I am so glad that many years ago I played the Get Out of Hell free card (David Whyte, NZ Baptist, February). I asked Jesus to be my Saviour and repeated the sinner’s prayer because I was afraid of going to hell and I thank God for putting that fear in my heart. Are we not supposed to have any fear of going to hell? Or is that not sufficient reason to call on the name of the Lord and be saved (Acts 2:21)?

I am quite troubled by David Whyte’s article on this topic because I fear it is sending out the wrong message and I don’t think it needed to.

How sad it would be if no one sincerely prayed the sinner’s prayer out of fear of going to hell because of this article. Surely we should rejoice together with the angels in heaven over anyone who receives Jesus Christ as Saviour for whatever reason. Jesus warned about the broad road that leads to hell and urged folk to get off it. (Fear of hell?) And by saying that there are only two paths leading to two different destinies, isn’t it Jesus himself who is “dividing it (the world) into saved and non-saved,” as David puts it in his article? Not that we can see anybody’s heart – only God can do that.

Of course there is much more to Christianity than “life insurance, a get out of hell free card because they are afraid of a vengeful God.” Isn’t it right for a sinner to be afraid of a holy God? Bring on a bit more preaching on hell fire but keep it connected to adequate explanation of what the Christian life really is.

And I would agree with David’s final (summary) statement if he would change just one word – and I think that is really what he means. He says, “Maybe it is time we relook at our model of salvation.” Surely the “model” of salvation that Peter explained on the day of Pentecost and Paul declared to the Philippian jailer, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved,” has been, and still is, our only model of salvation. I feel sure that David would agree with this.

I think it is the model of evangelism sometimes presented, not the model of salvation, that should be critically looked at. I certainly agree in condemning shoddy evangelism -–any encouraging of superficial repetition of a sinner’s prayer as a quick fix and a guarantee of salvation. So perhaps, David, we really agree on the bottom line.

– Harold Searle
Cromwell