Sinner's prayer
The Sinner's Prayer is an evangelical Christian term referring to any prayer of repentance, prayed by individuals who feel convicted of the presence of sin in their lives and have the desire to form or renew a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is a popular phenomenon in evangelical circles. It is not intended as liturgical like a creed or a confiteor, but rather, is intended to be an act of initial conversion to Christianity. While some Christians see reciting the sinner's prayer as the moment defining one's salvation, others see it as a beginning step of one's lifelong faith journey.
It also may be prayed as an act of "re-commitment" for those who are already believers in the faith. Often, at the end of a worship service, in what is known as an altar call, a minister or other worship leader will invite those desiring to receive Christ to repeat with him or her the words of some form of a sinner's prayer. It also is frequently found on printed gospel tracts, urging people to "repeat these words from the bottom of your heart".
The "Sinner’s Prayer" takes various forms, all of which have the same general thrust. Since it is considered a matter of one's personal will, it can be prayed silently, aloud, read from a suggested model, or repeated after someone modeling the prayer role. There is no formula of specific words considered essential, although it usually contains an admission of sin and a petition asking that Jesus enter into the person's heart. The use of the sinner's prayer is common within some Protestant denominations, such as Baptist Churches and Methodist Churches, as well as in movements that span several denominations, including evangelical, fundamental, and charismatic Christianity. It has also been used, though not as widely, by some Anglicans, Lutherans, and Roman Catholics. It is sometimes uttered by Christians seeking redemption or reaffirming their faith in Christ during a crisis or disaster, when death may be imminent.
The "Sinner’s Prayer" is not without its critics. Because no such prayer or conversion is found in the Bible, some biblical scholars have even labeled the sinner's prayer a "cataract of nonsense" and an "apostasy". David Platt has raised questions over the authenticity of the conversions of people using the sinner's prayer based on research by George Barna.
Origins
The Sinner's Prayer, as popularly known today, has roots in Protestant Christianity. Some affirm that it evolved, in some form or another, during the early days of the Protestant Reformation, as a reaction against the Roman Catholic dogma of justification by means of meritorious works. Others believe it originated as late as the eighteenth century revival movement. However, Paul Harrison Chitwood, in his doctoral dissertation on the history of the Sinner's Prayer, provides strong evidence that the Sinner's Prayer originated in the early twentieth century.Evangelists such as Billy Graham and evangelistic organizations such as Campus Crusade for Christ brought the concept to prominence in the 20th century. Televangelists often ask viewers to pray a Sinner's Prayer with them, one phrase at a time, to become a Christian. Quite commonly, such a prayer appears at the conclusion of a tract and is recited in a religious service or other public service as an invitation for congregants to affirm their faith, sometimes as part of an altar call. It is said to happen many times every day around the world—in one-to-one conversations between friends, relatives, and even strangers; in pastors' offices; via email; in online chat rooms; in addition to both small and large worship services.
Typical examples
An early proponent of the sinner's prayer was the well-known American evangelist D. L. Moody.An early version of what some would consider the Sinners' Prayer is found in Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, published in 1678, Ninth Stage, Chapter 18:
Billy Graham
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name. Amen.Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ)
St. Paul Street Evangelization
Support
The Peace with God organization, and other evangelistic organizations and preachers, messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention 2012 annual meeting reaffirmed the "Sinner's Prayer" after some debate:Criticisms
The absence of any specific examples of people praying the "Sinner's Prayer" in the Bible is also used by some to argue against it. There are also no examples of conversions in the Bible with people praying such a prayer. Though a more prominent concern is voiced by those who say it creates within the sinner a false sense of security."Authentic Conversions?"
David Platt, a prominent Southern Baptist pastor in Birmingham, Alabama, has said that "Many assume they are saved simply because of a prayer they prayed. It's not that praying a prayer in and of itself is bad—but the question in is what kind of faith are we calling people to?" Speaking at the Verge church leaders' conference said the emphasis on the Sinner's Prayer is "unbiblical and damning." he continued,Platt says he is concerned that some people "say they believe in Jesus, …say they have accepted Jesus, …say that they have received Jesus, but they are not saved and will not enter the kingdom of heaven". While he affirmed that people calling out to God with repentant faith is fundamental to attaining eternal life, he said his comments about the "sinner's prayer" have been deeply motivated "by a concern for authentic conversions".
Subsequently, he has written:
Francis Chan, a well-known evangelical Christian, has been making statements that contradict the sinner's prayer and emphasizing baptism and the Holy Spirit
Possibly shallow, or insincere commitment
A second and related criticism is that many believers fail to mature as Christians after their supposed conversion using the Sinner's Prayer. An article in Christianity Today claims that "mediocrity and hypocrisy characterize the lives of many avowed Christians".The writer encourages believers to go beyond a sinner's prayer and "embark on a life fully devoted to the love of God, the love of neighbor, the moral practice of God's will, and radical, costly discipleship". "Love of God" and "Love of neighbor" are the Great Commandments. See also Disciple.
Does the reciter truly understand what the commitment to Christ really means? Praying a sinner’s prayer with someone who isn't genuinely repentant may create a false sense of security in the one reciting it. According to, if a sinner is ready to accept Jesus as Savior, a biblical prerequisite is that the sinner has been drawn by the Holy Spirit.
Not Taught in Revelation 3:20 or Romans 10:9-10, 13
Another criticism of the Sinner's Prayer is that passages used to support it actually are not about the lost repeating a prayer in order to become Christians. The Sinner's Prayer is often employed in conjunction with Revelation 3:20 and Romans 10:9-10, 13. Revelation 3:20 is employed to teach that Christ is knocking at the door of one's heart, and when a lost person asks Him to come inside, Jesus comes into the sinner's heart. Romans 10:9-10, 13 are employed to affirm that one must confess with his mouth, that is, say the sinner's prayer, in order to become a Christian. However, the Baptist Greek professor Thomas Ross argues that Revelation 3:20 is about members of a church turning to the Lord, not about Christ entering into the heart of the lost. He provides 14 reasons that Revelation 3:20 is not about the lost asking Jesus into their hearts to become saved. He similarly argues that Romans 10:9-14 refers to Christians confessing Christ publicly before men and manifesting a life of prayer, rather than to the lost becoming saved by a one-time repetition of the Sinner's Prayer.Another form of this criticism of the sinner's prayer states that simply praying the sinner's prayer does not actually grant salvation to the one praying. One essay on the topic from the "Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry" asserts that "The 'Sinner's Prayer' is, today, an effective tool of Satan to dupe people into believing they are saved when they are not".
Absence of the Sinner's Prayer in historic Christianity
Other opponents of the Sinner's Prayer point out that no classic Christian confession of faith from any evangelical denomination in Christendom affirms that one must say the Sinner's Prayer to be saved; on the contrary, Baptist, Presbyterian and other Reformed, and other evangelical groups unanimously teach justification by faith alone. They argue that the Sinner's Prayer is a modern deviation from orthodox evangelicalism and a deviation from classic evangelical methods of evangelism. The Sinner's Prayer was not practiced before the 1700s. Therefore, to say that it is the way to be saved is to say that prior to the 1700s no one was saved.Doctrine of baptismal regeneration
alists—those Christians who believe that when one is baptized in water is the actual moment that an individual receives salvation include Roman Catholics, the Churches of Christ, International Churches of Christ, Christian churches and churches of Christ, and the United Pentecostal Church International. This is based on passages in the New Testament that some interpret to require water baptism for salvation. Examples of these may be found in,,,,.In what is termed the Great Commission of Jesus just prior to his Ascension in, he instructed his followers to go, make disciples, teach them, and baptize them. Jesus was baptized in water by John the Baptist. His disciples baptized converts, and Jesus personally baptized people, according to John 3:22 which says that "Jesus...spent some time with , and baptized." This is not in opposition to John 4:1 which says that "Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples" did. Throughout the gospels we see Jesus teaching and training the disciples to be powerful and effective at converting people. He showed them how in John 3, and by John 4 they were able to baptize on their own. Opponents of baptismal regeneration understand baptism to be a means of identifying with Christ, and that when performed by immersion it is symbolic of his death, burial and resurrection. Some dispensationalists believe the baptism that saves a person is the Baptism with the Holy Spirit that Jesus gives, and not water baptism. Many other evangelicals and fundamentalists recognize that texts such as Mark 16:16, John 3:5, and Acts 2:38 refer to baptism in water, but argue that such verses, interpreted in their context, provide no support whatsoever for baptismal regeneration. Historic or Landmark Baptists affirm that the baptism with the Holy Spirit was a completed event that took place in the first century and is not for today, arguing that texts employed to support baptismal regeneration are actually totally consistent with justification by faith alone.
Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Orthodox churches also teach that forgiveness is received in baptism. A leading Roman Catholic authority defines "baptism" in the following fashion:
Evidence presented to advocate baptism being necessary for salvation includes the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. After Christ had told Saul to enter Damascus where Saul would be told what he "must" do, Saul was blind for three days and was praying during this time. Ananias arrived, cured Paul of his blindness and baptized Saul.
Others see it as an example of apparently instantaneous salvation coming through repentance without water baptism or any kind of work, citing the assurance Jesus gave to the penitent thief on a cross next to him during the crucifixion.
An opposing position here is that the penitent thief was dying under the older Mosaic law which did not require baptism and that before Christ's death He had authority and did forgive many without any of the salvation requirements found after His Death, Burial and Resurrection found in the rest of the New Testament. Additionally, it is unknown whether the thief had been baptized at a stage in life before being crucified. John the Baptist and Jesus' disciples already had baptized many individuals.
Baptismal regenerationalists refer to water baptism as the "washing of regeneration", believing it to be part of the "born again" conversion experience in the Bible. The passage states, "And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord". Opponents of baptismal regeneration argue that vast numbers of texts in John's Gospel, the only specifically evangelistic book of the New Testament, promise eternal life to every single believer and so demonstrate that eternal life is received by faith alone before baptism. Similarly, while texts affirm that those who do not repent and believe are damned, no Biblical text affirms that the unbaptized are damned, so baptismal regeneration is false. Advocates of the Sinner's Prayer also believe verses such as Romans 10:13 show that people are saved before baptism when they pray and ask to be saved, while evangelical and fundamentalist opponents of the Sinner's Prayer believe that a defense of the Sinner's Prayer plays into the hands of opponents of justification by faith alone by enshrining a human tradition over the Biblical mandate to repent and believe to receive eternal life. Moreover, opponents of the Sinner's Prayer reference Romans 6:3-5 to assert that the audience of the book of Romans was already baptized, and, therefore, were being instructed to call on the name of the Lord after they had heard and believed the message being preached. Other verses such as Acts 22:16 suggest that baptism and "calling on His name" are complementary actions required for forgiveness of sins.