through the ritual prayer and pronounce salvation based upon such.

Christians, have we now become the mediators of salvation, to be initiated upon our own direction? Salvation is not of the WILL (a decision) but of faith.

John 1:13  “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Can we ever know who has true faith? How can we make that determination for someone else, and then suggest that a simple prayer is their initiation into Christianity?

Titus 3:5  “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

No true salvation has ever been sealed by a prayer, but ONLY by the Holy Spirit of God.

2 Corinthians 1:22  Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Romans 8:9  “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

Many people today have been “saved” by saying a  prayer. They are told that if they simply pray and ask Jesus into their heart,  then they can rest assured that
they are indeed saved. They are often also told  that if they ever doubt their
salvation, they can look back to the day they said  that prayer and know that
they are saved.

I have to say that if you have to look back at a  prayer for assurance, it can
only mean that nothing else has changed enough to  convince you. There must be no change of life or change of mind- no fruit or  other evidence of the
indwelling Holy Spirit of Christ. It must mean that you  have not become a
creature, brought to newness of  life.

If a prayer  is all you have to hold onto then what an empty, meaningless salvation you must  have. Where is the abundant life? Or fullness of joy? 
Where is the peace of God which passeth all  understanding?  

If the only thing you have to show for it is a  prayer from a desperately wicked
heart that is deceitful beyond measure no  wonder so many doubt their salvation in Christ- they should. Obviously they have  only been “saved” by a prayer; because if they had been saved by Christ, they  would know it.

How sad that so many have been deceived. Don’t  trust in a prayer.

2 Corinthians 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye  be in the faith; prove
your own selves.

Philippians 2:12   work out your own salvation with  fear and trembling.

Matthew 7:22  Many will say to me in that day,  Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out  devils? and in thy name done manywonderful works? 23  And then will I profess  unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

In light of the  recent awakening to the errors of Easy Believism, many Evangelical Christians  are viewing   Lordship Salvation as a  more biblical alternative; but is this really an answer to the problem or just a  knee jerk response? Does Lordship salvation come any closer to hitting the mark,  or have we simply traded one error for 
 another?

Now more than in any  time before, we are witnessing the results of an Easy Believism gospel. We see  the grown-up children of the Awana generation who claim to have “said a prayer”  or “asked
Jesus into their hearts” and been saved as a child and yet have had no  change in their lives. They live as Practical Atheists, denying Christ in their  daily lives and yet claim His name as Christians. They drink, smoke, take the  name of the Lord in vain  never darken  the doors of a Church and yet say that they are saved and on their way to  heaven.

Many sincere Christians are asking why? How can this be? The evidence of  true salvation is shown by our surrender to Christ’s authority and in a changed life. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.“ 2 Corinthians 5:17    
 
Easy Believism removes the message of “repentance toward God” and offers simply “faith in  Christ” through a simple prayer,
without any recognition of our sinfulness or  guilt before our holy God. Lordship salvation adds surrender and a commitment to  make Jesus Lord, as a requirement for salvation. 

While it is good that  many have recognized that Easy Believism has oversimplified the gospel message  to the point of making it
basically a magic prayer, they have also erred  themselves in attempting instead, to de-simplify it by adding extra demands.  This has resulted in the trend toward Lordship Salvation. The reasoning is this: “If we make sure these  people really, really mean
the prayer that they say, or make a REAL commitment  to Christ, surrendering to His authority,  then surely they will be truly saved. 

Paul preached  “…repentance toward God, and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:21)  When asked, “What must I do to be saved?”, his answer was not, “Make Jesus Lord  of your life.”; it was simply, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt  be saved,”  (Acts  16:31)

We must not confuse  Justification with sanctification. Making Jesus Lord is not a condition of  salvation, but a result. When we recognize our sinful condition  and condemnation before God and turn to Christ our Savior for rescue, we believe in him and are saved. The one who redeems our soul becomes our Lord. We are saved because we believe in what he has done already on our behalf, dying on the cross to pay for our sins and rising again to bring us newness of life. We are not saved because we decide to commit to him and make him Lord. Salvation is all in what He has done, not in 
what we do. We cannot decide, or will or surrender ourselves to be saved. We can  only believe in what he has done. “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the  will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:13 
  
“But though we, or an  angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have  preached unto you, let him be
accursed.“ Galatians 1:8  The answer is not to  “add to or change the
gospel of Christ”, but to simply preach the true gospel of  Christ in Biblical terms.

“And they went out,  and preached that men should repent.”  Mark 6:12 
  
“He that believeth on  him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he  hath not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God.“  John 3:18  

 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and  that not of yourselves: it is the gift of  God:Not of works, lest
any man should boast.”  Ephesians 2:8&9