DENOMINATIONAL DOCTRINES: “The Sinner’s Prayer”
LIBERTY AND LOVE #116
No one has to “repeat after you” in order to be saved. Getting one’s heart and soul right with God is not the same as taking an oath to uphold the law. We’ve all seen or heard them. Religious professionals walking about a “sanctuary” paid for by “tithes and offerings” that people have been manipulated into paying, telling everyone to “bow their heads and close their eyes” while they make an impassioned plea to “accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.” It’s all very theatrical and formulaic. It is also totally unnecessary and can be quite guileful.
While some maintain that baptism is the “magic moment” when a person gets saved, other groups, who condemn what they call the “baptismal regeneration” people, do the exact same thing with this mysterious, man-made “Sinner’s Prayer.” The “baptism is the magic moment” doctrine is no more unbiblical than the “sinner’s prayer is the magical moment” one. I’ve read of “The Lord’s Prayer” in the Bible, but that sinner’s prayer thing cannot be found. Sounds like a job for Sherlock Holmes: “The Case of the Missing Prayer.”
It is ironic that preachers speak as though they hate the concept of obedience or works, even in their proper biblical context, so much that they will tell someone, “There is nothing you can do to be saved. Christ has done it all.” Think of the logic behind that. “There is nothing you can do to be saved. Now repeat after me: Lord Jesus I am a sinner. Come into my heart and save me.” Does anyone ever stop to think that man-made doctrines are almost always totally illogical. “You can’t do anything, so do this.” Praying a prayer is doing something. And it is just as much a work as getting dunked in water.
The matter of following Jesus is not a business exchange. It’s not “you say a prayer and you get salvation.” That is as much salvation by works as anything. Prayer is a work. Just as much as feeding the poor or giving to support the gospel or being baptized in water.
When asked to explain the basis of the “Sinner’s Prayer,” the denominational spokesman, for whatever denomination he represents, will point to the prayer of the tax collector: “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). But that is a parable to illustrate an attitude and the contrast particularly between an attitude that disgusts God and an attitude that pleases him. It is not in any way tied to some emotional “altar call” that is given as the piano player softly tickles the ivories as though he is in the dark corner of a classy lounge. If the prayer of the tax collector is the way to obtain salvation, then you also need to beat on your chest like he did.
All denominations and man-made religious groups are the same when you boil them down. They have human fingerprints all over them because they were all founded by men. There are ministers-pastors-preachers, whatever they are called in that group, who are not out spending time in the streets sharing the gospel and helping the poor. They are sitting in their church offices with nothing to do but either study “theology” or get into trouble. Serving the Lord was never meant to be an occupation in that way.
If a person wants to be saved, they simply make up their mind that they are going to love and follow Jesus. It is a decision of the will to believe that Christ is real and that we are going to follow him. Perhaps this man-made prayer that is taught by so many Evangelical groups can serve the function of prompting someone to actually do that in their heart. But make no mistake, it is what happens in their heart that will make the difference with or without the prayer or the theatrics.
A much better concept would be for a Christ-lover to tell someone about Jesus and show her how simple it is to follow him. She can make up her mind to love and follow Jesus Christ and that is as good as a marriage. Then, in whatever manner of baptism is possible or preferred, step across the line and let people know that she is now a Christ follower. No denominational help is needed. No prayers, no formalities, no Evangelical middlemen—just one sinner loving a Savior who loved them first.
Home churches, or at least groups with a home church, laid-back approach, are the best ways to follow Christ. He is not impressed with our shows. And certainly, no one needs to be emotionally drawn to “make a decision for Jesus” in a revival meeting or a church service when “church services” did not exist in the New Testament. Any decision that is made emotionally will pass away. The decision needs to be logical. It needs to be based on the will. Emotions will come and go, but once the decision has been made to love and follow Jesus, someone who really loves and follows him will do so just as much when they don’t feel like it as when they do.
I am not God, therefore I cannot say that man-made denominations do not serve some purpose. What I can say is that they are not found in the Bible and Jesus did not establish a single one of them. Nor did Jesus and the apostles establish the way that they conduct their “services” on Sunday or their “business” through the week, or the way that they do evangelism and “win souls” to Christ. There are exceptions to all of this of course, but denominational doctrines, including the idea that a person can say a prayer and have his ticket punched forever, will likely do more harm than good for most people.
What we need are people who love Jesus modeling what that love for Jesus is about, the focus always being on the man, Christ Jesus. No denominational doctrines to learn. No particular views of the end times. No Bible translation arguments. No new converts being drawn into arguments over how “worship services” should be conducted when, biblically, there is no such thing as a “worship service.”
No one needs to be drawn into theological debates about baptism versus “the Sinner’s Prayer,” or election versus free will, or premillennialism versus amillennialism versus post-millennialism. All of these things are distractions. The devil is the master of confusion and distraction. And nothing confuses and distracts more than denominational doctrines.
The poor newcomer to all of this nonsense is told to believe to be saved, but he is also told that he must pray a prayer to be saved. Well, which is it? Is it belief? Or is it the prayer? Or is it belief plus the prayer? If it’s belief plus the prayer, then what does that do to your “salvation by faith alone” doctrine? Since James spoke of the “prayer of faith,” prayer and faith are not the same thing.
When you get out of the cathedrals and away from the paid clergymen and women and the professional CEOs of denominational groups, and look at Christianity as a relationship with a person, then none of these things even come into play. And that’s the way it should be.
All denominations have their list of things a person has to do to be saved, no matter how long or short the lists are. That is like giving a man a list of things he must do to love a woman. That is not the way love works. Love is a decision, not a formula. And love for Jesus is personal and has nothing to do with any man-made religious group.
I love all of my brothers and sisters who love Jesus, no matter if they are in these man-made groups or out of them. My writing may be direct, but it is meant to help our common cause, which should only be Jesus. Surely I’m not your enemy for trying to help you even if you don’t believe you need any help. You are free to consider and reject anything I write. Or not even read it. I am not an inspired spokesman for God. What you are not free to do is hate me because I call attention to things that I believe are hurting the cause I hope we all would die for.
Dewayne Dunaway