Thinking about modern ecclesiastical superstitions, I remembered a topic that has occupied my thoughts in the past. As Americans in the last days, I am sure we have all encountered either in print or in speech the Sinner's Prayer. In it's various versions it is basically a formulated prayer through the use of which a sinner can ask God for forgiveness of sins and for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. My purpose is not to argue whether or not this prayer should be used, since I am sure it has been used sincerely as a true expression of a sinner's repentance from sin and reliance on Christ for deliverance. Rather, my point is concerning it's devastating misuse in the evangelical Christian community. There are actually some striking parallels between Roman Catholic indulgences and the sinner's prayer as it is often misused today that can help us to understand what is truly at stake.
When Martin Luther posted his 95 theses in 1517 he was doing so in reaction to the many doctrinal inaccuracies he perceived in the Roman Catholic Church. One of these was the sale of indulgences. Intended to bring in money for the Catholic Church, these indulgences held out the promise of good works credited to one's account so that one's punishment for sin would be less severe. Luther denounces this teaching when he says in his 36th thesis: " Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon." The use of indulgences flies in the face of passages such as Ephesians 2:8-10 and 2 Corinthians 3:5 that teach salvation Sola Gratia et Sola Fide (by grace alone through faith alone) in Christ alone (Solus Christus), apart from works of sinful man.
In too many modern evangelical's minds the sinner's prayer can be seen as the single determining factor in someone's salvation. Phrases such as "If you prayed this prayer you are now a Christian" frequently accompany its usage. In this case the prayer is being raised above what it has in it by nature. Prayer, by nature, is a plea, request, or praise to God, who is outside, beyond, and above us and owes nothing to sinful men. Prayer in itself has no power; it is not a magic incantation that guarantees immediate, self-satisfying results.
So are you seeing any connections yet? The main similarity that I want to point out is that both indulgences and a misused sinnner's prayer promise something they do not have the power to deliver. Indulgences gave hope of lessened penalties for sin, but were in reality only pieces of parchment with no spiritual significance. The sinner's prayer used as a fool-proof means to gain salvation gives hope of salvation and eternal life, but is in reality only words when not accompanied by a truly repentant heart. When people think salvation is as easy as praying a prayer, they have been deceived. It is not the prayer that saves; God saves the sinner, and prayer is a faith-filled, repentant, trusting response to God from a heart that has been given new life. We love because he first loved us. Otherwise we hate. (Titus 3:3-7)
A lesser, but yet interesting, parallel between the two is the motive that is so often behind both of them. Just as the RC church sought to benefit monetarily from the sale of indulgences, so many churches may seek to benefit numerically from their use of the sinner's prayer. Because numbers are now often used as a measure of success, any method that will increase the numbers is seen as desirable. Unfortunately this comes at the expense of a pure gospel, which promises justification only by reliance on Christ's work and only by repentance of all efforts toward self-salvation, which are essentially sin. In the end, many sinners may go away feeling justified for praying a prayer, when in fact they are no closer to the kingdom than they were before.
I am still developing my thoughts on this, so any contributions or corrections are appreciated. I sense that there is more to this topic than that with which I have dealt, but I just don't have the time now to add more.
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3 comments:
You're quite right Christopher! The means of prayer has been made an end. Prayer's formula lulls those of us who merely pray it into feeling falsely secure. Instead of regularly examining ourselves to see if we are in the faith [if what we’ve prayed is bearing fruit from the Vine], we believe superstitiously in the efficasy of the mere prayer we’ve prayed. We’ve raised the prayer above what it has in it by nature. And you’re right, since many in the evangelical church have become intoxicated with the wine of numerical success, we lose the sense of what constitutes the nature of genuine conversion. The tragic result is our doing “whatever works” [pragmatism] to bring them in.
Thank you Christopher for your comment, that was well put brother.I never thought to put the prayer that leaves a died sinner still died up against the modern-day indulgence. Brilliant work my brother. If you guys get a chance read G.Richard Fisher on "Confronting The Superstitious Church Of The 21st Century" @ https:/www.pfo.org/confront.htm You will not regret it
Dude, you're a really good writer.
I guess I've always had a problem with the Sinner's Prayer because I grew up believing that it was the prayer that saved a person. But as I began studying the Bible, I discovered that salvation is through faith - nowhere does it say, "Pray this prayer and you will be saved."
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