Beyond the Sinner's Prayer

David P. Gushee has written an outstanding article re-examining the "easy believism" inherent in "Sinner's Prayer" Christianity. Mr. Gushee comes from a tradition that stresses "Believe in Jesus, and you will be saved." He finds something else, however when he actually looks at the NT:

But Jesus never taught easy believism. Whether he was telling the rich young ruler to sell all and follow him or telling a miracle-hungry crowd near Capernaum that to do the work of God was, yes, to believe on him (John 6:28-29), he called people to abandon their own agenda and trust him radically. Radical trust calls for both belief and action.

I suggest that we tend to confuse the beginning of the faith journey with its entirety. Yes, believe in Jesus—that's the first step. Yes, invite Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior. Then, empowered by God's grace, embark on the journey of discipleship, in which you seek to love God with every fiber of your being, to love your neighbor as yourself, to live out

Please read the whole thing (HT: DashHouse.com).