Pastor Steven Anderson Is Wrong That Praying Is God's Method To Be Saved

Acts 2:41, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”

Can a person simply come to God as a needy sinner, and put their faith in Jesus Christ without praying a prayer and still be saved? Yes, absolutely, you don't have to pray to be saved. Now, Pastor Steven Anderson believes that too, but he errantly believes and teaches that it is God's way to lead lost sinners to pray a Sinner's Prayer to be saved. That is false! It is NOT the Bible way to get saved to pray, call, confess or ask. We are saved by God's grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

When we trust in Jesus as our personal Savior, we are saved on the basis of his death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection. Salvation comes as we gladly receive the 'Good News' (Gospel) that Christ has paid the debt of sin we owed, so that salvation itself is the free gift of God. As the Apostle Peter preached the Gospel on the Day of Pentecost, the Bible says that 3,000 hearers gladly received his words and were immediately saved. Acts 2:41, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” They were water baptized AFTER they got saved, as a public profession of their new faith in the Gospel. Baptism symbolizes Christ's death, burial and resurrection. Nobody prayer a Sinner's Prayer in Acts chapter two, they simply gladly received the Good News and were born-again.

In the Gospel of John (which is God's Gospel tract according to John 20;31), we find the word "believe" mentioned 88 times in the inspired King James Bible. But there is no mention of praying for God to save you. There is no mention of turning away from your past sinful ways to be saved. John 6;47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” Jesus simply said to BELIEVE ON HIM!!!

Anybody who teaches that you cannot get to Heaven without calling, asking or praying is a liar. They are preaching another gospel. God is already freely offering eternal life as a gift to all humanity, which is received through faith alone in the GOOD NEWS (Gospel) of Jesus' crucifixtion, burial and resurrection. If you read Acts 2;41 and Acts 10;41-43, you will plainly see that people got saved simply by BELIEVING. They didn't have to ask, call or pray, they simply heard the Gospel being preached and they believed what they heard.

The following video featuring Pastor Steven Anderson is false doctrine. He calls it the "dumbest doctrine I've ever heard" of, to say that you don't have to call, pray, confess or ask to be saved. Well, like it or not, dumb as it may seem, it is 100% Biblical that you don't need to ask, pray, confess or call to be saved. I am actually surprised that Pastor Anderson has made such a big fuss over this doctrinal matter, knowing that the Church of Christ religious cult requires publicly confessing Christ to be saved (which is another gospel).

Sadly, there are false prophets who teach that faith is not enough to be saved. In fact, Evangelist Billy Graham is one of them! In the preceding article you can read the interaction between a young college student and Billy Graham. The young student says that he wants to trust Jesus to be saved, but he is asking if he has to tell the other students, because he doesn't want to be persecuted for his faith. Billy Graham shamefully lies to the young man, telling him that God will not save him unless he is willing to publicly profess the name of Jesus. We know that Mr. Graham is a liar based upon John 12:42-43, “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” Also, Joseph of Arimathea in the Bible was “a disciple of Jesus, but secretly” (John 19:38b). Billy Graham has the blood of that young student on his hands if he perishes into Hell. RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!!

“Good Hope 'Norm Diamante' is a Fool” —Pastor Steven Anderson

Kindly said, I love Pastor Steven Anderson and support his ministry, but he is doctrinally wrong in the preceding video. Pastor Norm Diamante is 100% correct that you DON'T have to call, pray or ask God to be saved. God is already freely offering everyone His gift of eternal life. Why would you ask God for something that He is already offering you? That would make no sense. The so-called "new IFB movement" (new independent fundamental Baptist movement) is really the Pastor Steven Anderson Movement (i.e., a group of young pastors who are parroting Brother Anderson's doctrines and methods). Pastor Bruce Mejia is one of them.

To no surprise, Pastor Mejia also attacks Pastor Norm Diamante for rightly preaching that you DON'T have to call, pray or ask God to get to Heaven, you simply need to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (Acts 16:30-31). Anyone who comes to God as a guilty needy sinner, and receives Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for their sins, believing that after being buried He bodily resurrected from the dead three days later, that person is saved (1st Corinthians 15:1-6).

In the preceding heretical video, Pastor Mejia takes Romans 10:13 out of context to bolster up his strawman heresy (I like Pastor Mejia and also support his ministry, but he is wrong in this doctrinal matter) of calling on the Lord to be saved. You can just BELIEVE to be saved. ...

Romans 10:13-16, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 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? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?”

Do you see the progression? First the light of the truth of the Gospel is preached. Lost sinners hear the Gospel. They BELIEVE the GOOD NEWS and are saved. They call (go to the Lord) because of their faith. But do they really need to call, ask or pray to be saved? No. They are saved the moment that they believe the GOOD NEWS!!! Proof of what I say is found in the Gospel of John. As I mentioned earlier, in the Gospel of John (which is God's Gospel tract according to John 20;31), we find the word "believe" mentioned 88 times in the inspired King James Bible. Yet you won't find even one verse in the Gospel of John that teaches to ask, call or pray to have eternal life.

I know I am making enemies here, but what saith the Scripture? Romans 3:4, “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” The inspired Holy Bible does not agree with Pastors' Steven Anderson, Bruce Mejia and Roger Jimenez in this matter of praying to be saved.

To clarify, I heard Pastor Anderson say that a person CAN be saved by just believing without praying. So he is correct on the Gospel. However, he is wrong that praying to be saved is the Bible way, because it is not the Bible way. If it were the Bible way, than Jesus would have said in John 6;47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” If praying is required then John 6:47 would have read: John 6;47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me and asks me to save them hath everlasting life.” Ladies and gentlemen, it is a serious thing to ADD words to what God has said. Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”

In the preceding sermon video by Pastor Mejia, he says that “only wicked people remove things from the Bible.” Yet, Pastor Mejia wickedly adds words to the Bible. Pastors Anderson and Mejia base their heresy mainly on Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” They emphasize the last part of verse 10—CONFESSION IS MADE WITH THE MOUTH. But I like what Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) rightly said: “A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one.” That is the mistake that Pastors' Anderson and Mejia are making, using an obscure passage of Scripture in Romans 10:9-10, while totally ignoring the entire Gospel of John.

The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU. YOU don't have to pray to be saved. We must stay true to the simplicity of the Gospel!! Childlike trust in the GOOD NEWS of Christ crucified, buried and risen is enough to be saved. We must earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3). There are false prophets going around teaching that faith is not enough to be saved, you must also call upon the name of the Lord. Respectfully, Pastor Anderson calls the matter a “stupid issue,” and he wrongly calls people like me an “idiot” because I preach that you don't need to ask, confess, call or pray to be saved. I need to preach this truth because there are heretics who claim that you cannot get to Heaven without confessing the name of Jesus publicly, asking to be saved, praying or calling upon the Lord to be saved. Humbly, I do not think this is a stupid matter. I am not an idiot for defending the simplicity that is in Christ (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4). I am being faithful to contend for the faith.

Pastor Anderson's  reasoning is flawed. He argues that it is natural for a person who believes on Christ to also call upon Him. Whether this is true or not is not the question. The $64,000 question is can a person put their faith in Jesus Christ without praying a prayer and still be saved? The Bible answer is a resounding yes, yes, yes!!! I agree with Pastor Anderson that it is natural for people to want to pray and call upon the Lord to accompany their faith; however, that doesn't make it mandatory to pray.

At the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, Pastor Anderson teaches his people to lead lost sinners to pray a Sinner's Prayer to be saved. That is fine, just so long as they explain that you don't get saved by praying, you get saved by God's grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ. The inherent danger of leading lost sinners to pray a prayer of salvation is that they may misunderstand what God requires of them to be saved.

I know Christians who struggled with the assurance of God's gift of salvation for decades, because they kept focusing on the content of their prayer, wondering if they left something out or missed something. Since they could not remember exactly what they said when they prayed, they lived in needless fear, tears and discouragement, worrying that perhaps they weren't really really saved. But when they finally learned THE TRUTH that believing on Jesus as the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is enough to be saved, and you don't need to pray at all, they finally found the perfect peace that solidified their salvation beliefs.

Dear friend, I encourage you to read two free books online (search online and you'll find them right away):

1. I Never Knew You (by Evangelist Michael P. Bowen)
2. Salvation And The Public Invitation (by Pastor Max D. Younce)

Those two insightful books are 100% Bible based and will help you immensely to settle the important matter of salvation if you haven't found that peace yet.