I have a question I've heard these things from churches and clergy does anyone hear anything else.

[john1]

If you say a certain prayer your saved, if you try not to sin your righteous, if you have a priest forgive your sins your forgiven, has anyone heard anything else.

[Vine Abider]

15 minutes ago, john1 said:

If you say a certain prayer your saved, if you try not to sin your righteous, if you have a priest forgive your sins your forgiven, has anyone heard anything else.

This is an ambiguous question to me - can you elaborate more about what you are getting at?

[The_Patriot21]

A prayer doesn't save you.

Baptism doesn't save you.

A priest can't save you. 

Only faith in Jesus can save you, because it is only by His grace you are saved.

[john1]

13 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

what you are getting at?

Those are the three things I've heard, in all the years I've gone to church.

[Vine Abider]

4 minutes ago, john1 said:

Those are the three things I've heard, in all the years I've gone to church.

Okay, thanks. So what Patriot says below is true. It's not about a prayer or an act or a person of position - it's about believing (trusting; having faith) in Jesus Christ alone.

Now these things may be a manifestation of that saving faith in Christ, but just in and of themselves, they are essentually nothing.

Does that get at answering your question?

17 minutes ago, The_Patriot21 said:

A prayer doesn't save you.

Baptism doesn't save you.

A priest can't save you. 

Only faith in Jesus can save you, because it is only by His grace you are saved.

 

[other one]

2 hours ago, john1 said:

If you say a certain prayer your saved, if you try not to sin your righteous, if you have a priest forgive your sins your forgiven, has anyone heard anything else.

as for the prayer I would say no saying a certain prayer to be saved....   however it would depend on what the prayer is and if it was public or private.   Asking Jesus to come into your heart is pretty short in attaining salvation depending on what you mean by that.    The book to the Romans tells us that we should believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, and we must confess publicly that Jesus is your Lord.   Of course you must really mean it.

Once you make that commitment, Jesus being your Lord means that we must do what he has told us to do.  Be baptized, Love God and Love our neighbor.   That confession for his lordship is not as simple as some make it sound.

Baptism has been mentioned and I would agree that baptism does not save a person, but a saved person should be baptized.  Why?   Because Jesus did and told us to.    It is not our righteousness that makes us acceptable to the Father, it is Jesus's.   If we believe and follow him as Lord, it is his him that makes us ok.

Only Jesus can forgive sin, not any priest.  Actually you don't need a priest to interface with the Lord, Father or Spirit, you can just do it yourself once you are born again through the salvation process. For forgiveness one just has to repent, pray for forgiveness and don't do it again.

I attend a Nazarene Church and what we believe is once a person is saved and has an interface with the Holy Spirit we are to attempt a sinless/sanctified life.

Once you have the Holy Spirit, I don't think anyone is going to make you lead a sinful life.   To discuss that we would have to decide what sin is.

 

[FJK]

Your salvation comes from your heart, not your words.

If your words do not reflect what is in your heart you are not going to find salvation through them.

 

[Mr. M]

5 hours ago, john1 said:

If you say a certain prayer your saved, if you try not to sin your righteous, if you have a priest forgive your sins your forgiven, has anyone heard anything else.

Here are some verses for you consider, both for your salvation

by way of your confession of faith, and your walk of faith as well.

Romans 10:

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” 

(that is, the word of faith which we preach): 

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart

that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 

10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth

confession is made unto salvation. 

What you can see from v. 9, the resurrection is a vital element to faith. I have

had people contend with me on this, that believing and confessing Jesus Christ

as Lord and Savior is all that is necessary to salvation.

1 Corinthians 12:3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by

the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord

except by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is undoubtedly the Christ, and Savior. For you to serve Him as Lord, you

must be born again, and abide in His Spirit. But most importantly who He is,

that is the Son of God.

John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

2 Peter 1:

16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you

the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 

17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came

to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 

18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

This was Paul's first major revelation once he knew that Jesus was the Christ.

Acts 9:

20 Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

21 Then all who heard were amazed, and said, Is this not he who destroyed those who

called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might

bring them bound to the chief priests?

22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in

Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

It is also no small matter that this was the reason for his death sentence.

John 19:7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and according to our law

He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.

[com7fy8]

12 hours ago, john1 said:

If you say a certain prayer your saved, if you try not to sin your righteous, if you have a priest forgive your sins your forgiven, has anyone heard anything else.

If you pray and trust in Jesus, this works. Ephesians 1:12 says "we who first trusted in Christ". I think this includes submitting to God and not trying to get our own selves to do what He wants.

And yes this includes confessing Jesus as our Lord with our mouths, and believing God raised Jesus from the dead. This is in Romans chapter 10.

But note how Paul says this only after the nine chapters before this! We need to read and feed on the whole message so we know who Paul means Jesus is, plus all he says God desires to do with us if we trust in Jesus.

And finish this letter to the Romans, therefore. God bless you to.

And we help one another with all that is our Father's will. He includes us as His family.

And so - - no . . . some priest you do not even know well is not enough! We need mature "examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:3) whom we know personally so we can feed on their example and they can know us personally and help us along, with us sharing together as family.

[Neighbor]

About "special" prayer: From practical experience;

Zola Levitt stated his prayer was "Show me, if you are there show me." And God the Holy Spirit turned him about right then.

 My own prayer was, "If that is true I want it." And the Holy Spirit turned me about right then.

What there is in common is not a prayer so much as an awakening that was not there before the Holy Spirit turns each of us that are specifically called through the Holy Spirit to be turned  about to see Jesus is our Lord. Then all changes in one's life. Has little or nothing to do with a particular church, a special prayer nor any priest nor pastor/shepherd. It is all of God, at God's good timing and pleasure.

It is a one on one experience with God alone.