Accepting Jesus as "Personal Lord and Savior"?

[victrolatim]

I have a friend who has been learning about Christianity and reading the scriptures for some months. He has no prior religious background. Much as I would like for him to be growing in the Catholic church he has been going to his girlfriend’s evangelical megachurch. This past weekend he was very happy to tell us that he had “accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior.” We were happy that he felt this confident in his understanding of Christ, but I’m curious from a Catholic perspective what that statement actually means to protestants. Does that mean he is baptized or is it like some type of protestant version of consecrating one’s life to Christ? If so, how much further does he go until he gets an official baptism into the Christian faith?

 

[Kliska]

I have a friend who has been learning about Christianity and reading the scriptures for some months. He has no prior religious background. Much as I would like for him to be growing in the Catholic church he has been going to his girlfriend’s evangelical megachurch. This past weekend he was very happy to tell us that he had “accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior.” We were happy that he felt this confident in his understanding of Christ, but I’m curious from a Catholic perspective what that statement actually means to protestants. Does that mean he is baptized or is it like some type of protestant version of consecrating one’s life to Christ? If so, how much further does he go until he gets an official baptism into the Christian faith?

Well, from a non-Catholic perspective that means hopefully that he’s “bent the knee” to Christ, so to speak, and recognizes Who Jesus is and what He has done, and he’s committed to following Him. If so, it shouldn’t be too long before he’s baptized (if it’s a mainstream church that teaches and offers baptism), and if done with water with the Trinitarian formula, then he would also be recognized as baptized in the Catholic Church.

Catholics and some protestants would not say he is “saved” at this point, some protestants would.

 

[Lenten_ashes]

You could say the person has had what we would call the “baptism of desire”.

Non Catholics would describe it as a come to Jesus moment.

As Kliska said, he should respond soon with water baptism.

Most protestant Churches have valid baptism.

Anytime someone comes to Jesus, this is a good thing.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

For many megachurches of nondenominational flavor, this is likely all he’s been told is necessary for salvation, so baptism may even be discouraged by that group. Some do not value any physical action or sign but believe everything is to be an internal and emotional experience.

 

[USMC_Convert]

While he certainly has a long road to travel and I hope he comes to the fullness of truth in the Catholic Church; However, he now has something many Catholics are lacking.

A personal relationship is needed with our Lord and Savior! Protestants are correct about this, now that’s the beginning but unfortunately many Catholics have the rest but are missing the beginning! Good for him, be there for him, pray for him, help him and hopefully he will come to the Church.

If not, don’t worry, everyone in heaven is Catholic so he will convert eventually!!!

 

[lanman87]

It means that it has been explained to him that his sin separates him from God and that the only way to receive forgiveness of sins and be reconciled to God is through faith in Jesus Christ. This is usually explained as the need to believe/trust in Jesus, confess that he is a sinner, repent from habitual sins he may be partaking in, make a pubic profession of faith (that is the Savior part) and to live for Christ from that moment forward (that is the Lord part).

If someones says that they understand and want to make Jesus Lord and Savior they are asked to say a short prayer asking God for Forgiveness and thanking Him for the gift of eternal life. At at point they are considered a new believer in Christ and a fellow Christian and is a candidate for baptism.

Hopefully the church he is attending will have a good new member program that teaches basic Christian doctrine to new believers and helps him grow in his faith. Sometimes someone will “Make Jesus Lord and Savior” due to peer pressure or an emotional response. Most churches recognize that fact and make every effort to make sure his “conversion” is sincere.

Different churches differ on how the schedule baptism. Some have special days set aside every quarter for water baptism and some work with the new believer to find a date so his family and friends can attend.

The typical baptism will go something like this:

The new believer will be introduced by the Pastor or Elder and enter the baptismal pool.
Sometimes the new believer will give a short testimony of how they came to faith in Christ.
The pastor will ask the new believer something along the lines of “Do you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and is now your Lord and Savior”? The new believer will say “I Do” or “Yes”
The pastor will then say “Then I baptize you my brother in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit” then immerse him under the water, then while pulling him up out of the water some will say “We are buried with Christ in baptism and raised to walk in newness of life”
At that point the congregation usually applauds.

 

[Brassring]

As a former protestant of many backgrounds, I’ll say it can have many meanings. In most protestant doctrines, “accepting Christ” means making a public profession of faith in the Lord Jesus as the Way of salvation and the Son of God (of the triune nature), and making a commitment to grow in faith and do one’s best to live a Christian life.

There are some, though, where it can mean “I said a magic prayer and now I’ve got my get-out-of-hell-free card”.

 

[Wannano]

As a former protestant of many backgrounds, I’ll say it can have many meanings. In most protestant doctrines, “accepting Christ” means making a public profession of faith in the Lord Jesus as the Way of salvation and the Son of God (of the triune nature), and making a commitment to grow in faith and do one’s best to live a Christian life.

There are some, though, where it can mean “I said a magic prayer and now I’ve got my get-out-of-hell-free card”.

I have never heard of the magic prayer that gets you a get out of hell card. I doubt that is real…or are you referring to “Father forgive me, for I have sinned?”

 

[Brassring]

I have never heard of the magic prayer that gets you a get out of hell card. I doubt that is real…or are you referring to “Father forgive me, for I have sinned?”

Of course it’s not real. That doesn’t mean there aren’t those that believe in it. There are a lot of smaller congregations that believe that once a person says the “sinner’s prayer”, that person is “saved” forever, without regard to intent or future actions.

These are usually small, one or two congregation breakaway sects without formally trained or educated clergy. But, there are a disturbing number of those around.

 

[Wannano]

Of course it’s not real. That doesn’t mean there aren’t those that believe in it. There are a lot of smaller congregations that believe that once a person says the “sinner’s prayer”, that person is “saved” forever, without regard to intent or future actions.

These are usually small, one or two congregation breakaway sects without formally trained or educated clergy. But, there are a disturbing number of those around.

Don’t let it disturb you too much.

 

[Brassring]

Don’t let it disturb you too much.

 

[Graceful_Lamb]

As a former protestant of many backgrounds, I’ll say it can have many meanings. In most protestant doctrines, “accepting Christ” means making a public profession of faith in the Lord Jesus as the Way of salvation and the Son of God (of the triune nature), and making a commitment to grow in faith and do one’s best to live a Christian life.

There are some, though, where it can mean “I said a magic prayer and now I’ve got my get-out-of-hell-free card”.

I agree. As a former Protestant, accepting Jesus into one’s life as their Savior, is usually good enough for salvation, in some Protestant circles. While that is good, the fullness of the Catholic Church requires more than just that, and that’s what a lot of Protestants and others may not understand.

 

[ltwin]

To victrolatim’s question, the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 10:9-17:

. . .** if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.** 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

“Accepting Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior” to an evangelical Protestant refers to a definite moment in time in which that person came to faith in Christ. Faith is in itself a gift of God, given to man by the Holy Spirit and the hearing of the word (i.e. the preaching of the Good News).

Faith leads us to believe in our hearts that Jesus is God and Lord and that in Him we have forgiveness of sins. Belief is not the same as knowing. You can know that Jesus is God, yet refuse to serve Him and live for Him as the Lord of your life. Believing with all of our hearts that Christ is Lord and Savior means that our hearts literally become His throne. He takes residence in us, living inside of us so that our bodies become His temple. Because He is our Lord, we obey Him–repenting of our sin and loving others as Christ would love them.

By faith, we are justified and regenerated. The moment we place our faith in Christ, we become new creations. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” This is the promise of the New Covenant as anticipated by Ezekiel 36:26–27:

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

The word “personal” is added to emphasize that believing in Christ is not something you do once. It is something you continue to do for the rest of your life. If you believe in Christ you will obey Christ and love what He loves and hates what He hates and grieve over what He grieves over and rejoice in what He rejoices in. As you walk with Christ, you come to know Him ever deeper and you draw closer to His ways.

Baptism symbolizes this new birth and regeneration, and many evangelicals would say that as an act of faith and obedience to Christ baptism strengthens one’s relationship with Christ. However, baptism is not what makes one a Christian. Faith in Christ, believing in Christ, and confessing Christ publicly is what makes someone a Christian.

Baptism should be performed soon after one gives His life to Christ, but even if the person is not able to be baptized, if he truly has faith he is already a member of Christ’s church.

Some churches will baptize anyone who makes a profession of faith as soon as its possible to do so. Some churches want professed Christians to first take a class for new believers before they are baptized. It depends on the specific church.

 

[Cathoholic]

Itwin. You correctly pointed out (emphasis mine) . . .

if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord AND believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

But are you saying that you HAVE TO confess Christ with your mouth? (I’m not disagreeing with this by the way. But victrolatim COULD have this used against him (her?) if other verses dealing with salvation are ignored by a false universalizing and selective affirmation of this verse).

And if you HAVE TO confess Christ with your mouth, can it be a one time event, or must you KEEP confessing Christ with your mouth.

And if you HAVE TO confess Christ with your mouth, what other “works” are necessary in how you are putting forth this salvation formula?

God bless.

Cathoholic

 

[Reuben_J]

The typical baptism will go something like this:

The new believer will be introduced by the Pastor or Elder and enter the baptismal pool.
Sometimes the new believer will give a short testimony of how they came to faith in Christ.
The pastor will ask the new believer something along the lines of “Do you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and is now your Lord and Savior”? The new believer will say “I Do” or “Yes”
The pastor will then say “Then I baptize you my brother in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit” then immerse him under the water, then while pulling him up out of the water some will say “We are buried with Christ in baptism and raised to walk in newness of life”
At that point the congregation usually applauds.

Does the pastor also include question like, “Do you reject Satan? And all his work?” Just asking.

 

[Church_Militant]

I have a friend who has been learning about Christianity and reading the scriptures for some months. He has no prior religious background. Much as I would like for him to be growing in the Catholic church he has been going to his girlfriend’s evangelical megachurch. This past weekend he was very happy to tell us that he had “accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior.” We were happy that he felt this confident in his understanding of Christ, but I’m curious from a Catholic perspective what that statement actually means to protestants. Does that mean he is baptized or is it like some type of protestant version of consecrating one’s life to Christ? If so, how much further does he go until he gets an official baptism into the Christian faith?

Most n-Cs will consider him a “saved” Christian from this point on and some will encourage him to be baptized but it is generally a mere ordnance and not a sacrament in spite of St. Paul’s experience in Acts 22:16 which plainly says, ***"***Now, why delay? Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling upon his name.’ "

I have a couple of blog posts that may be relevant and helpful.

Who REALLY Preaches “A Different Gospel”?

How Is A Catholic Saved?

 

[Church_Militant]

Does the pastor also include question like, “Do you reject Satan? And all his work?” Just asking.

Nope! In all my days among them I have never seen or heard anything like our baptismal promises.

 

[ltwin]

But are you saying that you HAVE TO confess Christ with your mouth? (I’m not disagreeing with this by the way. But victrolatim COULD have this used against him (her?) if other verses dealing with salvation are ignored by a false universalizing and selective affirmation of this verse).

What is generally meant by confessing with your mouth is professing to follow Christ–to publicly identify as a disciple of Christ. We certainly don’t take this verse in the literal sense that every word out of your mouth for the rest of your life has to be “Jesus is Lord” but you should live your life publicly in such a way that you witness to Christ being Lord and if asked you do not deny that you follow Christ. Jesus said we should not be ashamed of him.

More later. Have to go.

 

[Lenten_ashes]

Nope! In all my days among them I have never seen or heard anything like our baptismal promises.

I was baptized Anglican.

They have them and they seem fairly identical

 

[Lenten_ashes]

What is generally meant by confessing with your mouth is professing to follow Christ–to publicly identify as a disciple of Christ. We certainly don’t take this verse in the literal sense that every word out of your mouth for the rest of your life has to be “Jesus is Lord” but you should live your life publicly in such a way that you witness to Christ being Lord and if asked you do not deny that you follow Christ. Jesus said we should not be ashamed of him.

More later. Have to go.

Would you agree that heartfully reciting the Nicene Creed is confessing Jesus as Lord?