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The
Sinners Prayer
over
the past few months, i have been amazed at the amount of email
we have been getting involving the "sinner's
prayer." before i begin, let me say this - i come to
this topic with great trepidation. this trepidation is based
on the fact that no matter what i say, many will disagree; but
that never stopped me in the past and it won't stop me
now. after careful study, both historical and theological,
and prayer i have come to the following conclusion. but
first, let me give some background.
i
am amazed at the amount of controversy this topic creates.
one source i read indicated that salvation was impossible
without the prayer. the author came to the conclusion that
to truly be saved, one must prayer the prayer. while on
the other end of the critical spectrum i have read articles
denouncing the sinner's prayer as "blaspheme" and
"an abomination" of christianity. what amazed me
was how little people took the middle of the road, and believe
it or not - for that i am glad. you see, for me to take a
middle stance is to truly take no stance.
what
is the sinner's prayer - some background:
"lord,
i am a sinner, forgive me. i accept jesus as my
savior." that is a basic, simple sinner's pray.
some churches would add more, believing what i wrote was not
enough, and that's ok. because all i wanted to do here was
give a simple and basic prayer - the essence of what is required
for those who believe the prayer is required. basically,
one can say that a definition of the sinner's prayer is "a
prayer to God the sinner makes for salvation." the
three required elements are 1) to admit you are a sinner.
2) request forgiveness. 3) accept jesus as your
savior.
while
an exact date can never be made, it is estimated that the theology
of the sinners prayer is some 500 years old. it seems to
be a reaction to the roman catholic doctrine of salvation by
works. while it may have been used as far back as 500
years, it did not become a "formal protestant"
theology until billy graham and the 1950's. it was not
considered "doctrine" in many churches until that
time. while some can trace the prayer back to the 1850's,
it did not become a "formalized doctrine" until the
1950's.
is
it required for salvation?
in
researching this matter i came across several very important biblical
facts:
1.
nowhere in scripture is any person ever required to pray such a
prayer. peter never required it; paul never required it;
most importantly jesus never required it. while peter
preached his life altering sermon, which changed the life of
some 5,000, (acts 2) he did not require that any "sinners
prayer" be said. the only thing he said was that they
needed to repent and be baptized. The most famous
"one on one" sharing of faith came with phillip and
the traveler. (acts 8:26-39). phillip did not tell
the require a "sinner's prayer"
2.
by allowing sinners prayer to become "doctrine" we
have allowed it to develop into "required steps" for
salvation. according to scripture, salvation is
found in having faith in jesus as the christ.
meaning? nothing is required except faith. now, for
those who are into requiring rules and lists (and i have seen
lists ranging from 5 steps to 9 steps to salvation).
scripture simply tells us to believe (john 8:24), repent (acts
2:38) and confess christ (romans 10:9-10). the problem has
become, that while it is not required for salvation, churches
have demanded people do so, and if not they question the
"salvation" of the individual.
3.
this one is tricky, so read carefully. scripture never
tells us to confess our being a sinner, it does tell us to
confess our sins. let me share with you the
difference. confessing that we are sinners is a
cop-out. when God speaks of repenting, God desire to know
what we are repenting. we sell our relationship short when
we say "i am a sinner" - how did you sin, is the
question that must be answered. it's like walking into the
police station, walking up to the desk sergeant and saying
"i am a thief." the sergeant will say,
"so!" confessing you are a thief is nothing,
what makes you a thief? that is what the police want to
know - what crimes had you committed? don't just tell God
you are a sinner, God wants to know that you know what you did
was wrong - confess your sins, not the fact that you are a
sinner.
the
resulting questions:
so,
does that mean the sinners prayer is useless? could be,
but it does no harm. does this mean that all those who
have prayed the sinners prayer are lost? no, i would never
say that. i believe that those who have taught the
sinner's prayer is required do so out of the pure love they have
to see people saved. they are not trying to trick people,
they are trying to get people connected with God. it's not
bad, it's not good - it is not required for salvation. all
that is is faith in jesus christ as your lord and savior.
when you do this, you want to go to God and open your heart for
all the sins of your life - God wants to know that you know.
blessings
pastor
john
John
O’Keefe is the founder of www.ginkworld.net.
John sees a desperate need for the church as a whole to
change and reach a new people for Christ.
He is straightforward, honest and calls it the way it he
sees it. John is a
graduate of Drew and has been a Senior Pastor and Church Planter
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