There is a fairly recent development in church history that has pervaded mainstream methods of evangelism known as the sinner's prayer. It is a recited gospel invitation meant to convict unbelievers of sin and to assure new converts of having been delivered by God from their sins. We frequently hear zealous pastors during their sermons calling people in their audiences to repeat after them a formulaic prayer with the intention of ensuring the salvation of listeners.
The first and foremost problem with the notion of a sinner's prayer is that nowhere does Scripture assure people of salvation on the basis that they recited a prayer. It nowhere guarantees salvation to people who recite a specific sequence of words. For example, nowhere do we see the apostles in the Book of Acts assuring people of salvation just because they recited a formula of prayer. There is more to conversion in that it involves the human heart and the Spirit of God.
Justification in the sight of God is not obtained by ritualistic means, but by faith. If reciting the sinner's prayer is a biblically sound practice, then why did the Apostle Paul fail to mention that concept in his basic presentation of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)? We cannot immediately assure people who have recited a prayer of salvation because we cannot look at their hearts. We do not know whether others have truly surrendered themselves to God.
Furthermore, the sinner's prayer has given many unsaved individuals a false assurance of salvation. It has given people a false sense of security in regards to their true standing with the Lord. That is the most spiritually dangerous state to be trapped in. At best, the sinner's prayer contains elements of truth mixed with error. The worst aspect of this all is that people end up spending eternity in hell because of their self-deception.
This is not to communicate the idea that every individual who has recited a sinner's prayer is a false convert. Rather, we ought to cease implementing that method in witnessing to other people because it is both unbiblical and deceptive. In fact, it was not until the nineteenth century when a lawyer named Charles Finney invented the sinner's prayer. The concept has been drastically popularized by evangelists such as Billy Graham.
It is certainly biblical to guide somebody in prayer and repentance. It is certainly biblical for a sinner to ask God for His forgiveness. The confession of sin is very much a biblical concept. We can also have assurance of salvation (1 John 5:13). However, assuring a person of having a righteous standing before God on the basis of repeating a prayer is misguided. We are saved by the atonement of Jesus Christ. We receive Him by faith (John 1:12-13).
The first and foremost problem with the notion of a sinner's prayer is that nowhere does Scripture assure people of salvation on the basis that they recited a prayer. It nowhere guarantees salvation to people who recite a specific sequence of words. For example, nowhere do we see the apostles in the Book of Acts assuring people of salvation just because they recited a formula of prayer. There is more to conversion in that it involves the human heart and the Spirit of God.
Justification in the sight of God is not obtained by ritualistic means, but by faith. If reciting the sinner's prayer is a biblically sound practice, then why did the Apostle Paul fail to mention that concept in his basic presentation of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)? We cannot immediately assure people who have recited a prayer of salvation because we cannot look at their hearts. We do not know whether others have truly surrendered themselves to God.
Furthermore, the sinner's prayer has given many unsaved individuals a false assurance of salvation. It has given people a false sense of security in regards to their true standing with the Lord. That is the most spiritually dangerous state to be trapped in. At best, the sinner's prayer contains elements of truth mixed with error. The worst aspect of this all is that people end up spending eternity in hell because of their self-deception.
This is not to communicate the idea that every individual who has recited a sinner's prayer is a false convert. Rather, we ought to cease implementing that method in witnessing to other people because it is both unbiblical and deceptive. In fact, it was not until the nineteenth century when a lawyer named Charles Finney invented the sinner's prayer. The concept has been drastically popularized by evangelists such as Billy Graham.
It is certainly biblical to guide somebody in prayer and repentance. It is certainly biblical for a sinner to ask God for His forgiveness. The confession of sin is very much a biblical concept. We can also have assurance of salvation (1 John 5:13). However, assuring a person of having a righteous standing before God on the basis of repeating a prayer is misguided. We are saved by the atonement of Jesus Christ. We receive Him by faith (John 1:12-13).
It isn't the prayer that saves, it is whether the heart and understanding comes to faith in Christ as savior. And that is the problem with the "sinner's prayer." No heart behind it and there is no salvation. IF a person really used that prayer, or any similar prayer, with the heart truly in accordance with the prayer, then that faith will be recognized. However, I doubt that even a small percentage of people who said the "sinner's prayer" ever had the heart in accordance with what they were citing.
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