Articles
The Sinner's Prayer
The Baptists hung an information packet on our door last week. Sadly, their zeal exceeded their Bible knowledge, and the material was a perfect example of proof-texting; i.e., selectively quoting Scripture to support an false conclusion.
A card said: HAVE YOU PERSONALLY TRUSTED CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR? YOU CAN TODAY – HERE’S HOW. Below that headline were these bullet points:
* First, realize you are a sinner. (Rom 3:23)
* Second, realize there is a price to pay for sin. (Rom 6:23)
* Third, realize that God loves you and paid the price for your sin. (Jn 3:16)
* Finally, repent and pray, asking Jesus Christ to be your Savior. (Ac 20:21).
At the bottom, Romans 10:13 was quoted: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Also in the packet was a copy of John’s gospel with certain passages marked and referenced to others to create a chain. Of course, the verses selected focused only on belief (Jn 1:12; 3:16-17; 5:24; 10:27-30; 20:31).
Also included was a copy of Romans with a brief overview of its teaching. The bullet points:
* Believe God’s book!
* The wages of sin.
* Repentance.
* By grace not works.
* Blood redemption.
* It’s your decision.
The booklet urged: “You have come to the place in your life where you must make a decision. If you choose to accept the payment made by the Lord Jesus Christ for your sin, then you simply need to bow your head and pray. Tell Jesus, in your own words, that you are sorry for your sins and that you no longer want to remain spiritually separated from God. Ask Jesus to forgive you and save you from death and eternal punishment. Tell Him you are willing to receive Him as your Lord and Savior. Let Him know you want to accept His gift of eternal life.”
Two thoughts from reading this material:
1) Romans 6:3-7 was nowhere quoted: “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin” (6:3-4). In fact, there was no reference at all to baptism anywhere in the literature.
I find this strange given what Paul says about baptism in the very book the Baptists distributed. Paul clearly ties baptism to Jesus’ death and the benefits that emanate from it. The death of the old sinful man and freedom from sin are directly tied in this passage to baptism, not merely repentance and belief in the sacrifice of Christ. Why would they ignore this?
Of course, the standard answer of Calvinists to the necessity of baptism is: “You believe in salvation by works. There’s nothing we can do to obtain our salvation. God does it all.”
2) Yet after saying, “God rejects any attempt to earn our own salvation,” the booklet then said “Even though we are saved by faith in Christ and not by our good deeds, it is necessary to repent of our sins (emphasis jj). As we separate from sin, we show gratitude to God for our free salvation, and we show those around us what a wonderful change has occurred in our lives!” Hmm, “it is necessary” sounds like something we must do, but they don’t see the inconsistency of demanding repentance while rejecting baptism. This is purely a selective treatment of Scripture, accepting what is palatable to their theology and rejecting what is offensive.
The “straw man” in this approach is to assert that baptism is an attempt to save ourselves by meritorious work. Of course, that is untrue. No rational person would accept that dunking themselves in water merits forgiveness for murder, adultery, lying, drunkenness or any other sin. Man didn’t stipulate baptism, God did. It is His idea, not ours. It is His condition for salvation, just like repentance. Why would people be so adamant in accepting one but rejecting the other?
Also, the booklet said, “If you choose to accept the payment made by the Lord Jesus Christ for your sin, then you simply need to bow your head and pray.” Again, an action is asserted, yet they affirm that salvation is “not by our good deeds.” So, to them repentance is not a work and prayer is not a work, but baptism is. This way of formulating theology is as random as, “One potato, two potato, three potato, four …”.
