Romans 10:13-14, You Don't Have To Pray To Be Saved

 We are saved by faith, not by praying. Some preachers teach that you must pray to be saved, but they are wrong in their theology. Romans 10:13 is an obscure passage, since it raises a lot of controversy about praying to be saved. A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one. We have a clear passage in the entirety of the Gospel of John, in which we find the word “believe” mentioned 85 times without any mention of “praying” or “repenting” to be saved. How ridiculous it is for any preacher to insist that a person must pray to be saved. 

The word “call” simply means that you come unto Christ to be saved, because you already believe. Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” A good illustration of the way Roman 10:13 uses the word call is when my Mom used to take me with her to the grocery store. I remember as a boy often reading a sign inside the store which said: “Please call again!” I didn't understand that, because we didn't call them on the phone before we came. 

As I grew older I understood that to call simply means that we came to their store. We went to their store because my mother trusted that they would sell would she needed (food, et cetera). Likewise, we come to Jesus to be saved because we trust Him. But we are saved the moment we believe, not when we call. Preachers who insist that you must call are basing a doctrine on ONE BIBLE VERSE! 

Advocates of having to pray to be saved will run to Romans 10:13 and play it as a one-string banjo! Ignorant preachers do the same thing with Romans 10:9-10, playing this one verse as a one-string banjo, claiming that you must publicly confess Christ to be saved. The hellbound Church of Christ insists that you cannot be saved unless you publicly confess Christ. They base this heresy on obscure passages of Scripture, wrongly dividing the Word of Truth.

In Acts 10:43-44 Cornelius was saved simply by believing the Gospel as they heard Peter preach it. No one prayed. In Acts 2:41 the Bible says 3,000 people were saved when they gladly received the Gospel which they heard Peter preach. No one prayed. I cannot think of even one example in the Bible where someone prayed to be saved. Yet these ignorant and arrogant Baptist preachers today angrily get heated under the collar, insisting that you must pray a sinner's prayer to be saved the Bible way. They are foolish and wrong. But don't take my word for it dear reader. What saith the Scripture? I triple-dog dare you to show me even one place in the Bible, where someone was required to pray (or prayed voluntarily) to receive God's free gift of eternal life. I haven't found it yet.

Now, having said that, I am not saying that it is wrong to pray when someone gets saved. There is a natural desire in a person's heart when they believe on Christ that compels that to pray. It is natural to want to pray. So that is fine! If you want to pray with someone as you lead them to Christ, then do so. But please make sure that the person clearly understands that you don't need to pray to be saved, nor does God save anyone because they prayed. 

Personally I don't lead people to pray to get saved, because I've seen too many people get confused. For 7 years as a teenager I struggled to find the assurance of salvation because I kept wondering if I missed something when I prayed. I knew Christ died on the cross for my sins. I believed it! I trusted Jesus because of what He did to pay for my sins through the cross. I believed He rose from the dead, believing that I was appealing unto a risen Savior to save me. I probably prayed 50 times, at least, going through the Roman's Road again and again. 

I knew I was a guilty sinner when I got saved at age 13. But I didn't learn until many years later that I could simply BELIEVE and be saved. That truth solidified my assurance that I was 100% saved. I am against the 1-2-3, follow-me, pray this quick prayer to be saved method, because it obscures the simplicity that is in Christ (which is the Gospel). Please don't misunderstand, you CAN be saved in an instant, and KNOW beyond any shadow of a doubt that you have the complete assurance of salvation. Any theology that does not give you the immediate absolute assurance of salvation is wrong! The true Gospel always points you to Christ; a false gospel always points to you. By being led to pray to be saved at the end of every religious tract that I read, and being led to pray to be saved in every soulwinning class I ever took, and being taught to pray to be saved by every Baptist preacher I had ever heard, I WAS MISLED AND CONFUSED!!!

Again, this is not merely my opinion, this is BIBLE! John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” I could quote dozens more passages, which simply teach to “believe” to be saved. Thank you for reading my humble words. God bless you!