The Sinner's Prayer – Is It Of God, Or Of Men?
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles Tags: Bible Lessons on PrayerIn Revelation 3:20, Jesus said, “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.” What a beautiful invitation and wonderful fellowship being offered by our Lord. And what a terrible misunderstanding some have of this verse.
Maybe you’ve heard someone on television say something like, “All you need to do is to pray the sinner’s prayer and ask Jesus to come into your heart.” And then the above scripture is used to support this invitation.
In Revelation 3:20, Jesus is not speaking to those who have never obeyed the gospel. He is speaking to the church (made up of the saved – Ephesians 5:23) at Laodicea, recognizing the fact that they had become arrogant, believing they were self-sufficient (Revelation 3:17). Jesus was left on the outside looking in (Revelation 3:14-22). It is the door of their heart He is knocking on, wanting back into their lives.
The fact of the matter is that the “sinner’s prayer” for salvation is of men and not of God. In the New Testament, no one convicted of their sin was ever commanded to pray for Jesus to “come into their hearts.” On the day of Pentecost, after Peter had preached Jesus to those Jews in attendance (Acts 2:5-36), he answered their question, “What shall we do?” with the answer, “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” (Acts 2:38).
The New Testament consistently portrays baptism as a component of one’s conversion (Acts 8:12-13; Acts 8:38-39; Acts 9:18; Acts 10:48; Acts 16:15; Acts 16:33; Acts 18:8; Acts 22:16). Jesus offers a simple, yet profound way to be saved – believe and be baptized – not to “pray the sinner’s prayer.” If we obey our Lord’s command, He says we’ll be saved. If we don’t, we’ll be condemned (Mark 16:16b).
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