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The Deception of the Sinner's Prayer

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No less than four references in the one little prayer to sin and repentance. Is this perfect theology? No. Is it anywhere in the Bible? No. But I would argue it is the right starting point for someone to be seeking Christ. A pure recognition of their sinful state before a holy God and the need for God to forgive them. Look at the onus being put upon the sinner. They are stating that they will turn from their sins, trust God and follow Him. Again, not perfect but it is too easy to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Nothing is ever going to be perfect that man has a hand in. The problem is that this version of the sinner's prayer is all but gone in America today. It has been replaced with a seeker friendly, purpose driven, watered down, sugar coated, secularly derived, pseudo-prayer that has the ability to save no one. Don't believe me? One of the foremost Christian bestsellers ever was the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, with sales approaching 50 million copies. Entire congregations read this book together when it was first published. The topic of salvation is addressed only one time in the entire book, on page 58-59 and here is what "America's Pastor" had to say to the unsaved:

"Wherever you are reading this, I invite you to bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity: "Jesus i believe in you and I receive you." Go ahead. If you sincerely meant that prayer, congratulations! Welcome to the family of God!"

Jesus I believe in you and receive you? That's it? Comparing the Warren faux-prayer to Billy Graham's gives us a precise insight into how far Christianity has fallen over the past 40 years. I believe in you and receive you? What is missing from this equation beloved? The first word uttered by Peter to those seeking salvation on the day of Pentecost - repent! Where is the acknowledgment of sin and repentance? Where is the discussion of following Jesus? The blood? The cross? The resurrection? Hear me well, unless someone goes up for altar call because the weight of their sin has finally become unbearable then there is no salvation. I use myself as an example. In 1998 my life was in disarray. I watched an infomercial at 3 am where a prominent baseball pitcher who was born again spoke about the need to be saved. He led me in the sinner's prayer through the television and even sent me a Bible. I promptly put the Bible away and when God restored my life, I promptly went back to my old ways of living. I knew I had made a deal with God but I didn't understand my part of the bargain. There was no regeneration of my heart. I was sincere when I said the sinners prayer but all that means is I would have been sincere on my way to hell if God had required my life before I actually was saved; in 2002. That was the year I stepped into a Pentecostal church and by the time my pastor was done preaching, the sheer weight of my lifetime of sin was so overwhelming, I knew i had to crawl to the altar and beg God to take it. Not only the weight of my sin but the enormity of the grace of this God who was willing to take it. I am sure we said the sinner's prayer that day as well but no prayer has the power to save anyone. Only a heart that has genuinely repented and is now willing to follow Christ leads one to salvation. 

For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There's no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.  - 2Corinthians 7: 10 (NLT)

In 1998 I had a worldly sorrow beloved. It was real and I wanted God to take it away from me. It did not however result in repentance. I liked my sin and as soon as my life smoothed out - I went right back to my sinful lifestyle. The result is that if I had died between 1998 and 2002, I would have been spiritually dead. I was not saved despite sincerely saying the sinner's prayer. And that prayer had sin and repentance in it! What we see today is a seeker friendly-purpose driven sinners prayer that says "just believe and receive!" Nothing is required of you! There is no sacrifice required! God is grace! Just bask in the finished work on Calvary! It does not work like that beloved! Any discussion of salvation needs to start with one word - repent. It is the same message John the Baptist had for us. It is the same message Jesus Himself had for us. It is the same message Peter had for us on Pentecost. The message has not changed throughout all time. The messengers however, they have changed. In an effort to fill the seats and appear popular and successful, many leaders have traded in what is right for what is expedient. The Gospel should never be tossed aside for the cause of expediency. The result as Paul Washer once famously said, is you end up with a congregation filled with goats and you are trying to teach them to act like sheep. 

The second thing Peter says is they must get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ! While the modern Pentecostal churches get baptism mostly right, there seems to be a disturbing trend amongst believers. I used to serve in the Baptism Ministry and every time we had a service there would be multiple people who claimed salvation decades earlier but were "finally getting baptized." That is not the way these verses read beloved. Repent and be baptized. I think sometimes we downplay baptism in our theology. We allow this "you can always do it later" thinking. There is a great story in the Book of Acts where Phillip is sent by God directly to witness to an Ethiopian Eunuch. Here is the immediate response from the Ethiopian to his own salvation:

As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Look! There's some water! Why can't I be baptized?"   He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.  - Acts 8: 37-38 (NLT)

Our true regeneration and salvation should result in a desire to be baptized. One of the unintended consequences of the modern day heresies are false conversions. If someone is falsely converted, then that would explain why baptism may not mean much to them. People come into seeker friendly churches every week and hear watered down faux-Gospel messages that focus only on what a great buddy God is and how much He wants to bless you. Then they stage an altar call, say it will only take a few minutes of your time when it really should take the rest of your life. People go up because they are asked questions like - do you want to go to heaven, or do you want to invite Jesus into your heart? Well who wouldn't? As Washer once said, most people want to go to heaven, they just don't want to see God when they get there. After saying a sanitized bloodless sinner's prayer they are welcomed into the family of God just like Warren teaches but Baptism? Well, maybe next time. Before they can understand anything spiritual they are put into the purpose driven model, plugged into ministry and before you know it you have a church filled with Marthas who have no idea that Mary does not exist inside of them. 

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Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to (more...)
 
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