The Sinner's Prayer is Billy Graham's Error
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The Sinner’s Prayer
“Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name. Amen.” – Billy Graham
- This prayer is supposed by some to be the means to eternal salvation.
- This is nonsense because one already must have eternal life to truly and sincerely pray this prayer.
Let’s look at it phrase by phrase:
“Lord Jesus”
- One must already have the Holy Spirit dwelling in him to call Jesus “Lord”.
- 1Co 12:3 – Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
- If one truly calls Jesus “Lord”, it is because he is born again and has the Spirit of God dwelling in him; it doesn’t cause him to be born again.
“I know that I am a sinner”
- Sin is the transgression of the law, and unregenerate sinners are not subject to the law of God, and therefore do not know that they are sinners.
- 1Jn 3:4 – Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
- Rom 8:5 – For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
- Rom 8:6 – For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
- Rom 8:7 – Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
- If a person knows that he is sinner, it is because he is born again and is spiritually minded; it doesn’t make him spiritually minded.
“I ask your forgiveness”
- Those who have eternal life and whose sins are already eternally forgiven are those who know they are sinners and will ask for forgiveness and receive it in this life.
- 1Jn 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- 1Jn 2:12 – I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
- 1Jn 5:13 – These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
- If a person asks for forgiveness, it is because he has eternal life; it doesn’t give him eternal life.
“I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead.”
- Those that believe that Jesus is the Son of God are already born of God.
- 1Jn 5:1 – Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God…
- One must already be saved to believe the gospel, else it is foolishness.
- 1Co 1:18 – For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
- If a person believes that Jesus died for their sins, it is because they are born of God and already have eternal life; it doesn’t make them born of God, nor give them eternal life.
“I turn from my sins”
- Turning from one’s sins is a good thing which unregenerate sinners cannot do.
- Rom 3:10 – As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
- Rom 3:11 – There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
- Rom 3:12 – They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
- A person who turns from their sins and does righteousness is born of God; he doesn’t become born of God by doing so.
- 1Jn 2:29 – If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
“and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior.”
- If a person truly prays this prayer, Christ is already in them for the aforementioned reasons.
- Rom 8:9 – But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
- Rom 8:10 – And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
- Rom 8:11 – But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
The “Sinner’s Prayer” is nowhere found in the Bible.
The proper response to hearing the gospel with conviction is to repent and be baptized and be added to a local church where one worships Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth for the rest of his life, not to pray some four sentence prayer and go on your merry way thinking you just acquired eternal life.
Act 2:37 – 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?
Act 2:38 – 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.
Act 2:41 – Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Act 2:42 – And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Billy Graham achieved astonishing results in preaching the Gospel, although I do have a reservation over the ‘sinner’s prayer’ he used and he himself conceded that long term results were not what was hoped for. However many were genuinely saved. I know that to be true here in the UK. Yours is a very neat and tidy hard Calvinist view but one which you can’t get from a complete view of Scripture. The Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin, because men do not believe in Jesus, see John 16v8,9. So the Holy Spirit works on unbelievers, those yet to be born again. My main issue with the type of prayer under discussion is that the New Testament repeatedly calls unbelievers to ‘repent’ but does not anywhere call them to ‘repent of their sins’. How would they know what all their sins are anyway? As Gentiles, even as new believers, men were only called to avoid a very small list of sins, see Acts 15v19,20, and that was after coming to faith. Rather, in turning to Christ, our sins are wiped out; Acts 3v19. It happens when we turn to Christ. The emphasis is on re-thinking your present beliefs and way of living and yielding all to Christ as Lord. He then deals with us gently and with patience. I do think most people generally have some awareness of their moral failure before God at the point of believing, but the Acts preachers don’t seem to be emphasising some list of sins, as people could easily assume from the phrase ‘repent of your sins’.
A believer is not a sinner, he is someone who still sins because of the flesh. He is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, 2 Corinthians 5v21. It was while we were still sinners Christ died for us, Romans 5v18.
I think Billy Graham may have inadvertently put too much burden on sinners to do something about their sins prior to faith, with the phrase ‘repent of your sins’. Additionally, most people, even Christians, don’t know what the original Greek word translated ‘repent’ means. It means to re-think. It doesn’t necessarily mean to feel remorse or to actively ‘get rid of’. A sinner at the point of conversion may well be aware of their general failure to live right before God, but may lack knowledge of specific sins. We can never list all our sins in detail at this point. And we can never put them off without Him. But as we turn to Christ, are sins are forgiven and we receive new life. The Holy Spirit will begin to clean us up. The Bible doesn’t really specify how much consciousness of sin is necessary at conversion. The Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin, in that men do not believe in Jesus. There are two ways to see that. Either a) the important sin is that men do not believe in him, and/or b) that because men do not believe, it is necessary to convict them of their sinfulness. There is possibly a measure of both for most people. If men come readily to Jesus, when he is preached and revealed by the Holy Spirit, then there may be no immediate need to convict them of their sinful acts. That can happen later. But if they will not believe, maybe the Spirit needs to convict them of their sins, in a general or partial sense at least.
We can see the preachers convicting people of rejecting the prophets and crucifying the Christ in Acts, and, for Gentiles, of idolatry; Acts 17v16. What we don’t see is a generalised call to ‘repent of your sins’.
Nonsense? Billy Graham was a precious Servant of God and faithfully brought millions to salvation in his life of Service.🙏❤️🙏
The critical spirit is alive and well in you. How sad that you have assumed the role of amateur providence and have decided how we should evangelize.
Let me tell you, that as a Registered Nurse, I have had the privilege of sharing Christ with patients, other nonbelievers from all walks of life for over 50 years. I have lost count of those who prayed the sinners prayer of Billy Graham in my presence and ultimately became saved.
Pride will make you dig your heels in with your position on this, but for you to pick this apart in such a negative light…….SHAME on you.
What I don’t understanding is all your. verbiage. The multitude that response to Billy Graham’s message is due to the enlightment by the Holy Spirit of thier unregenerated condition as fallen creatures. Election is made by God the Father to draw them to Jesus Christ the Son of God who died for the redemption of their sins.
Romans 10:14-15
New King James Version
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
Thats what Billy Graham did all hs life Whether the Sinnet”s Prayer will hold its weight in gold, we’ll find out when on that day Jesus calls us to answer for our deeds.
In my opinion, the focus should be instead of critiquing the Sinner”s Prayer, stand against the wolves and the distorted gospe they are preaching. At least the multitude at the stadium went to listen the Truth with Billy, but what about the multitude upon multitude of lives in stadiums not realizing thier souls are perishing. What Prayer due they pray.
Mr. Wagner, you may want to reread Romans 10 verse 9 which states the following, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” It is required that people confess with their mouth’s that they believe in Christ. Please read up on the verses about false teachers as well!
I addressed Rom 10:9 in this Bible study. https://pastorwagner.com/sermons/problem-texts-for-sovereign-grace-29/
Excellent article but what way would position this to someone who is a sinner and wants to know Jesus as Saviour?
I would tell him what Jesus accomplished on the cross for His elect for whom He died, and then ask him if he believes it. If he does, I would tell him that his faith shows the evidence that he is one of the elect for whom Christ died. I would then tell him he should repent of his sins and get baptized and added to a true church where he can worship Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth and learn more about Christ and His requirements for his life.
I have been saved for 23 years and yet to be baptized. There are few ‘true’ churches left around -many were devastated during Covid due to poor advice of their pastors. Others are diluted. I agree that spontaneous salvation is ideal. But we should not place limitations or barriers on how the Holy Spirit choses to come to someone nor cause someone who got saved with this prayer to doubt their salvation. In the end, only God knows the hearts of men and we all need to work out our salvation, however we got it.