Berean Break
January 29, 2017 broadcast
The Seeker of Truth will want to know...
A "Sinner's Prayer" or a "Sinful Prayer"?
(part 1 of 2)
by George Sinkie
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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 Sinners Prayer. But
before we do that lets 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
todays 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 doesnt 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 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: 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
OR: 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 Gods 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: Heres
A Treat For You And Some Good News.
Probably all of you have seen similar
tracts to these. This little prayer is sometimes referred
to as the Sinners 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
Sinners Prayer.
The Bible Never Mentions Such A Thing As A Sinners
Prayer.
What
verse would one use to prove that one can pray a sinners
prayer in order to be saved? The tract I received
had Ephesians 2:8-9 right before the prayer. Ephesians
2:8-9, 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 Sinners prayer, that
we are saved. So we see that this verse doesnt 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 sinners 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, 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!
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
(Ezekiel 44:9). Therefore, the Tax-gatherers
prayer of God
be merciful to me a sinner
would not be applicable to one outside of Christ today. No
support here for the Sinners Prayer.
A third passage that is sometimes
attempted to be used to promote this salvation by prayer doctrine
is Revelation 3:20. 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 Sinners 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
Christs death on the cross
some didnt. Some
mentioned having faith
some didnt. Some mentioned
following Christ after being saved
some didnt.
One mentioned washing away sins
the others
didnt. 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 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 whichever 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 Gods word,
which is the
faith we looked
at in Ephesians 2. The faith
was needed to produce their faith, Romans 10:17, So faith comes from hearing,
and hearing by the word of Christ.
The Hebrews writer shows the necessity
of faith in Hebrews 11:6, 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 Gods word
will produce faith in Jesus as Gods Son and in the gospel,
Mark 16:15-16And
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, 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 Gods plan, Acts 8:36-37, 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, you
may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God.
Satans biggest problem with
Gods plan of Salvation seems to be with the point of baptism,
the Sinners Prayer, rejects this point
and yet we have just seen that believing, repenting, and confessing
are all tied to baptism in Gods 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, And
now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash
away your sins, calling on His name.
Sometimes those who promote the
Sinners 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 Sinners 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 Avenue 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 Gods Word. If you have a comment or a
sincere Bible question, please call or text me at 605-770-5555. 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 Lords church, here in
Mitchell, good-bye for now. Remember that we care
about you and may God bless you as you do His will.
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