The Genius of the Sinner's Prayer

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Apostle Paul said, "'But we did not yield in subjection to them "'for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel "'would remain with you.'"

In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.

By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her king.

Here's our host, Pastor Mike Ebendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry.

Pastor Steve, greetings. Buenos dias, mis amigos. Grace and peace to you.

Simpático. Simpático, nice. Oh, that's good. All right.

Con mucho gusto. All right, that's good. Well, I want to make sure all our theological levels are correct here on our soundboard, the 1202

VL -Z3. Me gusta las albúndigas. Welcome to Wretched Radio.

Thank you. My name's Todd Friel. It's a pleasure to be here. My name is whatever his sidekick is.

What is it, Tony, I think? The boy wonder. Are you an infant Baptist guy?

Okay. All right. Today, we have a follow -up to last week, and we are just talking a little bit about Christianity Today and other things.

Steve, there's an article about a pastor who's accused of diverting funds to his wife, $18 million to his wife in Singapore in this 30 ,000 -member

City Harvest Church. Now, Steve, maybe this guy's smarter than I am, but I wouldn't know how to siphon money to my wife's account from the church.

Well, I thought about it, but my wife decided to give up singing, so right out there.

Yeah, well, I guess we could... 18 million, like nobody would know. Well, here's problem number one.

Siphon ministry. Yeah, here's problem number one. Yeah, you tried to do some siphoning once. It wasn't money, though.

Yeah, the gas killed me. Problem number one is that the pastor has access to the money.

You know, there's problem number one. If I decided tomorrow that I wanted to siphon money, funds from the church fund,

I wouldn't have access. There are no number of signatures or anything else

I could do that would work. If you're a small church out there, or a large church, I think the checks and balances are very helpful.

Not because we think pastors are criminals, although pastors, they do have sin natures, and they have

Adam's sin, et cetera, but for the sake of the pastor. So, especially today, if you're a small church out in the middle of nowhere, make sure you have it set up so that your pastor is easily above reproach, that he doesn't receive the money, he doesn't know how much money comes in, in terms of specific people, donors.

He just knows the number, he can know that. And then he can't write checks out, so he's not in, and he can't write them out either.

Does that make sense? It protects him, and you know what, I have to say something, not knowing how much people give is quite liberating.

You know, not knowing who the big givers are, or the little givers are, you know, it's fine by me,

I don't want to know. Yeah, I'm not sure what they teach us in seminary, but it just seems like it makes a lot of sense.

We don't want to know who gives, because what if somebody doesn't give, and their kid's dying, you know, you don't want to have those kind of.

Gotta prioritize. Yeah, yeah, or you don't want to give extra to other people who give a lot extra, you know, give them some slack.

Ah, nah, no church discipline for them, because they're big givers. Yeah, I can't do that, that'd be biting the hand that feeds me.

That reminds me of Pastor Scott in Chicago, and I think he was having to discipline the daughter of a rich person in the church where he was at, and I want to say that there was a big to -do, you know what, well, because if the person's rich, do you still discipline the daughter, and the answer is what?

No, absolutely not. Yeah. So you want to make sure there are checks and balances in your local church.

Steve, I'm also thinking about an article that's found on page 60, Caught Between the Spouse and the

Spirit, capital S, Caught Between the Spouse and the Spirit. Now here's an interesting thing,

Steve. Brazilian women, this is the subtitle, Brazilian women find support and new roles at charismatic churches.

Their husbands don't like it. Whom will they choose? And it shows people, it's written by Deborah Swerdlow, and they show women preaching in Assemblies of God churches.

And so do you choose the spirit, or do you choose the spouse? The husband says, I don't like you preaching. Well, obviously you go with the spirit that is now working in the

Daughters of Disobedience. Oh! Oh! Let's face it, let's just talk facts here and talk shop,

Steve. Straight up, no compromise style. Feminism has encroached the church and is in every fiber of most churches.

It's just everywhere. Where is feminism not found? Now it's even found in Brazil. Maybe there's not feminism in China, I don't know.

But churches are influenced by the agenda of feminism, which has a lie, and here's feminism's lie.

If you have different roles, then you're not equal. And so that is a lie. We are equal in Christ Jesus, Galatians 3 .28,

yet we have different functions. Husbands, wives, preachers, congregation, et cetera.

What would you give? What kind of advice would you give if you met a Brazilian pastor lady who was caught between her spouse and the spirit?

Well, step number one. Step number one, this is gonna be bad. No, I would just say, look, it's a false choice.

Here's the choice as Christianity Today frames it. You either obey the Holy Spirit, they're saying, or you obey your husband.

You either please one or the other. Well, this would say what? That the Holy Spirit is the one who's telling them you need to lead, you need to teach.

Well, why would the Holy Spirit go against his word? Why would the Holy, you know, he wrote in conjunction with human authors or through the human authors, he wrote the

Bible. Why would he now say, well, you know what? All that stuff was well and good, but here's what you need to do now.

I know what I told Paul to write Timothy about not having women teach or exercise authority, but that's all out the window now in Brazil because I want you to not be caught between the spirit and the spouse.

I want you to choose me. No, God is not the author of confusion. He doesn't contradict himself.

He hasn't changed his mind. Steve, 1 Timothy chapter two is clear that because of creation order and Eve's deception that men are supposed to be the leaders of the church.

1 Timothy chapter three, male elders. Titus chapter one, male elders, 12 apostles. Well, in those days, couldn't women be the husband of one wife, at least in this day?

Yeah, sadly, sadly. We have 1 Corinthians chapter 14 regulating tongues and prophecies.

And it says in verse 34, the women should keep silent in churches for they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission.

As the law also says, if there's anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home for it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

And do you know what some charismatic commentators do like Gordon Fee? He'll just say, that's just not in the original.

It's not in the best manuscripts. Well, is it in the best manuscripts? It is, it is.

The article says in Christianity Today, Pentecostalism holds a particular appeal for women who find themselves encouraged to step up and take leadership roles within the church that are inaccessible, are discouraged at home and in the public spheres.

So Pentecostalism, we know, similarly to Seventh -day

Adventist doctrine, encourages women leadership. Yeah, Amy Semple McPherson, you know,

I mean, the number of females, Katherine Coleman throughout the - Benny Hinn's wife before she got the ax.

Well, she didn't literally get the ax, you know. So how about this,

Steve? It says under the title, under a picture of a couple of ladies praying, it says, ecstatic prayer is at the heart of Pentecostal worship.

When it is time for prayer, says missionary to Brazil, John Medcraft, the noise is like the roar of Niagara Falls.

Now, what does that do to 1 Corinthians 14? Even if the gift of languages is for today, learning a language that's known, not, you know, knowing a language that's known, but you've never learned it before, the gift of tongues, it says, what does it say?

Two or three. Doesn't it say that in 1 Corinthians 14? With interpreters, what do you mean the roar of Niagara Falls?

I think if an unbeliever walks in and our outsider, 1 Corinthians 14 says, these people are in a frenzy.

Yep, they're crazy. So - They're nuts. Steve, I think we probably sound like we're nuts if we say men and women are equal in Christ as image bearers, but men are to lead the church.

Now, women might say, yes, but there aren't men leader, men aren't leading and so vacuums must be filled.

So we say to the men, it's actually the problem with the men. When there's women leadership at the home or in the church, it's the problem begins with the man.

Far too many men are far too passive and they're not exercising leadership. The goal of a

Christian man is not to watch the TV every night, eat dinner and go to sleep.

The goal ought to be to be leading his family in a biblical manner, to seize the reins as it were, and to actually be the man of the house rather than ceding that position to his wife.

Steve, we may have talked about this before, but it is one of my all time pet peeves in my life. When someone says to me, oh,

I don't know, I'll have to, a man says to me, I don't know, I'll have to check with my boss. Now, if you say,

I say, you know, if somebody says, hey, can you come over tonight? Can you go do this or that? Oh, you know what? I want to check with Kim because I want to be kind and nice and not domineering.

Maybe she's got some plans and I want to serve her and I want to give her joy and all that, but I don't check with the boss.

I can't stand that. She has veto power on everything I say and do. Mother, may

I? This is probably, I don't know, you like the TMI stuff, Steve, but I met a person who was at my

Bible study and I think you know them. The Masters International? T -M -A -I,

T -M -A -I. That's the sending agency for Grace Church's missionaries,

T -M -A -I, T -M -A -I. Inside joke there. I could not believe it when

I went over to somebody's house, they attended the Bible study. It was an older couple. I think you were there at the

Bible study and I went over to their house and I couldn't put the toilet lid up in the seat.

It wouldn't go up. And I'm like, you have to hold it, you know, up. And so I said something.

I said, you know, I don't know if I broke it or what, but you know, I can't keep the seat up. And she said, no, it's supposed to stay down all the time.

And I make my, I said, what does your husband do? And she said, I make him sit. Steve, I couldn't eat the dinner practically.

Now, if you have to make him sit because he's got a colostomy and he's going to fall over if he stands,

I guess there are a few reasons for that. But in general, I think it's horrible if a husband just says, you know what?

I'm never putting down the seat for my wife or something because I could care less about her. But it is worse, I think, to say he's sitting.

Yeah, she's going to teach him a thing or two or three, right? I'm just so tired of you not putting the seat back down.

I'm going to make it so you can't, you know, you can't have it up. If men would simply lead their family in a loving way,

Matthew 20 kind of leadership, people would fall right in line. Godly people would fall in line.

I agree. I think we want leadership, don't we? We're glad for leaders. Well, the only people who aren't glad for leaders are those who don't like leadership.

No, who like to rebel. I mean, if you, and you know, by the way, I think we talked about this last week.

There's no such thing as rebelling in a Christian way. You know, Jesus wasn't a rebel.

He doesn't call us to rebel. And so this whole idea would just be nonsense. But back to the idea of women and all that.

I mean, there are different roles. They are, they're equal in Christ. They're just different.

There's nothing wrong with being different. It's fine. I like to look at women and think they're different than me.

That's fine. You know, it's good. Well, that is T -M -A -I.

Okay, Steve, how about this? Let's talk about sinner's prayer for a minute, page 73. Do I need to bow my head first?

Yes, you do. It says the evangelical Jesus prayer. It's not perfect, but the sinner's prayer is a work of genius.

Now, Steve, seriously, this is Christianity today at its finest, not.

Now, I think if sinners pray, I'm happy, aren't you? I'm very happy.

You know, if they cry out, God, help me. I don't believe in you, but I want to help my unbelief. God, if you're really there, show yourself.

I'm glad when sinners pray. Because I am actually a sinner, so I'm all for that. Well, as long as it's not some kind of blasphemous.

If you're really there, hit me with a bolt of lightning or one of those kind of things. Mother of earth.

Yeah, that would be bad. I walked past a Star of the Sea church in York Beach last weekend.

And when you walk in on the door, on the right -hand side of the door, it says, Hail Mary, Mother of God, or something close to that.

And I just thought, well, at least we know what we're getting into. Yeah, and it's not good. Yeah, and so the evangelical

Jesus prayer is a mark of genius. And so it says here, as an example,

Lord Jesus, I need you. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive 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 kind of person you want me to be. Then it says the sinner's prayer, in short, summarizes the gospel that so many desperately long for.

Steve, I know they want it to be a summary of the gospel, but there's no resurrection there. And I just happen to be in 1

Corinthians chapter 15, and it's kind of a big deal. Well, what's the big deal if he wasn't raised from the dead?

It's just a man -centered work of genius is what it is. And then we can slap them on the back, say they're in the kingdom and go off on our merry way versus are you believing right now?

That's a better test. Are you believing the God of the Bible right now? Are you believing the

Jesus of the Bible right now? And if you are believing, then you can say, yes,

I'm a Christian. If you aren't believing, then you ought to say I'm not a Christian because Christians believe the

Bible's portrait of Jesus. Well, and I think this little bit here kind of summarizes the problem.

It says, talking about the sinner's prayer, it gives people a concrete and simple way to respond to the good news and appropriate the grace of God.

Well, I think it's wrong in a number of ways, but number one being a simple way to respond to the good news.

You respond to the good news with joy and with a changed life. Why? Not because you're trying to effect a change, but because God is changing you.

But secondly, appropriate the grace of God. How do you appropriate the grace of God? It is given to you.

Do you then have to appropriate it, take it, seize it? And the answer is no, you can't stop it.

If God has started a work in you, not even you can stop it. Sounds like some kind of Keswick appropriation, approbation thing.

The article says the sinner's prayer is not just the electroshock magazine machine to resuscitate the dead, but an oxygen machine that keeps us going and going.

So in other words, you keep doing it. This is a staple of Eastern. Like the prayer of Jabez. Yeah, Habez, I thought it was.

Orthodox spirituality, which encourages daily, hourly, even breath -by -breath use of their sinner's prayer, the

Jesus prayer. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner. You just say that over and over. Well, I like that actually better than the, have mercy on me, the sinner, because it's very reminiscent of -

Luke 18. Yes. Absolutely. So if your church does altar calls and does the sinner's prayers,

I don't think you have to leave the church, but it is a very man -centered thing that came along.

And I think 1 Corinthians 15 is insightful, Steve, in chapter 15, verse 11. Paul says, so we preached, we the apostles preached to you, and so you believe.

We preach. God saves through preaching. Doesn't even an Arminian believe that in Romans 10? How are they going to hear without a preacher?

Faith comes by hearing a message about Christ Jesus. And so the sinner's prayer, a work of genius,

I think maybe, let's just turn it into no compromise for a second. Evil genius. Satanic genius.

Yes. To give so many people a simple, easy, I don't,

I'm not against simple and easy necessarily, but a simple, easy way to be deceived, saying if I repeat this prayer, you're in.

Yeah, it's formulaic, and it really is. And it does can, well, let's put it this way. It certainly can give a false sense of security.

All you have to do is just pray this prayer. Really? That's it? And what you say after they pray the prayer tells me everything.

Welcome to the kingdom. You're a Christian now. Don't let anybody tell you anything different. Once saved, always saved.

That's not the right response to someone who prays a sinner's prayer. Yeah, time and trials. Yeah, yeah, let's just wait and watch.

How about that? Steve, when that guy came to my house in North Hollywood at four in the morning, knocking on the door, that young man,

David, and he was concerned about his salvation. And so I went outside. I looked to see if he had a gun or some weapon.

He did not. I wondered if I should bring my gun outside, but I thought that would not be very pastoral.

Good call. I said to Kim, okay, I'm not letting him in the house. And so I sat outside at four in the morning talking to this man who was very upset.

And he said, I said, tell me, are you a Christian? I don't think so.

But I prayed the sinner's prayer so many times. I went up to the altar call so many times. Now this anecdotal story doesn't prove theology, but what

I did find was interesting, Steve, I said, well, then I'm not gonna have you repeat some prayer.

Why don't I pray to God and ask him to open your mind, to open your heart, to give you his spirit, to make you born again, to cause you to believe?

That's what I should do. So a sinner praying to God, I think that's a good thing.

And I think other people praying to God for them is good. That's what I would do pastorally. If someone came into our offices and I would like to get saved,

I would not say repeat after me. I state your name. I state your name.

Yeah, it's not an oath of office or something like that. You know what I mean? How do you get saved?

Well, you know, all you have to do is just say this. You know what that is? That's Islam. You know, if you wanna become a

Muslim, you just say the prayer three times and boom, you're a, you know, you're a Muslim.

There is no such prayer for a Christian. Steve, you're a snob. We have to do better than theological snobbery, our spiritual self -righteousness.

If we care about the everyday anxieties of everyday people, the sinner's prayer can be a wonderful, if imperfect tool to help the lost know that they have been found and the found to daily follow the

Lord who has saved them from their sin and secured for them life eternal. Yeah, the main thing about becoming a

Christian is we want people to feel better. I don't know, that doesn't sound very vertical.

That's horizontal, true, Steve. Yeah, that's definitely horizontal. Steve, if somebody, in all honesty, if people are listening today and they've got a friend and they've been witnessing to them and preaching the gospel of them, maybe they've invited them to church, maybe they've given them the ultimate questions book by Blanchard, which

I think is excellent, and they said, I'd like to become a Christian now, or I'm thinking about it, or I'm close, what do we tell the listeners to say to their friends who are in that predicament?

Maybe it's a kid, maybe a kid says, Daddy, I want to become a Christian now. How do we work through that?

I think we, first of all, we encourage that. I mean, that's a desire that we certainly want people to have, and it could be a sign that the

Lord is saving them, but we don't know that. And so what

I always want to do is preach the gospel to them, see what their response is. But more than anything else, it's like we were saying earlier, it's time and trials.

We encourage them and we ask them to continually check themselves. They'll figure out over time, you know, the

Holy Spirit doesn't testify to our spirit about someone else, he testifies to them. So they'll have an affirmation in their own time and in their own way as they see their own lives change.

We don't need to tell them whether they're saved or not. Good, that is the spirit of God's prerogative is to give assurance to no one else's.

Steve, if I met someone and they said, I want to become a Christian and I've had enough of myself and I'm sick of myself and I just, you know,

I'm at the end of my rope, the first thing I'd do is I'd say, okay, let's talk about who Jesus is.

Tell me about who Jesus is, and I would make sure that the object of their faith is the right Jesus because I'm just not going to assume people know anything.

Steve, these days, Machen nailed today, and today is what

Machen talked about 70 years ago. People don't know content. They don't know content about anything because schools are so stupidly into learning theories and how do we learn and learning environments and not hurting other people while we learn.

They forget to teach people content. They don't even know, American people don't know content.

To use the Latin trivium, they don't know grammar, they don't know the building blocks, so how can they logically put it together or rhetorically say anything about it?

So give me content. I want to know who Jesus is, and I would talk about Jesus, the sin -bearing substitute, and I would talk about then them sinning, and Steve, wouldn't we want to make sure they didn't pawn sin off on disease or some circumcision problem?

Well, and to backtrack before I catch up to you a little bit, you know, it's amazing to me, kids are not taught multiplication tables in school and stuff like that, and so, and by the same token, when we talk to somebody about being a

Christian, one of the first things I want to do is just ask them to tell me what the gospel is.

You know, if they can explain the gospel to me, then I have more confidence that, first of all, that they know what they're talking about, but secondly, that they actually might be saved.

If someone can't articulate the gospel and even if I'm helping them, giving them leading questions and they still can't tell me what the gospel is, well, there's reason to think maybe they're not saved.

If you can't describe what God has done in your own life, then how can we be certain that you understand enough to be saved?

And so, you're right, they need to have the information, they need to have the content, they need to know what the

Bible says about God, about Christ, about themselves, and about how God saves people.

And then we tell them to believe, and maybe they say, I do believe, or maybe I could say to them right then, why don't we just pray?

You pray first and then I'll pray, and why don't you just ask God to give you forgiveness? God, have mercy on me.

And I think that would be a good sinner's prayer, going back to Luke 18. Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner.

That'd be a very good way to do it. I think it's a great way. But what I don't do afterwards is say, welcome to the kingdom.

Welcome to the family of God. If you'd say, if you truly believe that in your heart, you are forgiven, you could say that.

Right. Yeah. All right, No Compromise Radio, Mike Evendroth, Steve Cooley here. You can write us at info at nocompromiseradio .com

or you can watch the video at nocoever .com. We'd love to have you write in, tell us what you think of the show, especially

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