Christians: Salvation and "the sinner's prayer".....?

Question

Is everyone who has EVER said the sinner's prayer truly saved, even when there is no evidence of God working in his life?

Please provide scriptural references.

Answer 1

James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” The type of “belief” demons have can be compared to the intellectual assent made by those who “believe” in Jesus only in the fact that He exists. Many unbelievers say, “I believe in God,” or “I believe in Jesus,” or perhaps some might say, “I prayed a prayer and the preacher said I was saved.” The problem is in the understanding of the word believe. With true salvation comes genuine repentance and real life change. Second Corinthians 5:17 tells us that when we are in Christ, we are a “new creation.”

Answer 2

Absolutely not. And there is no 'sinner's prayer' in Scripture as defined by some fundamentalists.  

Answer 3

Of course not.

It requires faith in the heart to be saved, resulting in  confession (verbal expression) of faith in God.

Answer 4

NO... the so called sinners prayer does not make you saved. Repeating a rehearsed prayer is actually ridiculous. If I were to cheat on my wife and had my friend stand behind me and tell me everything I should say in my apology to her. That would not be genuine. And God doesnt want that either. He doesnt care about eloquent words or how wonderful you sound. Plead with Him, beg for mercy. Its from the heart, not someone else. Its not just admitting your a sinner. Its repenting and trusting in Christ to save you.

Answer 5

It is a heart issue, not what they say. Trust is the heart word for faith.

Psa 119:58 I intreated thy favour with [my] whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word.  

Psa 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:  

Pro 2:2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, [and] apply thine heart to understanding;  

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding

Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (also see verse 10)

Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:  

2Ti 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Hbr 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.  

Hbr 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.  

Answer 6

No-one is saved.

Answer 7

It should be a turning point, a decision to follow Christ. The act of repentance.

If there is no evidence, then it is emptiness.  Jesus gave the parable of the sower to demonstrate that it takes more than passivity to enter the kingdom of God.

Romans 8 says, For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Answer 8

This we will know for sure only in eternity.But I've said the sinners prayer many times before but never lived a life of faith in God.I never experienced a change until I was truly broken & repentant.I guess if a person says the sinner's prayer in true faith & honesty,he is truly saved.But the Bible also says that 'He who endures till the end shall be saved'.Check  Mathew 10: 22. " And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved."

It's not how we begin but how we end that matters!

Practicing righteousness,having faith with works (Book of James ),& 'working out our salvation with fear & trembling '( through daily surrender to God ) is an essential part of salvation.