Another “Sinner’s Prayer”

In The Dallas Morning News (and presumably other newspapers around the country) on August 4th, there appeared a large advertisement (a quarter of a page) with the exciting title given in the approximate format below:

The main subject of this advertisement will be discussed on the next page. What we want to notice here is their conclusion of the matter: “How to receive Him.” After quoting John 1:12, Ephesians 2:8-9, and Revelation 3:20, we find this paragraph:

The following is a suggested prayer: “Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God and that you died on the cross for my sins to save me from eternal death. I open the door of my life and receive you as my Savior and Lord. I give you my life. Help me to be what you want me to be. Amen” (36A).

Once again, this “sinner’s prayer” differs from the others because there is no such thing as a “sinner’s prayer” in the Bible. These are all concocted by men, which is the reason there is so much variation. This one mentions the importance of the Deity of Jesus, which the other two (discussed last week) omitted. However, it leaves out any mention of repentance, unless the last line is a veiled reference.

Needless to say, baptism for the remission of sins was also omitted. Not one of the three Scriptures that is cited in “How to receive Him” is from a New Testament account of conversion, a fact which should not be overlooked or minimized. Why do the various religious groups fail to appeal to the book which records all of the conversions of sinners to Christianity–Acts?

Are we saying that the verses cited are wrong? Of course not, but they should be considered in their context. The first one is from John’s introduction to the life of Christ. He makes summary statements in this section; he is not explaining the way people are saved. Many people in the course of Jesus’ ministry did “receive” Him. The question is, “How did they receive Him?” A better verse to quote from John would be the one that records what Jesus taught Nicodemus: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3), which is followed by a clarification of what He meant by the phrase, born again: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Of course, quoting John 3:5 is a risk; someone might connect that to baptism in Acts 2:38 or 1 Corinthians 12:13.

Likewise, in Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul is discussing the correct philosophy of salvation, not the particulars of it. Confessing that Jesus is the Son of God, repentance, and baptism are all left out of this passage because the focus of attention is grace versus works of merit. We have no objection to the proper use of this verse–only to its misuse as a substitute for specific accounts of conversion.

Revelation 3:20 is taken completely out of context. In fact, no one reading this advertisement would ever suspect that Jesus is speaking to members of His church–not to those who have never been saved. Like Macduff in the play, Macbeth, Revelation 3:20 has been untimely ripped from its mother’s womb, the text that would give birth to its meaning.

The passage begins with Revelation 3:14: “And to the church of the Laodiceans write….” Jesus instructed John to write letters to seven churches in Revelation 2-3; this is the last letter. The Laodiceans were lukewarm. Their prosperity was blinding them to spirituality. They thought they were in good, all-around shape and did not know that they were “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17). Jesus is speaking to Christians–members of the church at Laodicea–when He says:

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

What this verse means is that Christians can shut out Jesus from their lives–even when they are meeting together as the church. Jesus can be excluded! [And judging from the behavior of some “brethren” today, such is, in fact, happening.] In the case of the Laodiceans, they were not even aware that they had shut Him out. Oh, how we need to evaluate ourselves, as well as the church to which we belong!

The advertisement, however, would have its readers think that Jesus was speaking to those who are not Christians and telling them how to become Christians. If the producers of the advertisement really thought this was the case, the least they could have done was to have included the concept of repentance, which appears in the preceding verse–instead of omitting it entirely.

But the fact is that they are dishonest. They know the context of Revelation 3:20 as well as anyone else who has ever read the first three chapters of Revelation. The verse suits their theology; so they twist it loose from its context in an effort to deceive people.

Salvation does spring from God’s grace, and we do need to have faith in God and in Jesus as the Son of God, who gave His life on the cross for our sins. But once we have that knowledge, as the people on the day of Pentecost possessed it, then the answer to the question, “What shall we do?” is: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…” (Acts 2:38). Unlike the verses in the advertisement, these were spoken to sinners in need of salvation. “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized…” (Acts 2:41).