Perhaps it is better to say that faith is prerequisite for
conversion.
This reminds me of of the whole "altar call" thing we used to do in my old church, where it was supposed that God "couldn't move" unless a sinner "allowed" Him to.
The evangelist always insisted on misapplying Matthew 10:32-33 to his calls to go forward:
...everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
Those who truly belong to Christ cannot help but confess Him.
Open confession of Christ before the world is certainly one of the marks of a true Christian! But it is not a "pre-requisite" which God requires as in order to become a Christian! If that were so, no mute person could ever be saved, especially since according to Romans 10:9, the
mouth must be used in order for the confession to be "valid." Writing it down or signing one's confession, to these literalists, would be insufficient; mute people cannot be saved.
Sometimes in our arrogance we simply cannot resist the temptation to attach some condition or requirement to God's free gift, so that we can distinguish ourselves as somehow "better" than sinners that have not yet been regenerated. God forgive us!
-Robin
