A common question found in our religious world is, “Do you know the Lord as your personal Savior?” It is true that Jesus is Lord and that He is the One who saves us personally, but few have thought what it means to know the Lord.
When the question is asked and a negative response is made, then that person is told to repeat a prayer that is not found even one time in the Bible. It has various forms but begins with an acknowledging of one’s sinfulness and then asking Jesus to come into their hearts and save them. It is so ironic that this scenario is not found a single time in the entire Bible. The person is then told you are now saved and urged to follow Jesus.
What is found in the Bible is sinners being convicted of their sins and asking what they should do in order to be saved. Surely God put these stories in the Bible so that those who have arrived at the point of realizing they are lost and guilty of sins could find out what they must do. Read the book of Acts to see how God led men who did not know what to do to be saved to find their Savior. The contrast between the twenty-first century and the first century answer is so remarkable. God’s answer to the question of salvation has not changed. The sinner’s prayer did not come from God!
The very first time anyone was saved after Jesus shed His blood to save them was on Pentecost, recorded in Acts chapter two. The preaching on that day convicted the hearts of many that they had crucified the Son of God. Their hearts cried out, “What shall we do?” The answer is found in verse thirty-eight, and it is not the sinner’s prayer.
Paul killed many Christians before he was saved. When convicted of his sin he asked the Lord, “What do you want me to do?” (Acts 9:6). Jesus told him that he would learn the answer when he went into the city. He was lost. He knew it. He wanted to be saved. He wanted the Lord to personally save him. Read Acts 22:16 to see God’s plan of salvation. It was not, “Repeat this prayer after me.” The sinner’s prayer did not come from God.
Read the following description of how we can know that we know Him and know the Lord. “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him’ and does not keep His commandments is a liar; and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4).
How can one know that Jesus is his personal Savior? It is not because he says a prayer never found in the Bible. It is because he has made Jesus his Lord and obeys Him. You can be saved. You can know that you are saved. You can know that you know you are saved. Let Jesus, not man, tell you how.