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Assembly Times

 Sunday

   Bible Classes (10:00 am)

   AM Worship (11:00 am)

 Wednesday

   Bible Classes (7:00 pm)

Location

180 Townwood Drive

Charlottesville, VA 22901

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The Sinner's Prayer

By William J. Stewart

A local church's web site outlines how one becomes a Christian in the following 4 steps:

1. Admit your need (I am a sinner).

2. Be willing to turn from your sins (repent).

3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.

Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit (Receive Him as Lord and Savior).

Assurance is given that those who pray the sample prayer provided have "called on the name of the Lord" and are now saved (Romans 10:13). This 'pray and you're saved doctrine' is prevalent in the religious world today, but what does God's word say?

"Sinner's Prayer" In the Bible
As we search the Bible for just one example of a person saved as the result of a sinner's prayer, we end our quest with no results. The sinner's prayer, as taught in most churches today is foreign to the Bible. When the apostles' doctrine (Acts 2:42) was preached, the people didn't pray that they might be saved, but rather "...those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them." (Acts 2:41; cf. 47) Having received the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), the people were given to prayer (Acts 2:42); not in order to be saved, but because they had obeyed God's will, and were now the children of God.

If we expand the parameters of our search for a sinner's prayer in the Bible, we come across a man named Cornelius. We are told that he was ...a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. (Acts 10:2)

Though he was a very religious man, he was not saved. Though described in this manner, he was still dead in sin. However, an angel appeared to Cornelius in a vision, telling him,

...Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. ...He will tell you what you must do. (Acts 10:4-6)

His devotion, fear, alms and prayers did not save him, but in response to his faith, God brought together student and teacher, so that he might hear the gospel, obey God's word, and thus be saved (Acts 10:6, 19-20, 22, 33, 46-48; 11:13-15). This biblical sinner's prayer resulted in the hearing of the gospel, not salvation.

Receive the Lord into Your Heart
Denominational preachers compel folks to "receive the Lord into your heart as your personal Saviour." What does the Bible say about receiving the Lord?

“The sinner's prayer, as taught in most churches today is foreign to the Bible.” 

John 1:12-13 declares,

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

If we will receive the Lord, then we have the right to become the children of God! But how do we receive the Lord?

Jesus plainly taught,

...if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him - the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. (John 12:47-48)

We cannot receive Jesus apart from receiving His word. If we will receive Jesus as Lord, we must obey what He has said (Luke 6:46). He is "the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him" (Hebrews 5:9). Indeed friend, we must receive the Lord, but on His terms, not our own.

Call on the Name of the Lord

Again, salvation seekers are told to "call on the name of the Lord" (Romans 10:13). We've already noted that this is not accomplished through a sinner's prayer. Calling on the name of the Lord is more than calling out His name. The Bible teaches us how to call on the name of the Lord.

In Damascus, Ananias came to a blind and weary Saul of Tarsus, admonishing him,

And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. (Acts 22:16)

Calling on the name of the Lord is accomplished through obedience to His word. Romans 10:13 is a favourite text of those who subscribe to the non-biblical sinner's prayer model. That obedience is part and parcel of calling on the Lord is evident, as we look just a few verses later,

But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed our report?' So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:16-17)

Let us heed God's instruction regarding salvation, not that which finds it's origin with man. It is God's say so that we will be judged by in the final day, not man's think so. Hear, obey, and be saved.