THE SINNER’S PRAYER — COMFORTING WORDS THAT NEVER SAVED A SOUL
(A Study in What the Bible Actually Teaches About Salvation)
MODERN CHRISTIAN MISCONCEPTIONS
TEXT
Acts 2:37-38 (KJV) Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, 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.
PROLOGUE: WHAT PEOPLE SAY
“Just pray and ask Jesus into your heart.”
“Say this prayer and you’re saved.”
“Salvation is by faith alone—no need for baptism.”
It sounds simple and heartfelt.
But there’s one problem: the Bible never says it.
The phrase “sinner’s prayer” appears nowhere in Scripture.
Not in the Gospels.
Not in Acts.
Not in the Epistles.
If prayer alone saved, there would be one example in the Bible.
But every time a sinner asked how to be saved, the answer was obedient faith—not recited words.
There are many things people believe are in the Bible that never appear in Scripture.
Some came from tradition…
Some from sentimental religion…
Some from preachers who meant well…
but built substitutes for obedience.
One of the most widespread is the belief that a person is saved by praying a prayer — “The Sinner’s Prayer” — as though salvation comes by reciting words into the air.
Millions cling to a sentence rather than a Savior.
Not out of rebellion —
but out of misinformation.
This sermon is not meant to condemn the sincere…
but to lead them out of almost
and into truly reborn.
Because salvation is not a phrase we recite —
it is a King we submit to.
Not a moment of emotion —
but a moment of rebirth.
Not words spoken from earth…
but a covenant received from heaven.
A.) WHAT PEOPLE THINKS SAVES THEM
The popular version of salvation says:
“Just bow your head, repeat these words, and you are saved.”
But Jesus never once told anyone to “pray to be saved.”
The apostles never once led anyone in a salvation prayer.
No one in the New Testament was ever told,
“Say these words and God will save you.”
The Bible says:
John 3:3
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
It does not say:
“Except a man repeat a prayer…”
Jesus pointed sinners to rebirth,
not recitation.
Modern tradition says:
“Say this prayer and accept Jesus.”
But Jesus said:
Luke 9:23
“If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
Not “repeat after Me”
but “follow Me.”
He didn’t ask for words —
He asked for the life.
B.) WHERE THE SINNER’S PRAYER CAME FROM
For 1,900 years of church history, no Christian — apostle, elder, reformer, or early church father — used a sinner’s prayer as the plan of salvation.
It is not found in Acts.
Not found in the epistles.
Not found in the writings of the first or second century Christians.
The sinner’s prayer is not ancient — it is modern.
It began during the Second Great Awakening in the 1800s.
Evangelists like Charles Finney invented emotional “decision methods” — the anxious bench, the altar call — to stir public response.
A century later, D. L. Moody and Billy Sunday simplified it further.
By the 1950s, Billy Graham popularized it worldwide as a formula for salvation.
But even then — it was originally meant to lead INTO obedience, not replace it.
Over time, the invitation replaced the gospel.
Emotion replaced covenant.
Words replaced surrender.
A moment replaced transformation.
The church stopped pointing people to rebirth
and started settling for recital.
I.) WHAT THE BIBLE ACTUALLY SAYS
A.) Acts 2:37–38
“When they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.”
They did not pray to receive Christ.
They obeyed His command.
B.) Acts 9:11–18 / Acts 22:16
Saul of Tarsus saw the risen Christ, believed, repented, and prayed for three days.
Yet when Ananias arrived, he said:
“Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
Three days of prayer did not wash away Saul’s sins—
obedience did.
C.) Mark 16:16
“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
Jesus joined belief and baptism.
Man separated them.
E.) Romans 6:3–4
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Salvation begins where faith meets obedience—
at the cross, through baptism into Christ’s death.
F.) 1 Peter 3:21
“The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us… by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Peter didn’t say baptism is “a symbol” of being saved.
He said baptism saves us, because it connects us to Christ’s resurrection.
II.) WHAT FAITH-ONLY TEACHING MISSES
The Bible never says:
• “Faith only saves.”
• “Pray to accept Christ.”
• “Ask Jesus into your heart.”
But it does say:
“Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”
— James 2:24
Even demons believe (James 2:19),
but saving faith obeys.
True faith moves the feet, opens the hands, and submits the heart.
III.) WHAT JESUS WARNED
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” — Matthew 7:21
The Sinner’s Prayer says, “Lord, Lord.”
Jesus says, “Obey My Father.”
A.) WHY PRAYER ALONE CANNOT SAVE
A prayer can ACKNOWLEDGE God —
but salvation is UNION with Christ.
A prayer can SEEK Him —
but salvation is ENTERING Him.
Jesus Himself drew the distinction:
Matthew 7:21
“Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father…”
They called Him Lord.
They spoke words to Him.
They prayed.
But they had not entered.
Why?
Because entering requires rebirth, not recitation.
Jesus declared:
John 3:5
“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
If prayer could save a soul,
water and Spirit would be unnecessary.
Paul says salvation comes through union with Christ’s death:
Romans 6:3
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?”
Not after salvation —
into salvation.
A prayer can move the heart…
but only obedience unites the soul to Christ.
IV.) A COMPASSIONATE WARNING
The “Sinner’s Prayer” is comfort without covenant.
It offers peace without repentance,
and emotion without transformation.
But God’s plan of salvation is both grace and obedience:
1. Hear the gospel (Romans 10:17)
2. Believe (Mark 16:16)
3. Repent (Acts 2:38)
4. Confess Christ (Romans 10:9–10)
5. Be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16)
6. Walk faithfully (Revelation 2:10)
That is the New Testament pattern.
That is the sinner’s true prayer — the life of obedience.
V.) A LOVING APPEAL
If your heart is tender toward God,
and you’ve prayed for forgiveness,
God has already begun to work in you.
Now take the next step.
He doesn’t want you to merely say you believe —
He wants you to be born again (John 3:3–5).
“Why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” — Acts 22:16
No ritual, no formula — just Scripture.
Don’t settle for tradition when truth is calling.
Obey the gospel, and you will receive the assurance the Sinner’s Prayer cannot give:
the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)
EPILOGUE
“The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.” — Acts 17:30
“Today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” — Hebrews 3:15
Your prayer is a beginning.
Your obedience is the birth.
God is waiting for both.
INVITATION
