Saved by a prayer? Where did the "Sinner's Prayer" or "Asking Jesus into one's heart" come from"

Question

It's an honest Bible questions. We see it all the time, "bow your heads and repeat this prayer after me." Then, after the prayer, people are told if they said it, from their hearts, they are saved. Where in the Bible did it come from?

John the Baptist never lead the crowds to saying a prayer for the forgiveness of their sins. Jesus never did it either. In the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus never told His disciples to "make disciples of all nations, leading them in a prayer." Neither did it say that in Mark 16. In the book of Acts, even standing before the crowds, as in Acts 2, no one was ever asked to bow their heads and repeat a prayer--though it would have made things a lot easier.

Where did this non-existent prayer come from?

http://journals.aol.ca/seekandfindd/he-who-believes-and-is-baptized/

Answer 1

not the Bible. People that don't want to be so inconvenienced as to get wet or those who read verses that say believe and repent as mandatory and those that say baptize as optional want to justify their position, so they preach the sinner's prayer, I guess. If you're going to say believing and repentance are necessary, then so is baptism.

Some people misinterpret Mk 16:16 and say, well it says those who believe and are baptized are saved and those who don't believe will be condemned. Since baptism wasn't mentioned in the latter section, they think you won't be condemned for not being baptized, even though the first part of the verse shoots that down.

People try and pick out people in the Bible that were saved without baptism, but that fails miserably. Sandy (below), Paul was in fact baptized and was not saved *only* by calling "Lord". Acts 22:10-Paul asks what to do. Acts 22:16-he's told to be baptized.

We can't deny baptism is required (along with belief, repentence, confession, and living faithfully til death)
Salvation is in Christ
2 Timothy 2:10
Ephesians 1:3
Romans 5:2 “access by faith into this grace”
Titus 2:11
We all have access, so what shall we do to get in Christ?
Galatians 3:26-27
Mark 16:16
Acts 22:16
Acts 2:38
1 Peter 3:21
Romans 6:3-5
Colossians 2:12
1 Corinthians 12:13

Answer 2

I think people get it from:
Ephesians 3:17. (NIV)
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

& revelations 3:20, which in context isn't talking about your heart. Neither of those state that. The formulaic prayer is invented by man to make it easier.

The bible clearly says to repent and believe. It also says that after we are believers, we are a new creation & works will be a fruit or by product of of love for God (works don't earn salvation but are an evidence that your heart really changed). After all, the two most important commandments are to love God & love people. Unfortunately, because of misunderstandings of what it means Christian there are a lot of people claiming to be believers that are lost, that haven't shown evidence of change & don't show love for God or others. No wonder we have such a bad name. That's not how Jesus acted at all. He defied the acceptable and loved on the unloveable.

Answer 3

Actually, you answered your own questions. It was a mis-understanding of the scriptures, that made salvation easier for people to obtain.

It is a concept commonly known as "faith only" salvation. All you have to do is pray the sinners prayer and believe and presto! you are saved. Easy as pie.

Neither the sinners prayer or "faith only" salvation is found in the Bible. Those who preach "faith only" have chosen one verse in the Bible to "prove" their point but have ignored numerous other verses that show that "faith without works is dead". You cannot ignore ALL of the teachings of Christ. You cannot just "pick and choose" a verse that supports your ideas.

See source for more info on the false teachings of faith only.

Answer 4

I believe this came out of Arminianism and a view of Total Depravity as "sick" but not dead in one's sins. Therefore if one's (self generated) faith determines salvation, the prayer would have to be the turning point that gets things started. The contents of that prayer are Arminian theology in a nutshell. From another website:

* We acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God; that He came to earth as a man in order to live the sinless life that we cannot live; that He died in our place, so that we would not have to pay the penalty we deserve.
- Notice the "we acknowledge" as opposed to Calvinist inability to acknowledge. This is election contingent upon our faith rather than God's grace.
- He died in OUR place -- meaning Christ died for all, not the Elect only.

* We confess our past life of sin -- living for ourselves and not obeying God.
- This addresses Arminian "total depravity" with confession as an initial effort by man, as opposed to grace received as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit.

* We admit we are ready to trust Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.
- "We are ready" implies that grace that can be resisted.

* We ask Jesus to come into our heart, take up residence there, and begin living through us.
- This begins the work of salvation, but notice there is no guarantee of Christ living in one's heart forever.

And thus the Prayer of Salvation is also a doctrinal statement.

Answer 5

The word speaks of " those that call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved"

I find this question intersting... the Apostle paul.. He actually got saved when he called out "LORD!" on the road to damascas.
THe disciples in John 20 .. we see how they got regenerated.. The Lord Jesus came into the room that they were in and said" peace to you .. then he proceeded to "breathe upon them" and said " receive the Holy Spirit"

We can fall into the different practices and forms that have been passed down from one generation to another..
for some this kind of prayer has genuinely saved them... no one is saying no.. but we still need to realize the even more crucial part of your question.. And this actually is the real error that is preached Christianity
That Jesus comes into your " HEARTS"
Actually.. our heart is the place where the Lord would desire to " make HOME" through faith.. but what actually happens when we are saved is that our spirit becomes regenerated.. Our spirits are enlivened with God's life. This divine Life makes us children of God.. Its from this starting point that the Lord desires to spread into all our being.. including our hearts which is made up of our soul plus our conscience.

I hope that more can see how they are made up and what actually took place in their being when they got saved..

There is an intersting passage in Mark 4 which speaks of the sower and the seeds..
The seed is sown into man's spirit.. but the grows and spreads in the Hearts of man.. the starting work of the HOly Spirit is our spirit and from our spirit he transforms our soul and makes home in our hearts through faith.

Answer 6

It came from the men. There is NO mention of a "sinner's prayer" in the scriptures. This is NOT the way one is saved in the Lord's church.

Answer 7

Romans 10 v9-10

Answer 8

I agree with TG, for once.

:)