A Look at the Sinner’s Prayer

A Look at the Sinner’s Prayer

For decades, crusades have been conducted around the world, and thousands have responded to give their lives to Jesus. Conscious of their sins, they are told to simply say the “sinner’s prayer.” Of even greater impact is the preaching by televangelists and church pastors who tell those who are lost that if they will say this sinner’s prayer, God will immediately forgive them of all their sins.

Is this what the Bible says?

Is this what the Bible says?

There are slight variations in the wording of this prayer, but they all have this format. “Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. 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.” The lives of many have been changed, but a vital question must be answered. Does the saying of this prayer bring salvation?

When did this prayer originate? Google to find the answer. “Some affirm that it evolved, in some form or another, during the early days of the Protestant Reformation. Others believe it originated as late as the eighteenth century revival movement.” One study provides strong evidence that the sinner’s prayer originated in the early twentieth century.

Think of the implications of the preceding paragraph. It implies that the sinner’s prayer was unknown by the church in the first century. The church, directed by the apostles, told millions how to be saved, but never told them to pray this prayer. It is not found even one time in the Bible. It is not found in the Bible anywhere in any of the forms used today.

It is not found in the writings of church leaders of the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, etc. centuries! It was never used for fifteen hundred years after the church began. It is not from the mind of God but from the imagination of mere mortals.

If the sinner’s prayer is God’s answer to the question of what one must do in order to be saved, then was not one single person saved beginning at the death of Christ until the sixteenth century? Surely something must be wrong with giving this prayer as God’s plan to save mankind.

Let me suggest the path every man should follow in finding salvation. Read the book of Acts. It is the history of the church from its beginning until near the end of Paul’s life. Read about the spread of the church around the world. Read the Divine record of people asking what they must do about their sins. Note that never was any man told to pray this prayer. The answer given was always the same. Honestly seek to find the answer to life’s most important question. Read the book of Acts. Discover for yourself. Then do what they did!

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Don’t Shirk Your Duties

Calling All Sinners!

Perhaps you have seen the old police TV show, Adam 12.  In this show as well as others the characters would be sitting “at large” in their vehicles and get a call on the radio: “calling all cars, calling all cars, please proceed to . . . .”  When they received this call, usually there was an urgent situation; it needed to be dealt with right away; any available cars were requested to go to this urgent situation.  Those police who neglected this call would be shirking their duties by not responding.

Will you fulfill your duty?

Will you fulfill your duty?

There are many “at large” today, but instead of responding to the urgent call to worship each week, they shirk their duty to God by not responding.  Are you one of those people who are “at large”?  God is “Calling All Sinners” today to attend the worship services of His church.  God doesn’t call you to attend “the church of your choice;” He calls you to attend the church of HIS choice!

In Acts 17:22-31 Paul the apostle called upon the people at Athens to stop worshipping idols and worship only God.  God demands that all obey this call (Acts 17:30, 31).  Idols are not necessarily made of sticks and stones; they can be made of silicon and tubes as well; they can be made of government paper, grass and dirt, wood and nails, and even of flesh and blood.  Anything that we place higher than God is an idol.

Are you worshipping in the church of God’s choice?  God is calling you to repent today.  If you need some directions answering the call, God’s church is here to help.  Give us a call and we will respond!  God bless you, and I love you.

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Ungrateful for the Gift

Ungrateful for the Gift

In a couple of days, Christmas morning will once again be upon us. Countless children (of all ages) will awaken with excitement and make their way to the tree to finally open the many gifts left thereunder for them. Anxious parents and others who have patiently planned, purposed, purchased, put together, poured themselves into, and then packaged and placed so many precious expressions of their love and caring beneath the tree, will also be anxiously awaiting the excited expressions of loving gratitude on the surprised faces of those they have so sought to please…

Are you excited about what you have received?

Are you excited about what you have received?

However, in some cases, a cold, harsh, human reality will soon set in, as so many of those gifts of love – systematically planned and sacrificially purchased with only the best of intentions – will be unceremoniously cast aside, thoughtlessly tossed away, or rapidly returned to the store – totally unwanted, unloved, and unappreciated.

It is one thing to do that with those earthly items that are destined to perish with time (even though sometimes deeply hurting the loving giver in the process). It is quite another thing to do that with the greatest and most infinitely priceless and powerful gift you can ever receive in the entire universe though – hurting and rejecting almighty God and His great love more than you can possibly humanly imagine in the process.

From the Scriptures we understand that God, in His great and eternal love, mercy, and purpose, had a divine plan in place before time began, to give you the greatest of all gifts – eternal life, IN Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 3:8-12; 1 Jn. 5:11-13, 20). Hence, God carefully wrapped His incredible gift in human flesh (Jn 1:14; Heb. 2:14-17), and gladly allowed His greatest of all gifts, to be placed upon – instead of under – a tree… just for you (Isa. 53:4-10; Acts 2:22-24; Gal. 3:13-14). This great gift of God’s love even comes with a perfect, priceless, and divinely-inspired instruction book on how to get the absolute best out of life (Psa. 19:7-11)!

However, one difference is that while today’s electronic gifts need to be recharged regularly if they are going to work correctly, when we receive God’s gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus, it is WE who must be regularly recharged by being plugged into both the Bible and the Lord’s church on a daily basis – lest we run out of power and die as well.

So, what are you doing with God’s great and priceless gift to you? Have you received it (Rom. 6:1-5)? Have you exchanged it (1 Jn. 2:15-17)? How often do you open the instruction book and study it (Jn. 6:68; Acts 17:11)?

For as many as receive Him… can become children of God (Jn. 1:12)!

 

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Of Property and Charity

Of Property and Charity

Being immersed in our cultural heritage as we are, we often fail to appreciate just how many ideas which we take for granted are directly derived from biblical principles. Take for example, the idea of property rights: the idea that you have a right to own property and the right to use the property you own as you see fit. While many in our society simply take for granted that this is the way it should be, the concept is not one derived from nature nor universally agreed upon.

Property Rights? From where?

Property Rights? From where?

In the natural world, animals only control that which they are strong enough to possess. Might makes right, not ownership. In systems such as communism, you have no right to own anything individually, rather you only have that which others, typically the government, tells you that you are allowed to use. The very notion of private property is, for many, quite controversial and history is full of examples of cultures and peoples that don’t recognize the concept.

But the Bible speaks to property, and the doctrine of the Scriptures has helped inform and shape the manner in which our culture has come to understand it.

When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, the eighth commandment was, “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15) The New Testament repeats this injunction against theft in several places, and Paul admonishes the Ephesian church, “Let him who stole, steal no longer, but rather work with his hands, that he might have something to give to him who has need.” (Ephesians 4:28)

The carnal, animal behavior of taking whatever you are strong enough to take, is not a behavior God wants men to emulate. Such behavior is called theft, or stealing. The very concept of stealing as a sin denotes the counter concept that the thing being stolen rightfully belongs to another. Hence, the idea of private property.

The concept is further elaborated on in Acts 5, where Ananias and Saphira get in trouble for lying to God about money matters. Prior to Ananias being struck dead by God, Peter chastises him, saying concerning the land and money: “While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control?” (Acts 5:4a, NKJV) That is, Peter clearly lays down a principle that when a man has been given property by God, it belongs to them, and is under their control.

So, again, the whole concept of private property and property rights is one derived from Biblical concepts and Biblical passages. Which is an interesting sort of fact. However, the point we really want to make is this: with rights come responsibilities, and just as the rights are God given, so are the expectations of responsibility.

Notice again what Paul tells the Ephesian church: God wants men to do honest work for honest pay… so that they can then turn around and make the choice to help others with that which is under their control. God gives us property not merely for our own amusement and desires, but so as to allow us to learn the concept of generosity, another concept somewhat foreign to the carnal, animal nature of the world around us.

In the Old Testament, God heavily encouraged generosity, telling his people that they needed to be mindful of the poor, the foreigner, the widows, and the orphans (cf. Leviticus 19:10; Exodus 22:21-22). Likewise, in the New Testament, we are told that pure and undefiled religion before God must include caring for the widow and the fatherless. (James 1:27)

We read this reminder in the Bible: “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”  (1 Timothy 6:17-19; NKJV)

The early church was marked by their generous nature. As brothers and sisters had needs, others went and sold possessions and property to help those who were in need. (cf. Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-37) Some have tried to equate this to communism, but it was no such thing. This was not a forced charity, rather it was something far more noble and selfless. It was the rational choice to take that which was in the complete control of the owner and use it entirely for the good of another without expectation of worldly compensation or reward. It was, in short, an act of love.

The Bible has quite a bit to say about generosity and charity. It is one of the traits that defines God, who sends gifts to all men (cf. Matthew 5:45) and it is a trait that God desires in His children. This is the real reason God gives us property. Not just so that we can take care of ourselves, but so that we can learn to give away that which we have for the good of others. Hopefully it’s a lesson we are all striving to learn to the fullest, knowing that by being ready to give, and willing to share, we are storing up for ourselves a greater treasure in heaven.

 

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Prophecies About the Holy Spirit

Prophecies About the Holy Spirit

Do you know how many Old Testament passages are quoted after the beginning of Acts 2 to explain the work of the Holy Spirit in the church?  One – Joel 2:28-32.

The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Early Church is described by Joel 2.

The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Early Church is described by Joel 2.

After Peter quotes Joel 2 in his sermon recorded in Acts 2, never again does a New Testament writer appeal to the Old Testament to explain the Holy Spirit’s work in the church.

In Joel 2 the outpouring of the Spirit is said to produce three works: 1) Prophecy; 2) Dreaming dreams; 3) Seeing visions.

These facts lead to three possible conclusions:

1 – The Work of the Holy Spirit After Acts 2 is Different than the Work Promised in Joel 2.

We know that cannot be entirely true, because all admit that the prophetic works of prophecy, dreams, and visions are present and discussed at length in the post-Acts 2 New Testament (1 Corinthians 12-14, Ephesians 4, etc.).

2 – The Work of the Holy Spirit is Additional to the Work Promised in Joel 2.

This would be the most common explanation in churches of Christ today.  There are some passages which are based on Joel 2 and there are other passages which describe the work of the Spirit beyond the prophetic actions of Joel 2 (Note: The older position of the “Measures of the Spirit” allowed for a spectrum of meanings within each text.  However, that position has largely fallen out of favor among younger preachers.).

The difficulty here is that six times the Spirit’s work is referred to as a “promised” work. Yet, other than Joel 2 (which is exclusively prophetic), no “promise” is ever provided to describe the Spirit’s ongoing work in the church.

3 – The Work of the Holy Spirit is the Fulfillment of Joel 2.

While not popular, this is the position that I believe to be the correct one. The simple reason that after Acts 2 the New Testament provides no other basis for the work of the Holy Spirit is that once Peter quoted that watershed promise, no other explanation was needed.  The promised outpouring of prophecy, dreams, and visions in Joel 2 was enough to encompass all the work the Spirit would provide the church.

If you will take the time, with an open-mind, to re-examine New Testament texts with the understanding that Joel 2 provides the foundation for each one, you will find a simple, explainable, concrete, consistent, and comforting work for the Spirit in the church.

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