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Bait and Switch #1–The Sinner’s Prayer

September 2nd, 2008 by Jeremy Sprouse

The first bait and switch we will look at in this series of articles is the switch made in God’s plan of salvation. Every church offers salvation, but many have removed God’s plan and inserted their own. One example of this is the Sinner’s Prayer.

The Sinner’s Prayer was popularized by Billy Graham in the 1950’s, but is used by many teachers, tracts, and Tele-evangelists today. An invitation to the Sinner’s Prayer runs along these lines:

“Just accept Christ into your heart through prayer and he’ll receive you. It doesn’t matter what church you belong to or if you ever do good works. You’ll be born again at the moment you receive Christ. He’s at the door knocking. You don’t even have to change bad habits, just trust Christ as Savior. God loves you and forgives you unconditionally. Anyone out there can be saved if they … Accept Christ, now! Let us pray for Christ to now come into your heart.”

Let us note from the start: there is no example anywhere in the Bible of a person praying for their initial salvation. If it is not from the Bible, however, where did it come from?

Although Billy Graham made it popular, its roots were slightly earlier in history. In the 1700s revivalists were recognizing the fallacy of infant baptsim and the need for adult conversion. Many did not consider baptism important, so they looked elsewhere. They came upon Revelation 3:14-20. This passage was written to the church in Laodicea (i.e., to Christians) to inspire lukewarm Christians to greater faith. It is not a passage on conversion. Note, however, how one lecturer (John Webb) misused the passage in the mid-1700s:

“Here is a promise of Union to Christ; in these words, I will come in to him. i.e. If any Sinner will but hear my Voice and open the Door, and receive me by Faith, I will come into his Soul, and unite him to me, and make him a living member of that my mystical body of which I am the Head.” (Christ’s Suit to the Sinner, 14)

These appeals were made at the Mourner’s Bench/Anxious Seat. Lets look at how one of them explained this practice:

“The church has always felt it necessary to have something of this kind to answer this very purpose. In the days of the apostles, baptism answered this purpose. The gospel was preached to the people, and then all those who were willing to be on the side of Christ, were called out to be baptized. It held the place that the anxious seat does now as a public manifestation of their determination to be Christians.” Charles Finney (1792-1875)

Notice Finney admits the apostles called people to be baptized (cf. Mark 16:15-16, Acts 2:38, 1 Peter 3:21), but he doesn’t follow the teachings or examples of the apostles. Instead, he has switched a Biblical response (baptism) with a man-made response (praying Jesus to come into your heart). Those who teach the Sinner’s Prayer are following in the steps of these preachers.

The bait offered is salvation, but it is switched with man’s gospel. Remember any gospel other than God’s is no gospel at all (Galatians 1:6-9). Tragically, millions today follow this man-made innovation thinking they have obeyed God and followed His Word, but they haven’t and will not enter into heaven (cf. Matthew 7:21-23).

Information gathered from: www.bible.ca

Articles in this Series:
Bait and Swith
Bait and Switch #1–The Sinner’s Prayer
Bait and Switch #2—Church Organization
Bait and Switch #3—Worship

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 am and is filed under Bulletin Articles.

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