Catholic believe we don't NEED to say a sinner's prayer to be saved, correct?

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Hi,

Catholic believe we don’t NEED to say a sinner’s prayer to be saved, correct? Although, we do profess faith with the Nicene or Apostle’s creed every Mass.

Merry Christ-mas,
Brian
 
No, we do not need to say a sinner’s prayer. In fact, I thought that the sinner’s prayer was Protestant.

Salvation as a Catholic is complicated, but it is the road Jesus called us to walk and we listen to Him. One does not reach salvation by saying one prayer.
 
GodHeals said:
Hi,

Catholic believe we don’t NEED to say a sinner’s prayer to be saved, correct? Although, we do profess faith with the Nicene or Apostle’s creed every Mass.

Merry Christ-mas,
Brian
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What is a sinner’s prayer?

To be honest, I am a sinner, and I pray. So technically everything is a sinner’s prayer…right?

But in all seriousness, I have no idea what that is.

As Catholics, we believe that no one is “saved” once and then that’s the end of it. We believe that we are “being saved” each and every day as we continue to strive to further our faith in Jesus Christ through the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church. Our salvation is a PROCESS that we WORK toward with “fear and trembling” by obeying the precepts of the Roman Catholic Church and the words of our Lord.

We know, of course, that the first step to salvation for any person is to be baptized in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in order to have original sin forgiven.
The next logical step is to be confirmed in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church and then subsequently furthering and deepening the faith that one has received in Jesus Christ at every opportunity.

What is wonderful about salvation from a Catholic perspective vs. a protestant perspective (generally speaking of course), is that the protestants, more-or-less, are waiting on earth. What I mean by this is that they do not have an active role in their own salvation. They simply hold a belief that Jesus is God and their personal savior and use the Bible as a sort-of guide book that they are free to interpret within reason. After that, they are saved as long as they do not decide to reject the fact that Jesus is God or live in a way that most people would agree is immoral. They rely heavily on feelings and emotions to try and be close to God. This is very different from what we, as Catholics, believe. We are actively participating in our own salvation. We get to literally eat the flesh of God. We get to be in His actual presence each and every day that we want and are obligated to be in His presence on Sundays. We are not simply accepting the fact that Jesus is God and our Savior and then being done with it. We have to DO things every day to be saved when we come to death.

Our faith is beautiful because it a PHYSICAL and ACTING religion. It is real, it is tangible, and it is a process that will last our entire lives. We get to experience God in physical reality every single week.

God bless you.
 
Not true.

I’ve read official Catholic documents that attest to need for sinners prayer, and call by same language as Protestants.
Think about it … each time we Catholics confess, we confess to Father thru Christ… acknowledging our sins and need for mercy/forgiveness !! We believe a SINNERS PRAYER is not a ‘one and done’ event …but, one we should frequently express to our Lord, knowing we continue to sin on daily basis.
 
brb3 said:
Not true.

I’ve read official Catholic documents that attest to need for sinners prayer, and call by same language as Protestants.
Think about it … each time we Catholics confess, we confess to Father thru Christ… acknowledging our sins and need for mercy/forgiveness !! We believe a SINNERS PRAYER is not a ‘one and done’ event …but, one we should frequently express to our Lord, knowing we continue to sin on daily basis.
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I’ve never read of Catholic using the sinner’s prayer, instead using the Act of Contrition and Protestants (of a few different denominations) using the sinner’s prayer. May I read where you read that the sinner’s prayer should be used by Catholics? Thank you.
 
I say the “Sinner’s Prayer” of the Desert Fathers many times during the day and night. It’s like breathing in and out for me.

Domine Iesu Christe, Fili Dei, miserere mei, peccatoris. (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.)

I am being saved.
 
As an 8 to 12 year old one of the heaviest considerations of why I concluded that Catholicism was the Church preferred by God was the humility in which we stand with the Lord compared to many of the Protestants. We must constantly repent and seek forgiveness for our continually sinful ways.

Thus we start each mass with a Penitential Act, this is Form A:
Priest: The Lord be with you.
People: And with your spirit.
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I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and Sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
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Yet this is only the beginning.

The sinners prayer is a Protestant formulation to claim the opposite, that one prayer of conversion even makes baptism a mere formality, the mass only a symbol, and their church only a call of reminder that you’ve had everything done for you by God at that one prayer and growth beyond that has an eternity to be fostered.
 
brb3 said:
Not true.

I’ve read official Catholic documents that attest to need for sinners prayer, and call by same language as Protestants.
Think about it … each time we Catholics confess, we confess to Father thru Christ… acknowledging our sins and need for mercy/forgiveness !! We believe a SINNERS PRAYER is not a ‘one and done’ event …but, one we should frequently express to our Lord, knowing we continue to sin on daily basis.
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The question was whether or not we had to say a sinner’s prayer to be saved. I said, in more words of course, that there is not ONE thing that makes us “saved” as Catholics. What do you mean that is not true? I never said that we do not confess our sins. I said that I had never heard of a “sinner’s” prayer.

And I would be tempted to ask you which official documents that you speak of.
 
piejesu said:
I say the “Sinner’s Prayer” of the Desert Fathers many times during the day and night. It’s like breathing in and out for me.

Domine Iesu Christe, Fili Dei, miserere mei, peccatoris. (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.)

I am being saved.
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Yes u are … beautiful example / testimony provided !!
 
KLJM12 said:
The question was whether or not we had to say a sinner’s prayer to be saved. I said, in more words of course, that there is not ONE thing that makes us “saved” as Catholics. What do you mean that is not true? I never said that we do not confess our sins. I said that I had never heard of a “sinner’s” prayer.

And I would be tempted to ask you which official documents that you speak of.
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Let me try to recall that source …it was several months back …off top of my head, I think it was a quote of a widely known ECF … in official Vatican documents.
 
You can understand a sinners prayer clearer by understanding the true value of prayer while in a state of grace/communion with Jesus.

So the question is phrased incorrectly. All pray has meaning in that its communication with God…
 
wmw said:
As an 8 to 12 year old one of the heaviest considerations of why I concluded that Catholicism was the Church preferred by God was the humility in which we stand with the Lord compared to many of the Protestants. We must constantly repent and seek forgiveness for our continually sinful ways.

Thus we start each mass with a Penitential Act, this is Form A:

Yet this is only the beginning.

The sinners prayer is a Protestant formulation to claim the opposite, that one prayer of conversion even makes baptism a mere formality, the mass only a symbol, and their church only a call of reminder that you’ve had everything done for you by God at that one prayer and growth beyond that has an eternity to be fostered.
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Another excellent example … the Penitential Act, a group prayer …which if believed and internalized…renders us FULLY GRACED, and ready to receive Christ in Eucharist Meal !!!
 
The sinner’s prayer used during the altar call in Protestant circles is usually some variation of these words-
“Heavenly Father, I know that I am a sinner and that I deserve to go to hell. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. I do now receive him as my Lord and personal Savior. I promise to serve you to the best of my ability. Please save me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Say the words and you are now saved once and for all times.

As noted by previous posters, as Catholics we believe salvation is a process begun at baptism, worked on by God’s grace throughout our lives, and hoped for at our death. As Jesus said in Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved”.

I try to fight the good fight everyday to persevere, and above all trust in God.
 
Concerning a Sinners prayer.
I would just say that for an adult wishing to turn away from a sinful life the Church teaches that we must respond to God’s actual grace, repent of all sin , and accept the redemption Christ bought for us with His Blood.
We are then to be Baptized and Justification is conferred at that time,
And our souls are infused by the Holy Spirit with sanctifying grace.
Then the process of holiness begins and that process is life long.

Stay tuned to Catholic Answers to find out what all that process involves from beginning to end.;)😃
 
brb3 said:
Another excellent example … the Penitential Act, a group prayer …which if believed and internalized…renders us FULLY GRACED, and ready to receive Christ in Eucharist Meal !!!
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You are ready to receive Christ anyway, unless you are in mortal sin, which means that the confiteor will NOT put you in a state of grace.
 
brb3 said:
Another excellent example … the Penitential Act, a group prayer …which if believed and internalized…renders us FULLY GRACED, and ready to receive Christ in Eucharist Meal !!!
Click to expand...
I don’t think anyone’s saying that Catholics never express sorrow for our sins and ask for God’s grace. As you point out, we even have formal prayers for expressing contrition. We probably express the core of the “sinner’s prayer” concept in every Mass and every Confession, if not more often.

It’s true, though, that we don’t look on such things in the same way that (some) Protestants do with their idea of the “sinner’s prayer,” nor do we usually call it that. Ultimately, it’s probably more of a cultural than a theological difference.

In Catholic thinking, if you’re going to point to the specific time you “became a Christian,” you’d point to your baptism. Repentance and trusting in God’s grace and the fruits of Jesus’ sacrifice are always involved in an active Christian life, either before baptism in the case of adult catechumens or after in the case of those baptized as infants, but we don’t really have the idea of a specific moment in time when we “got saved” by praying for the Lord’s mercy and the fruits of the Redemption to be applied to us.

Usagi
 
piejesu said:
I say the “Sinner’s Prayer” of the Desert Fathers many times during the day and night. It’s like breathing in and out for me.

Domine Iesu Christe, Fili Dei, miserere mei, peccatoris. (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.)

I am being saved.
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I actually have this on the back of my car for people to read in BIG BLACK LETTERS! I think this is similar to the sinners prayer, but it is actually called THE JESUS PRAYER.

Not sure Catholics say it much, but the Orthodox do. I don’t think it is a problem for Catholics to say, right?
 
Usagi said:
we don’t really have the idea of a specific moment in time when we “got saved” by praying for the Lord’s mercy and the fruits of the Redemption to be applied to us.
Usagi
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Wouldn’t infant baptism be that moment of the beginning of salvation for some?

And wouldn’t repenting and trusting in Jesus for salvation as an adult and then being baptized be the beginning of salvation for others?

I know some Christians don’t get baptized, since it is only a symbol or might wait awhile, while still striving to live a Christian life. Maybe that would be the baptism of desire that Catholics talk about?!?

So it is really our baptism as an infant and adult that begins the process, not a prayer?
 
GodHeals said:
Wouldn’t infant baptism be that moment of the beginning of salvation for some?

And wouldn’t repenting and trusting in Jesus for salvation as an adult and then being baptized be the beginning of salvation for others?

I know some Christians don’t get baptized, since it is only a symbol or might wait awhile, while still striving to live a Christian life. Maybe that would be the baptism of desire that Catholics talk about?!?

So it is really our baptism as an infant and adult that begins the process, not a prayer?
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You’re forgetting that CONFIRMATION, at age of ACCOUNTABILITY…completes Baptism. Are not prayers said/expressed on that occasion?

That is why CONFIRMATION in HS, is ESSENTIAL to a Catholics Spiritual Rebirth !! BORN OF WATER, BORN OF SPIRIT…per words of Christ.
Same event happened to Christ, AFTER his baptism !
 
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