A "Sinner's Prayer" or a "Sinful Prayer?" Part 1

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1 A "Sinner's Prayer" or a "Sinful Prayer?" Part 1 Good morning and welcome to another Berean Break, the program where you are encouraged to check out the things that are taught by the word of God. My name is George A. Sinkie and it is so good to have this time to study together. We are going to look at a prayer that is quite common in the world today, because the Seeker of Truth will want to Know about the so-called Sinner s Prayer. But before we do that let's go to God in prayer, Great God in heaven, We thank You for this day in our lives and we pray that we will use it to know You better. We thank You that we can come to You in prayer. We humble ourselves before You that we may open our hearts to Your will. Thank You for sending Jesus to die for us and for the salvation that we can have through Him. And we pray in Jesus' name. AMEN!! One time I returned to my vehicle to find that someone had placed a small tract on the window. This tract was entitled, "How to be saved and know it." The title is good and the person who placed it on my van probably was sincerely trying to help people. Now what do you suppose I did with that tract? I did the same thing I encourage you to do with today's lesson and with all religious teaching that you hear - I checked it out with the word of God. Unfortunately the sincerity of the person handing out this tract does not make up for the false doctrine contained in the tract. The tract uses a number of Scriptures - some are used correctly, several are used out of their context and are attempted to be used to teach false doctrine. This is a tactic of Satan as we can see from Matthew 4, where he quotes Scripture as he tempts Jesus. One thing that we can learn from this tract is that just because someone quotes a Scripture doesn't make what they say correct. The main thing that we are going to consider this morning is the conclusion of this tract where it directs the reader to say a prayer and says that based on this prayer God will save them. The prayer that is written in this tract reads like this: "Dear Lord, I know that I am a sinner, but I am sorry

2 for my sins. I believe that the Lord Jesus died for me and rose again and with all my heart I turn from my sin and receive Him as my Saviour right now. Thank you, Lord for saving me! Amen." This is but one form of this prayer, perhaps you have seen it worded in one of these other ways. OR "Jesus, I believe and I need the salvation you have provided. Come into my heart, rule my life today, and show me how to live. Amen" From the tract: "The Plain Gospel" "Jesus, I believe that you are the holy Son of God. I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and that you rose from the dead. You are my salvation. Please wash all my sins away and make me a child of God. I give my life to you today. Amen" From the tract: "What Is Meant By Salvation?" OR yet another says, "Jesus, I need your salvation. I open my heart to you. I confess that you are God's own son, and that you died on the cross to save me from my sin. Help me to turn from my ways and follow you. Make me ready for your return and show me how to live in the days ahead. Amen." From the tract: "Jesus Is Coming Again" OR one last one, "Jesus, I am sorry for the things I do and say that are wrong. Make me your child, take care of me and help me from now on to follow you. Amen." From the tract: "Here's A Treat For You And Some Good News."

3 Probably all of you have seen similar tracts to these. This little prayer is sometimes referred to as the "Sinner's Prayer." Unfortunately, some, after reading such tracts as these may say a similar prayer, and go on their way thinking that they are saved. Perhaps they may hear a denominational preacher on the radio or on TV or even in person encourage people to say words to this effect. This is disturbing at best, and spiritually fatal at worst. Let us study and see what the Bible has to say about the "Sinner's Prayer." The Bible Never Mentions Such A Thing As A "Sinner's Prayer." What verse would one use to prove that one can pray a "sinner's prayer" in order to be saved? The tract I received had Ephesians 2:8-9 right before the prayer. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. This verse says nothing of being saved by saying a prayer. Perhaps they are trying to give the impression that this verse teaches that a person is saved by believing or as it says, "saved through faith." As we check this out we see that this is not what this verse says at all. "Faith" here is not a verb denoting action as in believing. It is a noun and several of my Greek manuscripts show that it actually says, "saved through the faith." "The faith" refers to the system of doctrine that God has delivered, in other words according to the teachings of the Bible. Verse 9 shows that it is not according to our "works," such as saying the "Sinner's prayer," that we are saved. So we see that this verse doesn't teach what they are trying to make it teach. Some might look to Luke 18:13 and think that this shows us an example of a sinner's prayer. Luke 18: 13 is a part of Jesus' parable about the Pharisee and the Tax-gatherer, and is a prayer that the Tax-gatherer says, Luke 18:13 (NASB) "But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'

4 Does this verse teach what a lost person needs to do to receive salvation? There is just one problem with this, and that is, that the men mentioned in this text (Pharisee and Tax-gatherer) were both Jews! They were already children of God and allowed to enter the Temple; "but no "stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor... in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary" (Ezek. 44:9). Therefore, the Tax-gatherer's prayer of "God be merciful to me a sinner" would not be applicable to one outside of Christ today. No support here for the "Sinner's Prayer." A third passage that is sometimes attempted to be used to promote this salvation by prayer doctrine is Revelation 3:20 (NASB), there Jesus says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me. They would say that prayer is how you open the door so Jesus can come into your life. Now that may sound good on first glance but check it out. In context Jesus is not talking to or about people who are lost. He is speaking these words to the church in Laodicea. He wants these Christians that have gone away from Him to open the door so He can come back into their lives. No support for the "Sinner's Prayer" here. Now there are other passages that are attempted to be used to support this "Prayer," but each of them encounter the same problem - when examined in context and in harmony with the whole of Scriptures they are found to be no support at all. Each Of The Prayers Mentioned Different Things To Do. Think back about what we read earlier. Some of the prayers mentioned Christ's death on the cross, some didn't. Some mentioned having faith, some didn't. Some mentioned following Christ after being "saved", some didn't. One mentioned "washing away sins" the others didn't. About the only similarities are: they are addressed to Jesus or God, they are closed with "Amen," and somewhere in between supposedly a person is saved. Why bring this up? It is because in the New Testament, we find

5 that everyone that God considered saved did the same thing in order to be saved. Sometimes it is expressed, at other times it is implied by the context, but which ever way it is, we need to look at the New Covenant plan of salvation as a whole. What did lost people need to do to be saved in the First Century. What they did is the same thing we need to do in the Twenty-first Century. Each one heard God's word, which is "the faith" we looked at in Ephesians 2. "The faith" was needed to produce "their faith," Romans 10:17 (NASB) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. The Hebrews writer shows the necessity of faith in Hebrews 11:6 (NASB) And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. This hearing of God's word will produce faith in Jesus as God's Son and in the gospel, Mark 16:15-16 (NASB) And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. Salvation is beyond the grasp of those who will not repent of their sins, Acts 2:38 (NASB) And Peter said to them, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Confession of Christ is also shown to be a part of God's plan, Acts 8:36-37 (NASB) And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" [And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart,

6 you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."] Satan's biggest problem with God's plan of Salvation seems to be with the point of baptism, the "Sinner's Prayer," rejects this point and yet we have just seen that believing, repenting, and confessing are all tied to baptism in God's plan. Paul the apostle, when he was still being referred to as Saul, traveled one day to Damascus. When he got to Damascus - he believed in Jesus, he confessed Jesus as Lord, and I would say that he had even repented of his sins since he was no longer persecuting Christians, but he was still lost in his sins, but then Ananias came and spoke to him in Acts 22:16 (NASB) And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.' Sometimes those who promote the "Sinner's Prayer," will use the idea of "calling on the name of the Lord" to support their doctrine. But we can see here that "calling on the name of the Lord" is done in baptism not in a prayer. So we see because of its lack of Scriptural support, not to mention its inconsistent use, that a more accurate name would be the Sinful Prayer, not the Sinner s Prayer. Unfortunately our time is up for today, but Lord willing we will look at more points on this topic next week. This Berean Break is brought to you, in love, by the pre-denominational and non-denominational church of Christ that meets at 1600 East First Ave. in Mitchell SD. You are welcome to meet with us at 10:00 Sunday Mornings for our assembly followed by a time of Bible Study, also on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 for an additional time to study God's Word. If you have a comment or a sincere Bible question, please call or text me at We want to remind you of the non-denominational TV program, "KNOW YOUR BIBLE" on KDLT-TV at 9:00 on Sunday mornings. This is George A. Sinkie for the Lord's church, here in Mitchell, good-bye for now, Remember that we care about you and may God bless you as

7 you do His will. All quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from the: New American Standard Bible (electronic edition.) La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.