The Gospel Coalition

I had a conversation recently about the benefits and dangers of leading people in praying “the sinners prayer.” It reminded me of a section in my book Do I Know God? This is what I wrote:

As a pastor, I feel the need to caution my peers who might unwittingly lead people into thinking they have a relationship with God just because they repeated a prayer or raised their hands at an invitation.

Not long ago I listened to someone preach a powerful message about the good news that God saves all who confess their sins and turn to Jesus Christ. When he concluded, he implored those who did not have a relationship with God to respond by repeating a prayer after him. After leading his listeners in a simple and straightforward prayer, he confidently declared that everyone who had just repeated his prayer was now a child of God.

I winced. But not because I thought God hadn’t saved anyone who prayed that prayer. On the contrary, I believe with all my heart that those who honestly confessed their need for God that day began a relationship with him that will last forever. Rather, I winced because the preacher based his promise that God had saved them on an external ritual rather than an internal reality.

That preacher couldn’t possibly know that all those who repeated his prayer had genuinely surrendered their lives to God. So there was no way he should have guaranteed that everyone who prayed his prayer became a child of God that day.

My granddad, Billy Graham, has preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to more people than anyone in history. His message is simple: God came into this world in the person of Jesus Christ to rescue sinners from their slavery to sin and to make them new creatures. His preaching has always been clear and passionate.

At the conclusion of every sermon, he invites people to enter into relationship with God through Christ and calls them to get out of their seats and make their way to the front of the auditorium or stadium. Then he leads them in a prayer. His typical prayer goes something like this: “O God, I’m a sinner. I’m sorry for my sin. I’m willing to turn from my sin and turn to Christ. I confess Jesus as Savior and Lord. I want to follow him and serve him for the rest of my life. In Jesus’s name, amen.”

My granddad would be the first to tell you that not everyone who goes forward and prays that prayer becomes a child of God. No one but God knows who truly surrenders his or her life to him. So instead of saying, “If you just prayed that prayer, you are now a child of God,” my granddad says, “If you just prayed that prayer, we have counselors on hand who would like to talk with you, and we also have some literature we would like to give you.” He chooses his words carefully, because he does not want people to think they are assured of their salvation simply because they came forward and prayed the prayer. He knows there is nothing magical about raising hands, walking forward, or repeating prayers. He knows that becoming a child of God is a spiritual transaction between God and the individual, a transaction initially invisible to the human eye.

Preachers and spiritual counselors potentially deceive people when they assure them that they’re saved based on an external act. In this way, even with the best intentions, they contribute to the problem of many people who believe they are right with God when they aren’t. It reminds me of Jeremiah 6:14, where God strongly warns those who proclaim “Peace, peace” when there is no peace.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that preachers and spiritual counselors should quit pleading with people to respond to the good news that God saves sinners. Paul himself said, “We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). God clearly expects Christians to deliver his saving message to the world. “How are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?… ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (Romans 10:14–15).

But God alone saves sinners. God alone softens hard hearts and opens blind eyes. So we dare not assure people they are adopted into God’s family based on a physical, external act. There is no prayer we can lead or response we can plead for that can guarantee someone’s relationship with God.