“I just prayed a prayer to receive Jesus. Is it possible I’m really forgiven and now God’s child?”
There’s no doubt about it. The Bible offers you a promise in Romans:
For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:13 (NLT)
So let’s unpack that. Something more basic had to happen inside you before you could pray that prayer. First, you heard the good news that Jesus died to pay for your sins and that he rose from the grave. Then, you believed that message, and only then did you pray for him to forgive and save you.
Look at what the Bible says in the very next verse:
But how can they call on him (pray to him) to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?
Romans 10:14 (NLT)
Wasn’t that how it happened? Someone told us the good news, then we heard it, believed it, and called on Jesus to be our Savior.
The Most Important Thing
While you may have prayed a prayer to invite Jesus to come into your life, the thing that’s most important is believing in (or placing your confidence in) Jesus for your salvation. Take a look at this long list of Scriptures that make this completely clear.
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 (NLT)
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
John 3:36 (NIV)
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”
John 5:24 (NIV)
“For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:40 (NIV)
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:31 (NIV)
The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household.
Acts 16:29–32 (NLT)
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.
Romans 10:9–10 (NLT)
One of my favorite Scriptures puts it this way:
For it is by grace (God’s gift) you have been saved, through faith (believing)—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8–9 (NIV)
