Individual Salvation Heresy?

I read today that the Episcopal Bishop Katharine Jefferts said that the idea that someone can pray a prayer and be saved individually is heresy. I thought for just a second (that's about all it took) about whether that had any credibility or not. One of the first things to come to mind was the Philippian jailer in Acts crying out, "What must I do to be saved?" Paul and Silas didn't say, "You know that is simply heresy to think that you, an individual, could be saved." They had an answer for him, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ."

There were individuals saved in each of the cities Paul visited, some of whom became the elders of that city Church. So the statement is so ignorant of the simple flow of what happened in the Bible that we have probably already given more attention to the thought than it deserves.

However, she actually alluded to something that I agreed with later in the statements that I read by her. She was resisting the idea "that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus." Too many all around us today can tell you they got saved. How do they know? They said "the sinner's prayer." The prayer is often presented as the way to enter into a relationship with Jesus. It can be the vehicle to get you into a relationship with Jesus, but just like what Paul said to the jailer, the key is believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord = Master
Jesus = Jehovah saves/salvation (His name means basically I am salvation) Christ = Messiah (Anointed One of God) Believe in Him!! What happens in salvation is a revelation of and confrontation by the living God. No man comes to Jesus unless the Father draws him.

The sinner's prayer is not a sure fire formula for salvation. Repentance toward God and faith in Jesus is the entry into a saving relationship. Saved, comes from the Greek word, Sozo, which means, in essence, to make whole. Being saved isn't punching your ticket to heaven via any man's formula. It is being made alive by the Spirit of God. I've heard too many times someone say something like, you mean if I just say these words, I'll go to heaven? You know what often separates the true convert from the false? I found years ago when I asked someone if they loved Jesus and they with conviction said yes, they understood something essential about relationship with God. Salvation is not a recipe it truly is a relationship. Holy is the Lord!! The whole earth is full of His Glory!!!! Lovers of Jesus, Arise!!!