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Originally Posted by PuritanCovenanter  God is not required to hear the heathen but I prayed as a heathen and I am sure God heard me. He rains upon the just and unjust it says. As I said in my first post I encourage every person to call upon God in the name of Christ. And I believe God even heals pagans. He does good to those who are his enemies even. Why wouldn't a heathen be able to be heard by God?
Who was the guy who dipped seven times and was healed?
One more thing. Is the unregenerate unconverted spouse considered a Christian along with their children just because one parent is a converted Christian? Are they a saint? I don't think so. Holy has a different connotation in the context of 1 Cor. 7:14 as I noted in the Baptism thread Pilgrim started. |
I was careful to note in my posts that unbelievers should not pray in Christ's name or be comforted
with promises made to believers. I was not suggesting that an unbeliever could not receive some common grace. The Ezzos agree that unbelievers can receive grace from God. The Ezzos even teach that it is ok to let kids to pray to God the Father, just not in Christ's name. In other words, there is a path to God apart from Christ that kids can take. Still, when they are of age, they will need to be saved and then they will need to pray in Christ's name. (I am not suggesting agreement with the Ezzos on this point, just relaying what they taught).
It is wrong to teach unbelievers, adult heathen or otherwise, to pray in Christ's name. It is teaching hypocrisy. To pray in Christ's name, of course, means more than the bare mentioning of His name. It is to draw on Christ's mediation, which is available only for believers. To pray in Christ's name is to say implicitly that the person praying belongs to and is in union with Christ. Unbelievers do not.