Just say this little prayer.....

Is it really that easy? Just say this little prayer, called the sinner's prayer, and you get your ticket into eternity with God. Is that really all it takes? And once you say that little prayer and you have your ticket, can you live your life pretty much how you please without worrying about losing it? That is what I hear from most preachers today. It's called the OSAS or Once Saved Always Saved doctrine. Basically once you say that prayer and accept Jesus as your Savior, you are always saved and nothing can take that away from you.

My husband and I are reading through Revelation right now, doing a little bible study on our own. As we were reading this past week we came across some verses which caused us to pause and talk about the OSAS doctrine.

Revelation 2:25 - 28 (25) Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. (26) He who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; (27) and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; (28) and I will give him the morning star.

To be given all of these things a person needs to hold fast until Jesus comes. He needs to overcome and keep "MY" deeds. Since this is Jesus speaking, He is the "MY" here. He also says that this person who does these things will be given the morning star. If you look in the bible for references to the morning star (Revelation 22:16) you will find that the morning star is another name for Jesus Christ. So in order to have Christ, we must overcome and hold fast until He comes back for us. To me this says you need to do more than just say a simple prayer.

Revelation 3:5 states: He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

OK........so if Jesus says He will not erase a name that must mean that some names are going to be erased. And if a name is erased doesn't that mean that in order to be truly saved and spend eternity with Jesus that you have to do more than just say a simple prayer?

I am reading James right now. I read it through last week and realized that there is so much amazing information in it that I decided to read it again, and again. Then I decided that I'm going to read it every day for at least a month. Every time I read it I get something else from it.

Some things are jumping out at me. In James 2 he talks about Faith and Works. James 2:17 states, Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. Will dead faith get you into eternity with the Father? I don't think so.

James goes on to talk about Abraham and how Abraham showed his great faith by his works when he believed God and did what he was told to do with his son Isaac. James 2:24 states, You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. It seems pretty clear to me that to just say a simple sinners prayer is just not enough. There has to be something else.

The book of James is full of wisdom on how to live life according to God's will so that your deeds will be an outward showing of your faith. Faith is not a religious act of going to church and praying at the dinner table. Faith is living your life for Christ, not yourself.

Kathe