The Sinner's Prayer (also called Prayer and Prayer of Salvation ) is an evangelical Christian term referring to a prayer of repentance, prayed by an individual who feels punished for the presence of sin in their lives and have a desire to shape or renew a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This is a popular phenomenon among evangelicals. It is not meant to be liturgical like a belief or a confessoror, but is meant to be an early conversion to Christianity. While some Christians see the sinner's prayer as a time of defining one's salvation, others see it as the first step of a lifelong faith journey.
It can also be prayed as an act of "commitment back" to those who already believe in faith. Often, at the end of the service, in what is known as the call of the altar, another minister or worship leader will invite those who want to receive Christ (thus reborn) to repeat with him the words of some form of sinner's prayer. This is also often found in printed gospel tracts, which encourage people to "repeat these words from the bottom of your heart".
The "Sinner's Prayer" takes various forms, all of which have the same general impulse. Because it is perceived as a matter of one's own will, it can be prayed in the heart, out loud, reading from the suggested model, or repeated after a person makes the role model of prayer. There is no specific formula of words that are considered important, although they usually contain confession and petition that asks Jesus to enter into people's hearts (ie, the center of their lives). The use of sinner's prayer is common in several Protestant denominations, such as the Baptist Church and Methodist Church, as well as in movements that span several denominations, including evangelical, fundamental, and charismatic Christians. It has also been used, albeit not extensively, by some Anglicans, Lutherans, and Roman Catholics. Sometimes it is spoken by Christians who seek redemption or reaffirm their faith in Christ during a crisis or disaster, when death may soon take place.
The "Sinner's Prayer" is not without criticism. Since no such prayer or conversion is found in the Bible, some Bible scholars even refer to the sinner's prayer as "bullshit" and "apostasy". David Platt has raised the question of the genuineness of the conversion of people who used the sinner's prayer based on research by George Barna.
Video Sinner's prayer
Origins
The Prayer of Sinners, as is known today, is rooted in Protestant Christianity. Some assert that it evolved, in some form or another, during the early days of the Protestant Reformation, in reaction to Roman Catholic dogma of justification through meritorious works. Others believe it originated at the end of the eighteenth-century revival movement. However, Paul Harrison Chitwood, in his doctoral dissertation on the history of the Prayer of the Sinner, provides strong evidence that the Prayer of Sinners dates from the early 20th century.
Evangelists such as Billy Graham and evangelical organizations such as Campus Crusade for Christ brought this concept to fame in the 20th century. Televangelists often ask viewers to pray the Prayer of Sinners with them, one phrase at a time, to become a Christian. Quite generally, such a prayer appears at the end of a treaty and is read out in religious service or other public service as an invitation to the congregation to affirm their faith, sometimes as part of an altar call. It is said to happen many times every day around the world - in one-to-one conversations between friends, relatives, and even strangers; in the pastor's office; via email; in the online chat room; in addition to small and large worship services.
Maps Sinner's prayer
Common examples
An early proponent of the sinner's prayer is the famous American evangelist D. L. Moody.
An early version of what some would consider the Prayer of the Sinner to be found in Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, published in 1678, Ninth Stage, Chapter 18:
Hope: He offered me to go to him and see. Then I say that's a presumption. He said, No; because I was invited to come. [Mat 11:28] Then he gave me a book about Jesus, to encourage me to be free to come; and he said of the book, that each of the iota and its title stands tighter than heaven and earth. [Mat 24:35] Then I asked him what I should do when I came; and he told me that I should plead on my knee, [Ps 95: 6] [Dan 6:10] with all my heart and soul, [Jer 29: 12,13] Father to reveal it to me. Then I asked further, how should I make my request to him; and he says, Go away, and you will find him on a throne, where he sits all year long to grant forgiveness and forgiveness to those who come. I told him that I did not know what to say when I came; and he made an offer for this effect:
God be merciful to me a sinner, and make me to know and believe in Jesus Christ; because I know, that if the truth does not exist, or I do not believe in that truth, I'm really dumped. Lord, I have heard that You are a merciful God, and you have set your Son Jesus Christ to be the Savior of the world; and moreover, that you are willing to give it to a poor sinner like me - and I am a sinner. Lord, take this opportunity, and magnify Your grace in the salvation of my soul, through Thy Son, Jesus Christ. Amin.
Billy Graham
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn away from my sins and invite you to come into my heart and my life. I want to believe and follow you as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name.
Amin.
Cru (sebelumnya Campus Crusade for Christ)
Lord Jesus, I need you. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and accept you as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the type of person you want.
St. Paul Street Evangelization
God our Father, I believe that from your infinite love you have created me. In a thousand ways I have avoided your love. I repent of any and all my sins. Please forgive me. Thank you for sending your Son to die for me, to save me from eternal death. I chose today to enter into (renew me) a covenant with you and put Jesus at the center of my heart. I surrendered to Him as Lord of my whole life. I ask you now to flood my soul with the gift of the Holy Ghost so that my life can be changed. Give me the grace and courage to live as a disciple in your Church for the rest of my days. In the name of Jesus I pray Amen.
Support
Peace with God's organization, and other evangelistic and preaching organizations, delegates to the 2012 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) 2012 annual meeting reaffirmed the "Prayer of Sinners" after some debate:
We affirm that repentance and faith involve crying for mercy and calling to God (Romans 10:13), often identified as "The Prayer of Sinners", as an expression of repentance and biblical faith. "The Prayer of the Sinner" is not a mantra that produces salvation only through its repetition and should not be manipulatively manipulated or exploited apart from clear gospel articulations (Matt. 6: 7, 15: 7-9 ).
Criticism
The absence of a special example of those who prayed "The Prayer of the Sinners" in the Bible is also used by some to contradict it. Nor is there an example of conversion in the Bible with people who pray like that. Though more prominent attention is voiced by those who say it creates in the sinful guilty of the wrong security.
Authentic_Conversions? "'>" Authentic Conversions? "
David Platt, a prominent Southern Baptist minister in Birmingham, Alabama, has said that "Many assume that they are saved only because of the prayers they pray for, not because praying in prayer itself is bad - but the question in John 2-3 is what kind of faith do we call people? "Speaking at a conference of church leaders Verge said the emphasis on the Prayer of Sinners is" unbiblical and incriminating. " he continued,
"I am convinced that many in our churches have only lost the life of Christ, and many things related to what we have sold as gospel, that is, praying, accepting Jesus into your heart, inviting Christ into your life. our business that there is no such superstitious prayer in the New Testament should not concern us that the Bible never uses the phrase, 'accept Jesus into your heart' or 'invite Christ into your life' "Not the gospel we witnessed preached, it is modern evangelism built on drowned sand. And it runs the risk of tearing down millions of lives. "
Platt said he was concerned that some people "say they believe in Jesus,... saying they have accepted Jesus,... saying they have accepted Jesus, but they are not saved and will not enter the kingdom of heaven." While he affirms that those who call upon God with repentant faith are fundamental to achieving eternal life (salvation), he says his commentary on the "sinner's prayer" has been highly motivated "by attention to authentic conversion".
Furthermore he has written:
My comment on sinner's prayer has been greatly motivated by caring for real conversion and renewing church membership.... Do I believe it is "wrong" for someone to pray "salvation prayer"? Certainly not. Calling to God in prayer with repentant faith is fundamental to salvation.... (I) urge us, as we go to all people of all nations with the good news of God's love, to be evangelists and clear biblical times the same ( Matthew 28: 18-20 ).
Francis Chan, a famous evangelical Christian, has made statements contrary to the sinner's prayer and emphasizes baptism and the Holy Spirit
Possibility of superficial, or insincere commitment
The second and related criticism is that many believers fail to become mature as Christians after they convert by using the Prayer of the Sinner. An article in Christianity Today claims that "mediocrity and hypocrisy are the hallmarks of the lives of many recognized Christians".
Anyone can, and most Americans, "believe" in Jesus rather than some alternative rescuers. Anyone can, and many Americans sometimes, say a prayer asking Jesus to save them. But not many start a life devoted entirely to the love of God, the love of others, the moral practice of God's will, and the radical and costly discipleship.
The writer encourages believers to go beyond the sinner's prayer and "begin a devoted life to the love of God, the love of others, the moral practice of the will of God, and the pride of discipleship". "Love of God" and "Love of others" are the Great Commandments. See also Disciples (Christianity).
Does the Qari really understand what commitment to Christ means? Praying a sinner's prayer with someone who does not truly repent can create a false sense of security in the person who utters it. According to John 6:44 , if a sinner is ready to accept Jesus as the Savior, the biblical prerequisite is that the sinner (the Christian prospect) has been withdrawn by the Holy Spirit.
Not Taught in Revelation 3:20 or Romans 10: 9 -10, 13
Another criticism of the Prayer of Sinners is that the parts used to support it are not about missing people repeating prayers to become Christians. The Prayer of the Sinner is often used in conjunction with Revelation 3:20 and Romans 10: 9-10, 13. Revelation 3:20 is used to teach that Christ knocks on the door of one's heart, and when the lost man asks Him to go in, Jesus comes into the hearts of sinners. Romans 10: 9-10, 13 is used to affirm that one must confess with his mouth, that is, say a sinner's prayer, to become a Christian. However, the Greek Baptist professor Thomas Ross argues that Revelation 3:20 is about church members turning to God, not about Christ who enters the hearts of the lost. He gives the 14 reasons that Revelation 3:20 is not about the lost who ask Jesus into their hearts to be saved. He also argues that Romans 10: 9-14 refers to Christians confessing Christ publicly before humankind and manifesting a life of prayer, rather than being lost saved by a one-time repetition of the Prayer of the Sinner.
Another form of this criticism of the sinner's prayer states that praying only the prayer of a sinner does not really give salvation to the one who is praying. An essay on the topic of "Christian Apologetics and the Ministry of Research" affirms that "The Prayer of Sinners" is, today, an effective tool of Satan to deceive people into believing that they are saved when they are not. "
Many Christians make big mistakes and are not biblical by giving others a false sense of salvation, stating that the person is saved because he is praying a prayer. So, many people move away from such conversations that are still dead in their sins, but trust what has been told to them. "I believe what my friend said, and I pray, so now I am a Christian!"
The absence of Prayer Sinner in historic Christianity
Other opponents of Sinner's Prayer point out that there is no classical Christian faith confession from evangelical denominations in the Christian world that insists that one should say the Prayer of a Sinner to be saved; on the contrary, other Baptists, Presbyterians and Reformed, and other evangelical groups unanimously teach justification only by faith. They argue that the Prayer of Sinners is a modern deviation from orthodox evangelicalism and a deviation from the evangelical classical evangelical method. The Prayer of the Sinner was not done before the 1700s. Therefore, to say that it is a way to be saved is to say that before the 1700s no one was saved.
The doctrine of baptismal regeneration
Regenerationalist baptists - Christians who believe that when a person is baptized in water is the real time that a person receives salvation including Roman Catholicism, the Churches of Christ, the International Churches of Christ, Christian churches and churches of Christ, and the Church Pentecost International Unite. It is based on passages in the New Testament that some interpreted to require water baptism for salvation. These examples can be found in Mark 16:16 , John 3: 3-5 , Acts 2:38 , Acts 22 : 16 , 1 PeterÃ, 3:21 .
In what Jesus called the Great Commission shortly before His Ascension in Matt. 28: 18-20 , he instructed his followers to go, disciple them, teach them, and baptize them. Jesus was baptized in water by John the Baptist. His disciples baptize converts, and Jesus personally baptized people, according to John 3:22 who says that "Jesus... spent some time with [the disciples], and was baptized." This does not contradict John 4: 1 which says that "Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples" did so. Throughout the Gospels we see Jesus teaching and training disciples to be strong and effective in transforming people. He showed them how in John 3, and by John 4 they were able to baptize themselves. Opponents of the regeneration of baptism understand baptism to be a means of identifying with Christ, and that when done by immersion it is a symbol of His death, burial and resurrection. Some dispensationalists believe that the baptism that saves a person is Baptism with the Holy Spirit given by Jesus, and not water baptism. Many evangelicals and other fundamentalists recognize that texts such as Mark 16:16, John 3: 5, and Acts 2:38 refer to water baptism, but argue that the verses, interpreted in context, do not provide what support even for the regeneration of baptism. Historic Baptist or Landmark affirms that baptism with the Holy Spirit is a completed event that occurred in the first century and not for today, on the grounds that the texts used to support the regeneration of baptism are actually consistent with justification by faith alone.
The Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Orthodox Churches also teach that forgiveness is accepted in baptism (though they practice it in "Baptism" with infant water or converted adults). A prominent Roman Catholic authority defines "baptism" in the following way:
A sacrament of the New Law set by Jesus Christ, where, as a result of washing with water accompanied by the words "I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit," a human being is spiritual regeneration, and capable of receiving other sacraments.... The unborn Baptism. If there is no hope that a child can be baptized after birth, Baptism can be given in the womb: in the case of head presentation, in the head; in another presentation on the presented part, but then must again be conditional baptized if it lives on complete submission. If the mother dies in childbirth, the child should be extracted from the womb and, if life is certain, is baptized in absolute terms; if life is in doubt, conditional. The aborted fetus must also be baptized, unconditionally or conditionally accordingly
The evidence presented to support the baptism required for salvation included Saul's conversion from Tarsus (Apostle Paul). After Christ told Saul to enter Damascus where Saul would be told what he "should" do, Saul was blind for three days and was praying for this time. [Acts 9: 9-11] Ananias arrives, heals Paul from his blindness and baptizes Saul.
Others see it as an example of salvation that seems to come immediately through repentance without water baptism or any work, citing the assurance Jesus gave to the thief repenting on the cross beside him during the crucifixion.
The opposite position here is that the repentant thief is dying under the older Mosaic law that does not require baptism (see Mikveh) and that before Christ's death He has authority and does not forgive many people without the conditions of salvation found after His Death , Burial and Resurrection found in the rest of the New Testament. [Hebrews 9: 15-17] Also, it is unknown whether the thief had been baptized at the stage of life before being crucified. John the Baptist and his disciples have baptized many people.
Regenerationalist baptists refer to water baptism as "regeneration leaching", believing that it is part of the "born again" conversion experience in the Bible. This passage states, "And now why are you impatient? Rise up, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, call on the name of the Lord."
See also
References
External links
Source of the article : Wikipedia