How "Not" To Be Forgiven Part 1: Believe And Say A Sinner's Prayer

As I have already stated in previous posts the one and only term or requirement for you to be forgiven is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 

"The precise instant when a person is saved (granted eternal life with God in heaven) is when in that nanosecond of time he genuinely decides (act of will) to trust only in Jesus Christ and what Christ has done on the cross and in nothing or no one else".  —Lewis Sperry Chafer, D.D., Litt.D., Th.D., late Founder, President and Professor of Systematic Theology, Dallas Theological Seminary

Unfortunately, fallen man has an innate desire to add to the simple plan of God for our salvation and forgiveness. One of those unfortunate additions is a demand by many for a lost seeker to say a "sinner's prayer". The first reason that I would give you as to why this sinner's prayer is not required is because it is simply not found in the Bible. Remember the Philippian jailer? He asked Paul "what must I do to be saved?" and what did Paul say? Did he say "pray the sinner's prayer"? No! He said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The second reason I would give is that demanding someone say a prayer is implying that God is not propitious (willing to save). God is very willing, even anxious to save and forgive.

"Men are not saved by asking God to be good, or merciful, or propitious; they are saved when they believe God has been good and merciful enough to provide a propitiating Savior.  The sinner is saved, not because he prevails on God to withhold from him the blow of judgment that is due him for his sin, but because he believes that that blow has fallen on his Substitute." --L.S. Chafer

Many people have prayed a sinner's prayer but they are saved and forgiven because they believed not because they said a prayer. Do you need God's forgiveness? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ!

Can One Be Saved Without Prayer?

In the Bible there are many cases of sinners who prayed like the thief on the cross or the publican in the Temple. In fact, Romans 10:13 says:

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Many people believe that a sinner cannot be saved without a period of prayer, without consciously calling on God. However, the Bible does not say that a sinner must pray in order to be saved. In fact, immediately following the verse in Romans 10:13 is an explanation which shows that calling on God is an evidence of faith in the heart and that it is really faith which settles the matter. Read it again.

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?"—Romans 10:13,14.

The Lord encourages the sinner to pray, and the Lord hears and answers the sinner's prayer if that sinner trusts in Jesus Christ for salvation when he prays. He heard the prayer of the thief on the cross, of the publican in the Temple, of blind Bartimaeus. But the Scripture says, "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?"
Certainly every one who is to be saved must believe. Prayer is evidence of faith. No matter how long one prays, if he does not trust in Christ, he can never be saved. If he trusts in Christ without conscious prayer, then he is saved already. There is just one plan of salvation and just one step a sinner must take to secure it. That step is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ!
Some way we preachers have left the impression on this poor world of sinners that God is hardhearted and that it takes many tears and loud cries and long periods of sorrow before He will hear and save the sinner. We have left the impression that God does not care whether sinners are saved or not, and that sinners must some way touch the heart of God and get Him ready to forgive. What a slander on a good and holy God who "so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Man's sins are already paid for, God's wrath is already turned away from any sinner who wants to be saved. Both the Father and the Son are a million times more anxious to save every sinner than the sinner can be to get saved! Thank God, I do not have to beg God to forgive my sins. He will do it the minute I am willing to trust it with Him. -- Dr. John R. Rice, What Must I Do To Be Saved?