Landmark Baptist

I have heard the following statements made about salvation and I was wondering if any of you have ever heard them made and what you believe about their origin, or scriptural basis or scripturality at all.

They both relate to the "salvation experience"

1. Sin must go out before Jesus can come In

and

2. One has to be lost before they can be Saved


When it comes to #1 I was always taught that our hearts are sinful and man can not change himself (total depravity) and that when sees himself as such and he trusts in Christ that Jesus cleanses and washes him clean in God's sight. Or does it mean that repentance is when a man has his heart turned completely from sin before Christ will come in or before he can trust him for forgiveness? I always thought Jesus changes your heart when you put faith in Christ.

Concerning #2 I recently heard of a woman that had alzheimers that was preached to at a nursing home....she could not remember if she had or hadn't ever been saved....there was no way of her knowing if she was lost or not for sure and she prayed for forgiveness of sins and trusted Christ to save her. If that was the only time she ever did that she could not know if she was lost to be saved. obviously we are all born lost....so any one who calls on Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins the first time was lost whether they knew it or not.

I was wondering if you theologs could give some biblical insight

If there is no biblical basis for these statements why are they used with such regularity?

While I've never heard the first quote, but, the way I read that, I think it is talking about letting Christ live supremely in a persons life before he can be used for God. I don't see how someone can relate this to salvation, especially since a person has to realize his sin before he can come to repentance. That is what the second quote is about.

A person has to RECOGNIZE his need of a Savior before he will be saved. If a person doesn't come to that realization, he CANNOT be saved.

Pastor Marty McCoy
Schillinger Road Baptist Church
Mobile, Alabama