Tag Archives: Forgiveness

Bible questions, Salvation

DOES SAYING “THE SINNER’S PRAYER” SAVE? — BOB PRICHARD

Preachers sometimes invite their listeners to pray something such as, “God, I am sorry I have sinned. Please forgive me and let Jesus come into my heart. Thank you for forgiving me and giving me eternal life. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.” The preacher then says, “Since you have asked Christ into your life, you are now His child and your sins are forgiven.” The problem with this, however, is that the promise of forgiveness is from man, not God. God has never promised to hear or respond to “the sinner’s prayer.”

Prayer is a privilege for God’s people. James said, “The effectual fervent prayer of u righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16b). Peter quoted Psalm 34:15-16, saying “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1 Peter 3:12). Solomon warned, “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination” (Proverbs 28:9). The psalmist spoke of the dilemma of the sinner: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18). 

But what about the prayers of the publican and the Pharisee? While the Pharisee prayed “with himself,” the publican, “standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus concluded, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:11, 13-14). This does not set the pattern for sinners coming to Christ, however, because both the Pharisee and the publican were already in a covenant relationship with God as part of His chosen people, the Jews. They both, despite their sins, had the right to pray to God. 

What about Joel’s prophecy? He said, “It shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call” (Joel 2:32). To “call upon the name of the Lord” means to make an appeal through obedience. Saul of Tarsus spent three days in prayer and fasting, but did not receive salvation from the Lord until he called upon the Lord through obedience. Ananias told him, “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). In his baptism, he called on the name of the Lord and his sins were washed away. He would not have been saved if he had merely prayed “the sinner’s prayer,” and had refused to obey the Lord’s command. Jesus said, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name I will do it” (John 14.14). This is not a blanket promise to any person, but to those who follow Him and have the right to ask things in His name, by His authority. This promise is to the children of God. In the very next verse? He puts it simply, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). The multitudes cried out at Pentecost, “What shall we do?” Peter did not respond, “Pray the sinner’s prayer,” but “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:37-38). We will be saved if we do what the believers of Pentecost did.

15 - First Timothy, Christian Living, Salvation

“REFINANCING THE PAST” — BOB PRICHARD

I enjoy the comics, not only because they allow me to have a chuckle in the midst of an evil and frightening world, but because they often suggest profound thoughts. A “Frank and Ernest” cartoon (9/8/2017) has Ernest speaking to Frank as a loan officer, telling him, “In order to invest in my future, I need to refinance my past.”

It is often prudent to refinance a loan, getting a better interest rate or a more affordable payment. There is usually a cost, but that cost is offset by future savings (if the borrower is acting wisely).

Your future is affected by your past, not only in terms of finances, but in terms of how your life has been invested. Whether you have used your time wisely, been diligent in pursuing an education, or lived above the norms of the world have a tremendous impact. Mistakes of the past, even long past, have a tendency to hurt us when we least expect it, like the “Marlboro Man” who quit many years ago but then faced cancer, or the crisis we face today because we did not plan for the “rainy day.”

When it comes to spiritual matters, even the best of us need to have our past refinanced so that we can have a future. From the time Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God, each of us has followed the same path. “As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And that sin has a significant cost: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). In fact, the cost was so high, that the only remedy for this great sin debt was “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19).

In the financial world, it is possible to dig such a serious hole of debt that no refinancing is possible. All that is left is to declare bankruptcy. That is where we find ourselves concerning our sins. We are bankrupt without Christ. Paul acknowledged his bankrupt state: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” But Christ saved him, and gave him a future. “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting” (1 Timothy 1:15-16). We have followed Paul’s pattern in sin, and we can follow his pattern in obeying the Lord to receive his gracious promise for our future!

Christian Living, Jesus Christ, Salvation

LICENSE PLATE THEOLOGY — BOB PRICHARD

When states first started letting people put messages on their license plates, it became a challenge to decipher the meaning of a tag. There was even a TV game show based on figuring out personalized tags. Often the messages are “cute,” like BOB4UA, meaning Bob is for the University of Alabama. Or ATCHR, suggesting perhaps the person is a teacher. I saw a tag the other day that was not hard to decipher, but it was hard to understand why someone would choose that message. The tag said SINNER. It made me wonder, what is the theology of the person who chose to proclaim this message on the vehicle?-

Was this person feeling guilty for being an employee of the IRS? Jesus compared the prayers of the Pharisee who prayed “with himself,” and “the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). The Jews hated publicans, but it was not necessarily his work as a tax collector that made him a sinner.

Perhaps this person is on the run. Solomon advises, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repaid” (Proverbs 13:20-21).

Perhaps this person just wants to call attention to the common plight of mankind: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Fortunately, this verse is not the end of the story, however. The next two verses remind us, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” (Romans 3:24-25). 

An encounter with Jesus, obedience to Him, changes everything. When Jesus told Zacchaeus He was going to his house that day, “they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner” (Luke 19:7). The end result of the visit was repentance and restitution by Zacchaeus, and the declaration of Jesus,  “This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:-10). Yes, we have sinned, but I thank God that Jesus gave himself so that we do not have to bear the consequences of our sins. FORGVN!