The Sinner’s Prayer
Mar 8th, 2007 by Admin
In CT there is an article entitled “Jesus and the Sinner’s Prayer,” questioning the current popular view of how to obtain salvation. The sinner’s prayer. The article notes that Jesus never invites or instructs someone to pray a “sinner’s prayer” or “invite Him into their hearts.” In fact in 2 different instances Jesus says to obey the law and you will inherit eternal life?
This answer would be considered heretical in today’s modern churches. But yet, it was the very words of Jesus Christ Himself? It seems that faith and works go hand in hand. My question is how can so many Americans claim that they believe in Christ, but yet don’t produce any fruit? Maybe we don’t really believe?
I’ve addressed this easy believism in another post entitled: “Saved By Faith? Or Works?,” but wanted to reference this article to show that I’m not the only heretic!
Admin
I agree. I know that we are saved by faith alone, but faith involves more than just belief. A lot of people seem to confuse this point. Faith in the bible involves belief, repentance, change, and obedience. For example, I note that the bible tells us that to be saved we have to believe, repent, confess with our mouths, and be baptized.
Now, some would argue that those are works and in a sense, they are. But, they say, we are not saved by works. This is true: we are not saved by OUR works, but by Jesus’ work on the cross. But the things we do are merely our response to his works and the salvation we receive is not by our merit but by his.
Saying a “sinner’s prayer” in of itself wrong, but if that’s all we think we need to do, we are missing out on a lot more that the bible tells us to do.
Right on! I think so much of it is because so many Americans haven’t simply heard “the truth”, that salvation MUST produce change in someone’s life, or it is not real.
In fact, the repentance happens first! But it seems like nobody wants to hear it (of course they don’t, it rocks their thinking!), so it’s not really accepted well.
Let’s be like Paul, and preach the whole gospel… meaning you must repent AND have faith in Jesus to save you.
PS. Have you heard of livingwaters.com? Check out the “Hell’s Best Kept Secret”… Don’t worry, it’s not a sermon on hell, but it’s just down the line of what you are saying, and I found it really encouraging.
God bless,
Coops
I tend to think that since God alone grants salvation as a gift, any outward display of an inner faith, including the decision to repent and say the sinner’s pray, is merely a response to the salvation that God has placed within.
I think if we are going to make the claim of being “saved,” we must keep working for the cause of good in order to justify that claim. Works may not saved, but they do justify the faith which sanctifies.
sprocket-
Agreed. I had a friend who was into evangelism. The goal was the sinner’s prayer. Once that was accomplished, the job was done. Needless to say, little fruit came out of this labor. That’s not to say that no fruit came, but I would say little.
Coops-
I have the book “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” and have had the opportunity to hear Ray Comfort in person. Talk about a paradigm shift! That sermon is one every Christian in America should hear!
Somehow, the transforming power of God is absent from today’s conversion?
Progressive-
I’m not sure I follow the “salvation from within” thought? I don’t know if it’s debate-worthy – but I feel as though salvation comes from Christ. It was an outward work that He did. It is a gift that is offered to all and must be accepted. We acknowledge that in and of ourselves we cannot save ourselves, therefore we need the salvation that only Christ can give.
The work is completed on the inside, and reflects an outward change.
Heretic:
Rather new to your site here, so I’m checking out all the topics….good stuff all around. I won’t dive too far into the debate on what is called either “once saved, always saved” or “eternal security” (depending on which side of the fence you are standing on), but I will say that in my opinion, free will dictates that if we are ever free to choose to follow Christ, then we must also be free to susequently un-choose to follow Him. The Calvinist response, of course, is that anyone who ends up on the “do not admit” list at the end just wasn’t sincere when they made the initial choice to follow Christ, a defense I find rather weak.
Like you, I agree that saying the “Sinner’s Prayer” is a good start, but it can’t be the end of the story. Unfortunately, this has been the focus of the Church for some time. God obviously desires a relationship, rather than a one-time acknowledgment. What was all that talk about running the race, if showing up at the track was the only thing it took to be “a runner”?
While it is my opinion that one can live his or her life in such a manner as to “un-choose” to have a relationship with God through Christ, no one can truly say just what the rules are, or “how bad” someone can be and still get into heaven. Thus, the idea of eternal security is a very neat philosophy to have. Maybe this will be the case, that I live my life to please God and in the end find out that I could have killed six million Jews and still be assured of my salvation. But in this case, I see at least no harm in a modified Pascal’s Wager, as I would rather not take advantage of His Grace.
Think of it this way: if I love my wife (and I do), would I even be sitting around debating if I could sleep around and still be married? I would desire a relationship with her, and would not become so “secure” in my relationship that I would boast to others that I had said “I do” once, so that’s all I need to worry about.