Researched by the Ignaria Editorial Team · Published 2026-03-12
The early church had no isolated "prayer of salvation" formula, but confessional invocation — calling on the name of the Lord — functioned as a pivotal, prayer-like step toward redemption. Paul grounded this in Romans 10: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Peter at Pentecost proclaimed the same: "whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Tertullian described communal repentance as kneeling before the brethren to entreat Christ — "when you cast yourself at the brethren's knees, you are handling Christ, you are entreating Christ." Baptism followed as the culminating sacramental act, integrating this prayerful commitment into ecclesial entry rather than replacing it.
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What the primary sources show
"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" — Paul's foundational statement that salvation involves both inward belief and outward verbal confession, the apostolic basis for confessional invocation as a salvific act.
"When you cast yourself at the brethren's knees, you are handling Christ, you are entreating Christ. In like manner, when they shed tears over you, it is Christ who suffers, Christ who prays the Father for mercy" — Tertullian on communal repentance as a confessional, intercessory prayer act in which the sinner directly entreats Christ through the body of believers.