The following 30 minute mp3 shows the efforts of preachers since the Great Awakening of the 1740s to ensure that professors actually were experiencing true grace and salvation.
For example, Jonathan Edwards established 5 stages in the struggle of faith: 1) horror of being eternally lost; 2), the sinner’s attempt to stop sinning via his will power; 3), realization that only God can save him from sin; 4), conviction, the sinner beginning to see that God’s judgment is just; 5), awakening to God with genuine religious affections.
The following prominent Christians spent many years between stages 1 and 5 of Edwards standard of assessment for genuine conversion:
John Calvin, 12 years; Wesley, 23 years; Whitefield, 10 years; Fox, 12 years; Edwards, 5 years; Brainerd, 9 years; Newton, 6 years; Spurgeon, 4 years…. I am left thinking, “Where am I on this scale?” The criteria of stage 3 and 4 are very familiar to me; not so with 5. I must examine myself more carefully.
At what stage are you?
(Paul Washer’s wife, Charo, was converted 12 years after beginning missionary work with him. For her testimony, see: categories, conversion testimonies. I am citing her story because it agrees with Jonathan Edwards criteria above, indicating that there was a period of time wherein a “struggle of faith” occurred before conversion.)
The vlogger outlined all the steps of the downgrade from Edward’s criteria to the present day heretical prayer.
If you were saved by that prayer or know others who were, this message might be an urgent message to you?
I found the video on theologynerd1’s YouTube site, but could not load it in that form. If you like it, then it might be a good idea to visit his site and take note for further study.
One last point before you listen, the information herein is shown in 7 videos in the series on the Modern Gospel Message. This presentation has elements not present in the others however; but the Modern Gospel series shows more about each of the perversions of the gospel. Viewing each of them could be very helpful to anyone in ministry or anyone who entered into Christianity via the sinner’s prayer.
Note: the stages that Edwards established, certainly demand that preachers confront sin via their messages. Because if a spotlight is not shown on sin, how could a person even enter into the process of the struggle of faith.
That is, how could a sinner ever fear the eternal wrath of God for punishment against his sin if he doesn’t believe he is a sinner? Or, how could one ever seek God’s enabling grace to deliver him from sin if he hasn’t exhausted all of his efforts / resources and discovered he is helplessly stuck in his sin if he is on his own in the fight? And so on…through the 5 points Edwards established.
I recognized a similar process as I spent time studying the beatitudes: the first beatitude is poverty of spirit. That means that one comes to see himself as spiritually bankrupt and begins to mourn his condition.
Jesus presented the beatitudes as a description of His kingdom citizens.
Subsequent to my study of this passage of scripture, when I examine myself, I look for evidence that God the Holy Spirit is humbling me, that He is working poverty of spirit in my life; that I am mourning my sinfulness (see, categories, beatitude life for my series on the beatitudes). It seems that poverty of spirit and mourning sin are the root of beatitude fruit in one’s life. That is, without those, one will not bear the fruit of meekness, mercy…. Yes, one can fake mercy, e.g., but that will be a short-lived thing, not genuine.
For more information about the sinner’s prayer, see: categories, doctrine — that post contains several videos that succinctly explain salvation; also, see categories, gospel message to view the series on the Modern Gospel. These three studies could enable you to see just how UNBIBLICAL our churches have been for the past 100 + years; therefore, you might learn much about how you have been misled. The solution is to abide in God’s appointed means of grace (there is a post on that in ARCHIVES, February, 2019).