No sinner's prayer--No salvation?

[Tom Butler]

I know a number of people who confess Christ as Lord who never prayed the sinner's prayer. I am one of them.

The question: Can one be saved without praying the prayer? Are we who have never done it saved or lost?

Tom

 

[bapmom]

I had often wondered why so many here had a problem with the so-called "sinner's prayer". I had always thought of it as the natural crying out to God upon realization that one needed to be saved and desired to turn to Christ. But then Ive recently read how some (a minority) will just tell people to "pray this prayer" with almost no explanation. I don't think you can then call that a sinner's prayer.

Tom, Id ask you if you have trusted CHrist as your own saviour....if there was a time you remember turning to Christ in repentance and realization that you needed salvation and it could only be given you through Christ. It doesn't matter what you prayed to God specifically. I think it does take some sort of mental assent towards God, as "calling on the name of the Lord Jesus CHrist" does imply some sort of talking to Him.

I knew one man who declared that he had just woken up one morning and realized he was saved........I could never figure out what he was talking about, but I just could not see that as him "calling" out to God.

 

[KenH]

Originally posted by Tom Butler:
The question: Can one be saved without praying the prayer?

Yes. Salvation is not a rote, cookie cutter process.

 

[TaterTot]

yes, one can be saved w/out repeating "the prayer"

 

[Joshua Rhodes]

We all know John 3:16. John 3:15 sums it up even more succinctly: "...that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life." It is belief that is the issue for salvation, not the particular set of words that are used.

"He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." John 3:18

 

[Helen]

My "sinner's prayer" when I finally realized who God was and what a mess I was ran along the lines of "God, if you still want me, please take me."

He did. He knows the heart.

 

[PastorSBC1303]

Of course someone can be saved without repeating some prayer.

Helen, I think that is a great prayer.

 

[Diggin in da Word]

Too often I have heard preachers have someone 'repeat these words' and that person may or may not have gotten saved, Only God knows. But the written formula is not the sinner's prayer. It may have been one sinner's prayer at the time he or she got saved, but the true sinner's prayer must come from within each and every individual's own heart. One must be repentent of sin, one must be sorry for sin, and one must want to be cleansed from sin.

What is the sinner's prayer? For one man in the Bible it was just, 'Lord, be merciful unto me, a sinner'.

 

[SeekingTruth]

Diggin,

Amen. That is the only prayer an unsaved person has. We are all sinners, just that some sinners have been taken into the family of God.

As an added thought, salvation is of the Lord. Regardless of how or what man (or woman) prayes or doesn't pray.

 

[Tom Butler]

Thanks for the replies so far. My personal testimony is posted under the thread "Testimonies."

Some of you said unequivocally that one need not pray a prayer to be saved.

Bapmom said just telling people to "pray the prayer" is not a true sinners prayer. She would ask me some questions (similar to those my pastor asked me),but does point to Romans 10:13 "calling on the name of the Lord", as some sort of prayer.

Helen's prayer seemed to include recognition of sin, the sinful mess she was, and her need for Christ's salvation. I liked it because it was a cry from the depths of her soul. I did not get from her post that praying for salvation was necessary, but she was relating just what happened to her.

Diggin in da Word leans toward a sincere prayer, but didn't say I was lost because I didn't pray for salvation, just confessed Him as Lord. He cied the prayer of the publican as one prayer.

Thankfully, nobody yet has declared me a lost sinner (whew!), but maybe it's early yet.

BTW, we just Romans 10:13..."call upon the name of the Lord..." as a basis for praying for salvation. But the verse does not say call on the Lord, but whoever calls on the NAME of the Lord. Anybody want to interpret that as other than prayer?


Tom

 

[arkie pastor]

I like the way the pastor addressed my request when I felt God's calling me to salvation....I went foward and expressed to him my feelings God was laying upon my heart to accept Jesus as my Saviour......He simply stated to me...." Well I suggest that you talk to Him that can save you".....I did and He did.

 

[mima]

For years I did not believe in leading anyone in a sinners prayer. Then one night while witnessing a man went to his knees, and clasped his hands together in front of himself and said," old please help me I don't pray please help me pray"! And so I've been leading people in a sinners prayer ever since that night. Is a sinners prayer necessary for salvation? NO!! But many people are helped by saying a sinners prayer. Example, they always know and have a time that they can refer back to as having done this.

 

[standingfirminChrist]

My testimony is on the testimony thread. I like the many answers given here.

arkie had a great testimony above in saying he felt God's calling, and went forward.

Many go to the front just to satisfy their family, or girlfriend/boyfriend, or pastor, or someone else. If one is not seeking salvation based on God's drawing, one is not going to find salvation. One must be repentent, have remorse for sin, and call out to God.

arkie went on to say his pastor did not walk him through a list of sentences, but rather told arkie to talk to God. Wise pastor.

Amen, Brother Steve!

 

[EdSutton]

Originally posted by Tom Butler:
Thanks for the replies so far. My personal testimony is posted under the thread "Testimonies."

Some of you said unequivocally that one need not pray a prayer to be saved.

Put me in that crowd!! With a double order of the "unequivocally" part! As I have before stated, in acordance with Scripture, I believe, 'believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved' is not only is the only thing one HAS to do to be saved, it is the only thing one CAN do to be saved.

While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the so-called "sinner's prayer" as Luke 18:13b is rendered in the KJV (NO! We are NOT going there, for those who SO look forward to making THAT trip!) as "God be merciful to me a sinner", this does miss the point of the Greek "`ilas'komai" rendered merciful. A more accurate reading, IMO, would render this as "God, (You) be 'propitiated' for me, the sinner."

Hilaskomai refers to the mercy-seat, and the blood covering, which is what is rendered as propitiation- the atoning sacrifice at the 'place of God' on our behalf. The publican was actually asking for God to provide himself the Lamb, as Abraham said to Isaac, on Mt. Moriah. This prayer was looking forward to the once and for all-time Sacrifice of the Lamb of God, not yet made, on the Cross at Mt. Moriah. It was inded a prayer of faith.

That same prayer, offered today, is just the oposite, a prayer of dis-belief. For the Lamb was slain, the covering on the mercy-seat was made, once and for all time, the debt was paid with the blood of the Lord Jesus, and He arose from the grave, for our justification. Read Hebrews!

To ask for this to be done again time and time over (Are some of you listening, here?) is to put one's self under the condemnation of Hebrews 10:29, by 'trodding under foot the Son of God, counting the blood of the covenant with which he was (once, for all time) sanctified an unholy thing, and doing so over the protests of the Holy Spirit!' Hebrews 10:26 says there is no "other" sacrifice for sins.

One now has the knowledge of the truth (Certainly not bragging, but if one didn't know this before, he or she does now!). There's nowhere else to go! All the doors are now shut and padlocked, here, save one. Atonement as a word derives from "at one moment". That one (and only) 'moment' was the one-time death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. All the 'mini-moments' of rams, bulls, and goats looked to here, all the way back to Adam.

At this time, the Son cried, "Finished!"; The Sun had already refused to give her light; the earth shook to the point of opening graves; some of the dead were raised; The veil of the temple was "rent in twain". The access was now open for all. The one door, the door of Noah's Ark, symbolic of the true door, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 10:9) is now open to the Ark of the Covenant, topped by that blood-covered mercy-seat, which had been hidden for 1600 years, but is now visible and available to any and all who "call upon the Lord", not in anticipation, but exhilaration. For God, the Father, who literally forsook God, the Son, at the cross, and the Holy Spirit, who did as well now all pronounced a one word decree at this time.
The Father thundered, "Satisfied!";

The Son cried, "Finished!";

The Holy Spirit whispered, "Come!".

What now? In the language of today, "Believe it!" That is the whole sum and substance! That is why you will find this some 200 times in the NT. John uses 'believe' 99 times in his Gospel, alone. It is the only book said to have been given "that you might have life", by believing. (John 20:30-31)

Bapmom said just telling people to "pray the prayer" is not a true sinners prayer. .."

We just covered this above. In a way, the Holy Spirit does the "praying and the inviting" part; We are to just 'do' the "believing" part! (NO! We are not going down THAT road today, either, on this bus route!)

Thankfully, nobody yet has declared me a lost sinner (whew!), but maybe it's early yet.

BTW, we just Romans 10:13..."call upon the name of the Lord..." as a basis for praying for salvation. But the verse does not say call on the Lord, but whoever calls on the NAME of the Lord. Anybody want to interpret that as other than prayer?


Tom

Oh yeah! One more thing! I see Tom wrote:

" Thankfully, nobody yet has declared me a lost sinner (whew!), but maybe it's early yet."

Patience, my boy, patience! I'm sure there are more than one who would be more than willing to remedy THAT situati...!
Ed

[ February 20, 2006, 05:08 PM: Message edited by: EdSutton ]

 

[Tom Butler]

Thank you, thank you Bro. Ed! So eloquently have you expressed what I believe.

So far, no one has said praying the prayer is necessary for salvation, but some, Mima for instance, still use it in their personal witnessing.

My concern is not the use of a prayer. It is the corruption of it that bothers me. It is the misapplication that is dangerous. A couple of instances: Sunday, I listened to Joel Osteen's sermon, which as far as I can remember, never contained a single verse of Scripture. As usual, at the end he said, "we never want to close without giving you an opportunity to accept Christ. Pray this prayer....." It took me back to something I ready by D. L. Moody, who said

"It is a great mistake to give a man who has not been convicted of sin certain passages that were never meant for him. The Law is what he needs . . . Do not offer the consolation of the gospel until he sees and knows he is guilty before God. We must give enough of the Law to take away all self-righteousness. I pity the man who preaches only one side of the truth-always the gospel, and never the Law."

I remember Joel's mother Dodie telling a TV interviewer that her boy preaches only positive stuff. He doesn't go around telling people they are sinners, she said.

Then, somebody stuck a tract in my windshield, prepared by Lifeway. It was right down the line until it said something like, "Repent of your sin, trust Christ for your salvation, and....and...pray this prayer...."

Even our very own SBC tracts have added something to repentance and faith. That is my concern--by using the "sinner's prayer," are we adding something beyond what is required to be saved?

Further, if, as all the posters have said so far, it's not necessary, then why use it?

Arkie Pastor said his pastor told him to to talk to the One who can save him. Good for him. But that's a far cry from telling folks, "say these words," as if they have some magical power.

Whew! I'll pause my rant for the moment and see what others have to say.

Tom

 

[Ransom]

Tom Butler asked:

The question: Can one be saved without praying the prayer?

Of course. Since when are Baptists sacramentalists?

 

[mcdirector]

I tend to think that we Baptists have at times done a great deal of harm with some misinterpretations of a few things like the sinner's prayer and walking the aisle.

 

[AresMan]

There is nothing in the Bible that requires one to:
1. Walk down an aisle
2. Kneel down/fold hands/bow head/close eyes, etc.
3. Pray a template prayer

There is only "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" and "for by grace are ye saved through faith".

There is nothing wrong with using a "sinner's prayer" as an aid, but I think it would be wise to note to the sinner that the prayer doesn't save; it is only what is in the heart. The prayer is almost like a recap or summary of what was discussed.

 

[whatever]

See if you can find the Ethiopian eunuch's prayer in Acts 8, or Saul's prayer in Acts 9, Cornelius' prayer in Acts 10, or the prayer of Lydia in Acts 16, or the Philippian jailer in that same chapter, etc., etc., etc.

In fact, it is very interesting to see how personal witnessing was done in Acts, and to contrast it to what we usually do today.

 

[DeeJay]

And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
Luke 23:42

Here is a short sinners prayer.