Will The Sinner's Prayer Get Me To Heaven (LHCOC)

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Will the Sinner’s Prayer Get Me to Heaven?

Rom.10:13

 

Grabber: “Jesus I have lived my life until this day doing what I wanted to do. Today, however, I want to make a change. I know you died for me and want to be my Lord. So I want to ask you to come into my heart. Make it your home. Take away my sins. Make me right. Jesus, won’t you come to me now. Amen.”

Introduction:

1.                   With these words many people have been “saved,” … or have they? Well…

a.                   Hearts have felt secured; lives changed; righteousness sought; Heaven grasped.

b.                  Those who have said this prayer have their minds are made up that they “felt” something on that day and they are assured of their salvation.

2.                   Can we find the sinners prayer in the Bible?

a.                   What about the thief on the cross, he said the sinners prayer, right? 

b.                  What about the 3000 people mentioned in Acts 2 who were saved, they said the sinners prayer, right? 

c.                   Alright, what about the apostle Paul, surely he prayer through to salvation, well, he could not have been saved from his sins because he was told to be baptized in order to have his sins washed away (Ac.22:16).

3.                   Millions of people across the world have said this prayer for salvation; truly they must have some biblical support for it?

a.                   Friends the sad fact is, when pressed for a Bible precedent, people who have prayed the sinner’s prayer cannot find one, nor do they feel that they need one.

b.                  I have looked and read through every page of my NT, and have not found one passage to support the sinners prayer.

c.                   As God is my witness, I wish I could find a passage because I have friends and family members who have now passed into eternity believing that all they had to do was say the sinners prayer (or accept Jesus into their heart) to be saved, but it is just not there.

4.                   Our lesson today is entitled, “Will the sinner’s prayer get me to heaven”?

a.                   A simple question, a controversial question, yet a very important question because it is related to salvation.

b.                  Any question or religious act related to salvation must be authorized by Jesus Christ (Heb.5:8-9; Jn.12:48).

Body: [biblical support for the sinners prayer is the first strike against it leading us to heaven]

I.                        THE SINNER’S PRAYER HAS IMPROPER SUPPORT

A.                Everything we do must be authorized by God—ordained by Him (Col. 3:17).

1.                  Explanation of the text.

2.                  If the Bible does not authorize what we say or do, we must not practice it, nor believe that it is pleasing or accepted by God.

B.                 There is no greater need for biblical authorization than for the process of obtaining salvation.

1.                  This is true in religions today:

                                                                        a.                   Modern Jews seek salvation by performing ancient rites that have long since passed away as God’s support religion (standard – Pentateuch).

                                                                       b.                   Buddhists or Hindus seek salvation from enlightenment and good works (standard – 4 noble truths / standard – the Vedas).

                                                                        c.                   Muslims seek salvation through strict adherence to rituals (standard – Koran).

                                                                       d.                   Christians seek salvation through Jesus Christ (standard – NT).

2.                  The sinner’s prayer does not have support from God or his Bible.

C.                 The Bible abounds with examples of people seeking God without support.

1.                  Nadab & Abihu worshiped God in an unsupported way (Lev. 10:1-2).

2.                  Nathan had no support to tell David to build God’s house (2 Sam. 7:3).

3.                  Apollos taught an unsupported way of salvation (Acts 18:25-26).

II.                        THE SINNER’S PRAYER HAS IMPROPER STEPS

A.                In order to reach the right conclusion, every process in life has ordered steps to follow in order to obtain the desired results.

1.                  Take baking a cake for example.

2.                  What about simple math problems?

B.                 God’s process of salvation is no exception; we must follow HIS ordered steps if we are to obtain the desired results.

1.                  God’s process of salvation has steps: faith, repentance, confession, baptism and righteous living.

2.                  If we leave out a step or change the order, the outcome will not be the desired result—salvation.

                                                                        a.                   Baptism without faith is just a bath (1 Pet. 3:21).

                                                                       b.                   Faith without baptism is what the demons possessed (Jas. 4:19).

                                                                        c.                   Life without faith cannot please God (Heb. 11:6).

3.                  The sinners prayer was invented by man, and in essence, adding more steps to salvation than what the Bible requires.

                                                                        a.                   Denomination tradition: Faith…confession…prayer…repentance…baptism…voted in…join a church.

                                                                       b.                   Bible teaching: Faith…confession…repentance…baptism…added to the church.

C.                 The sinner’s prayer tries to circumvent or go around God’s plan like the thief or robber (John 10:1-2).

1.                  Since God didn’t command the sinner’s prayer, it is not his way into the sheepfold.

2.                  Those seeking salvation from the sinner’s prayer are robbers, trying to get into the corral by another way.

3.                  Only those who follow God’s prescribed steps enter through the gate and obtain the salvation they seek.

III.                        THE SINNER’S PRAYER HAS IMPROPER SUBMISSION

A.                How do we come to such a conclusion?

1.                  First of all, the sinner’s prayer does not have biblical support.

2.                  Secondly, it circumvents God’s plan of salvation by making steps not prescribed by Holy Writ.

3.                  Thirdly, because it is man’s invention, it seeks to make God submit to man instead of man submit to God.

B.                 When we obey God we must submit our will to his (Jas. 4:7).

1.                  David went against God’s command and numbered Israel, and as a result, Israel lost 70 thousand men, and Jerusalem was about destroyed by an angel of the Lord (1 Chron.21).

2.                  Elijah thought all of Israel had forsaken God, but God told him that there were still 7,000 people who had not submitted to Baal (1 Kings 19:18).

3.                  Naaman nearly died of leprosy because he wanted God to do it his way, thankfully his servants convinced him to do it God’s way (2 Kings 5:11).

4.                  The Jews jeopardized their own salvation seeking to be saved by their will and not God’s will (Rom. 10:1-3).

[Will the sinner’s prayer get me to heaven? Sincere…emotional…]

Conclusion:

1.                   Friends, the issue is not whether or not those participating are sincere, honest, or good people (there is no doubt in my mind that most are), the real issue is whether or not the issue is authorized in the NT.

a.                   God is the Creator of the Universe, including mankind; He alone has the right to determine what man must do to be saved.

b.                  The sinner’s prayer is not supported by God; it circumvents the steps of God; and it attempts to make God submit to man.

2.                   If you are here today and you feel that your salvation is acceptable to God through saying the sinners prayer (or asking Jesus to come into your heart and save you), we urge you to reconsider.

a.                   Salvation cannot be found in the sinner’s prayer—it is only found in Jesus.

b.                  I encourage you to submit to God’s will as recorded in the NT.

(OUTLINE ADAPTED FROM SAM DILBECK’S SERMON “I SAID THE SINNERS PRAYER, AM I SAVED?”)

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