What About the Sinner’s Prayer?
Growing up in a mainline church, I never heard anything about a sinner’s prayer. Moving to a pentecostal church in my early-20s, the sinner’s prayer was talked about all the time.
What is the sinner’s prayer?
A sinner’s prayer is meant to be a prayer that takes place at conversion. It is basically an acknowledgement that the person is a sinner, a statement of repentance and a request that Jesus would save them.
In the pentecostal church I attended and in many other evangelical churches, the sinner’s prayer was essential. For many people, true conversion cannot take place unless a person consciously prays that prayer.
There are some problems with the sinner’s prayer. One is that it is not found in the Bible. While it could be argued that every prayer is a sinner’s prayer, there is nothing like the modern concept in the Bible. The sinner’s prayer emerged from the revivalism that took place in Europe and North America.
Another problem is that anyone can pray a sinner’s prayer. Put enough guilt or pressure on a person and they will say what they need to get relief. There is nothing magical about the words that will cause true regeneration.
Some have used these concerns to completely reject the sinner’s prayer as if it was useless or even dangerous. The sinner’s prayer has its place. It can be an important step to help some people in their Christian journey. But at the same time, those thousands and thousands of committed Christians who have grown up in the church without ever praying this prayer are no less converted.
Want to know how I became a Christian? You can watch my testimony here.
Hello Stephen,
I have learned that in term of the original sin, there seem to be two theories: one is that if we were Adam & Eve, we would have committed the same sin, and the other is that Adam was our representative, so we were all guity with him (in the legal sense), and inherited a sinful nature from him. With respect to the “inherited nature” aspect, I think it only makes sense if the first theory is true. What is your take on this issue? Could you tell me about that?
Thanks a lot!
Hello Stephen,
I have learned that in term of the original sin, there seem to be two theories: one is that if we were Adam & Eve, we would have committed the same sin, and the other is that Adam was our representative, so we were all guilty with him (in the legal sense), and inherited a sinful nature from him. With respect to the “inherited nature” aspect, I think it only makes sense if the first theory is true. What is your take on this issue? Could you tell me about that?
Thanks a lot!