Johnny walked the aisle at the age of nine, prayed a prayer, and was soon baptized. But 25 years later Johnny has grown up but he has no interest in God or the church. What do you tell Johnny? What do you tell his parents?

I would say that the main thing I want to tackle in this article is this, how does a person become a genuine Christian and by what evidence can we have assurance that they are saved?

We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But the faith that saves is never alone. Genuine faith produces repentance, perseverance, and a transformed life. In fact, this is one of the primary messages in the book of James, where he asks what good is a faith that produces no works (James 2:14).

I agree with those who say that we do not want to say anything that would make a genuine Christian doubt their faith. That is 100% true. But in this article I want you to look at this topic from a different angle. It would be one of the greatest tragedies of all for a person to be raised in the church, come to the conclusion that they are saved, but they are not.

How do people come to think they are saved when in fact they are not? There are many ways that happens; I will focus on three.

First, it is common in many Christian circles to hear people talk about the “sinner’s prayer.” How you define the sinner’s prayer is the key. If we lead a person to believe that the primary basis and assurance for their salvation is a prayer they prayed when they were young, we have a serious problem. Nowhere in Scripture is a person saved simply because of a prayer they said. The Bible ties salvation to genuine faith and repentance, not to speaking a formula. This is critical, a person is saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, and genuine saving faith is accompanied by repentance. (Mark 1:15, Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19, Acts 16:30–31, Acts 20:21, Romans 3:23–26, Romans 10:9–10, Ephesians 2:8–9, 1 Thessalonians 1:9–10, 2 Corinthians 7:10). So, my point here is that we need to be really careful about promoting or using the “sinner’s prayer” to lead someone to the Lord.

Now, if what a person means by the sinner’s prayer is that it’s simply a way of expressing genuine faith and repentance, then that’s biblical, and that’s great.

Second, we need to talk about the idea of “asking Jesus into your heart” to be saved. Question for you. How many times are we told in the bible that a person is saved by asking Jesus into their heart? Zero. Not one time. Since that is the case why in the world would we use this formula when it comes to leading someone to Jesus? I would suggest that we use the words that Jesus used, “..and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”-Mark 1:15

Third, frequently there is an unspoken assumption that because a person grew up in a religious home and knows some things about God, that they are Christian. I, and others, refer to this as religiosity. This is a massive problem in the Bible belt. In fact a large mission field is among those who have some religious affiliation, but do not truly know Jesus.

“Self-proclaimed Christians who worship a god that requires no self-sacrifice, no obedience, no submission, and no surrender are not worshiping the God of the Bible, no matter how much they claim they love Jesus.” — Dean Inserra, from the Unsaved Christian

We do need to be careful and not cause those who are saved to doubt their salvation. But I want you to see the other side. What a massive tragedy it would be to lead people to the conclusion that they are on good terms with our Holy God when in fact they are not. Maybe you are thinking that this is over blown. You might be thinking that this is not really a problem.

I would politely disagree. I have been in pastoral ministry for more than 20 years. I can’t tell you how many times I have asked a person how they know they are a genuine follower of Jesus Christ and have heard way too many concerning replies. Things like, “I was raised in a Christian home”, “I was baptized at a young age”, “I have always been a Christian” etc. These are all good things, but none of them are the basis for believing we are Christians.

So, if I were talking to the grown up Johnny what would I say to him? What would I say to his parents? What would I say to them when it comes to the reasons why Johnny can have assurance of his salvation? I would not base his salvation on whether or not he said the sinner’s prayer or if he ever asked Jesus into his heart.

If I were talking to Johnny I would point him to the Bible. Scripture gives believers real grounds for assurance, not just a past decision to look back on. One mark is a changed life. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that anyone in Christ is a new creation, the old has passed away and the new has come, and Galatians 5:22-23 describes the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control, as evidence that God’s Spirit is actually at work in a person. This fruit does not mean sinless perfection, but it does mean a genuine trajectory of growth. A second mark is ongoing faith that perseveres rather than fades. Colossians 1:22-23 ties final salvation to continuing in the faith, stable and steadfast, and 1 John 2:19 describes those who fell away as people who were never truly part of the church to begin with, since if they had belonged they would have remained. Taken together, these passages point believers away from resting assurance on the sinner’s prayer or asking Jesus into their heart.

To his parents, I would say something similar. Here is the hard truth. Your job was never to guarantee Johnny’s salvation by getting him to say a prayer or walk an aisle at age nine. That was never in your power to begin with. A childhood decision, even a sincere one, is not the same thing as a lifetime of persevering faith. Twenty five years without any evidence of that faith is not something to explain away. It is something to take seriously.

Does that mean you failed Johnny? No. Does that mean all hope is gone? Absolutely not! I believe you should stop pointing back to what happened when he was nine and start speaking the truth of God’s Word into his life now. Assurance was never meant to rest on a memory. It rests on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and a life that is currently being transformed.