wonderchica Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 I was discussing the differences between my church and my friend's church with her today. She raised a Presbyterian and attends every Sunday, although I'm now not sure how much attention she pays during service ;) How do Presbyterians view salvation? How does a person get into heaven? She wasn't really sure. In my denomination, we are taught you must confess your sins and ask Jesus into your heart as your Savior. Do Presbyterians have a different view? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 There are different wings of the Presbyterian church, but they are all Reformed, some just more conservative theologically than others. Official salvation doctrine is similar to other Protestant churches and involves faith/.belief in Christ's death on the cross for our sins and his resurrection. A particular Presbyterian church may or may not express that as "asking Jesus into the heart". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderchica Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 She seemed confused by the question, "When did you become a Christian?". She talked about being christened as a baby and going through classes to become "an adult member of the church". Is that when Presbyterians consider themselves Christians? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 It depends. That is the typical pathway in many mainline Protestant churches (& in the Catholic church as well) : baptism as an infant and then when a child is old enough to believe, they go through confirmation classes (to teach the faith and as a time when the child/teen can affirm or not that they believe that faith) and confirmation (the official ceremony in the church) . Confirmation is supposed to be for believers--the time that you stand up before the church and say you believe. You're not supposed to do it if you don't believe, but I'm sure that some young people go through confirmation just because it's supposed to be done. (Other Protestant churches sort of flip it: they do a child dedication (which is something pretty much like a dry baptism) for infants, then when the child believes they are baptized.) Those are the official times in the church. However, as I said, there are probably some Presbyterian churches where people pretty much just go through the motions. In others, there is an understanding very similar to yours. Your friend may be confused for two reasons: like many born into Christian homes of various denominations, including the kids of Baptists and nondenominational evangelicals, she may not remember a time when she didn't believe. Many Presbyterian churches would not so much see the issue as a certain moment of decision, but as whether or not you believe, and that can be a process of unfolding understanding of the faith. So she may be confused by the "point in time" question. It also may be that she went through the motions and so doesn't really know much about what Presbyterians believe. The whole "ask Jesus into your heart" was a convention of revivals that developed fairly recently. It comes from Rev. 3:20 , which , if you look at the context, is written to lukewarm Christians in the church of Laodecia. The image is one that works as a metaphor for a moment of salvation and so it's been used that way for a number of years. But Acts is a good place to see what the apostles understood the gospel to be. They usually say believe or repent and believe. For those people, it was a sudden moment of new news that they had to decide whether they believed. However, once the church was established and people began teaching their children from the time they were little, many people don't so much have that "one moment" memory. God knows when they actually came to faith. They don't necessarily have a memory of it. Hope that helps. Presbyterians likely do not believe something foreign to what you believe with regard to salvation, you are just expressing it in a different way than she is used to. Or, as I said, she may have gone through the motions without even really perceiving what the Presbyterian Church intends them to mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAS in LA Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Others may be able to answer this better than I, but I think all Presbyterians hold to a "covenant theology" which baptizes infants and considers them "members of the covenant community". Similar to all Jews being part of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. But in Romans, Paul says that "they are not all Israel who are of Israel" and Presbyterians believe this about Christians, too. Being baptized as a baby or going to church every week doesn't automatically make a person a Christian; a change of heart is required. Reformed people believe that the Holy Spirit works in a person's heart and causes them to believe in Jesus as their Savior. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderchica Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 Thanks all! I think our confusion was partly due to using different terms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 We are Presbyterian and our church teaches that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone. We (dh and I) are not truly Reformed, in that we are credo-baptists as opposed to paedo-baptists (we believe in baptism upon confession of faith and not as an infant) although our church does not teach that baptism saves. It is a sign that a child is part of the covenant community. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 We are Presbyterian and our church teaches that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone. We (dh and I) are not truly Reformed, in that we are credo-baptists as opposed to paedo-baptists (we believe in baptism upon confession of faith and not as an infant) although our church does not teach that baptism saves. It is a sign that a child is part of the covenant community. As an FYI, there are credo-baptists who consider themselves reformed. Over on the Puritan Board, there are is at least one forum specifically devoted to that. Also, they allow folks to sign on board using The London Baptist Confession. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanne Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 It would be a confounding question to most (non conservative) Presbyterians. (I was both an Elder and Deacon). "We" were not much into "born again" or believer's baptism. We did confirm teens at a ritually expected time, and they go over church history, doctrine, etc in preparation. We were Christian because we simply *were Christian." The level individuals embrace predestination varies widely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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