I recently stumbled upon a website chastising Don Piper, Author of
90 Minutes in Heaven (and yes, I understand that it is not a legitimate book) for posting this prayer on his website:
"Dear God,
I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ, died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, and is alive today. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Help me to live a meaningful and purposeful life until You call me home to be with You in Heaven someday. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."The author of the website explains:
"Lordship Salvation is a false gospel which requires lost sinners to surrender to Christ's will, be willing to turn from personal sins, and make Jesus Lord of their life as prerequisites to receiving God's free gift of eternal life. The very definition of the word "gift" exposes the proponents of Lordship Salvation as liars and antichrists."Source:
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Wolves/don_piper.htmI am not in anyway trusting this site, or others like it, for issues of faith or dogma.
My question is this: what is the church's view on the author of this website's reasoning about why that prayer is wrong? Is there something wrong in praying and saying that I want to surrender to His will? Is this jeopardizing my own free will?
Comments
There is absolutely nothing wrong with surrendering our will to God. It is a sacrifice that we offer.
About the author's reasoning, he missed something very important. Yes it is a gift that is free but there are some conditions.
It is free in the sense that we won't and can't pay for what it is worth, but that does not mean that everyone will receive it.
There are some conditions.
God bless.
Ebnyasoo3
they are both dodgy.
it's fashionable for famous preachers who own big websites to go around criticising each other.
this is a bad habit.
we do surrender to God (as we say in the liturgy 'i submit myself to your will') but salvation is not a one-off event but a lifelong one. that's the main difference between protestantism and orthodoxy.
if you like i will post some detailed material i have on this.
i don't recommend internet preachers (except orthodox sermons.org) as they tend to focus a lot on giving a good performance but the content usually has wrong doctrine.
i think you should only go to these websites if you are strong in your faith, aim to show them the true way, and your priest agrees with you doing this (i.e. if you intend to be a Bible study leader, deacon, priest etc).
if you go on these websites without first having a deep and practical knowledge of our faith, you could be very confused.
The strange thing is, I can't even remember how I ended up on it. I'm not normally going to these sites or listening to internet preachers; and generally I can tell when something I hear seems a bit sketchy; I was just wondering if this particular person's reasoning had any credibility.
So then does this relate to H.H.'s book, The Heresy of Salvation in a moment? (which I have yet to read) :P
Romans 5 verses 1 and 2: ‘Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.’
James 2 verses 17 and 24: ‘faith without works is dead’ ‘a man is justified by works and not faith only’.
Matthew 6 verse 12: ‘forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors’.
James 5 verses 9 and 19-20: ‘Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!’ ‘Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.’
Philippians 2 verse 12: ‘work out your own salvation with fear and trembling’
Philippians 1 verse 6: ‘ He who has begun a good work in you will complete it’.
In the light of the verses above, I believe that salvation is an on-going process, started by the conviction of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the sinner who repents, continued by a life which follows Jesus closely and completed on the day of judgement.