Can A Person Get Saved By Reciting the Sinner's Prayer?

By Bishop Elijah H. Hankerson III, BA, MA, DD

GREETING

Psalm 134:1-2.

1 Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord.

2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Thank you! LCIC 20th Church Anniversary!

2. MMEJ 4th Annual Leadership Conference (aka Workers Meeting).

LESSON NOTES

I.                  SALVATION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.

A.   Salvation, in many cases, was considered an outward deliverance from enemies.

Psalm 106:10 ¹⁰And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

B.   Apparently, everyone went to "Hell" or "Sheol" the abode of the dead.

Psalm 16:10 ¹⁰For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

C.   To convert you had to confess of no God but the LORD.

Deuteronomy 6:4 ⁴Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

D.   Converts to Israel had requirements.

1.     Circumcision.

Genesis 17:10-14 ¹⁰This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹²For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner-those who are not your offspring. ¹³Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

2.     Keep the Law.

Numbers 9:14 ¹⁴And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the LORD; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.

E.   Any nation that will fear.

Acts 10:34-35 ³⁴Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.

F.    John Baptized unto repentance.

Matthew 3:11 ¹¹"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Acts 19:1-3 ¹While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples ²and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." ³So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied.

II.               DOES GOD HEAR A SINNER'S PRAYER.

A.   Sin separates.

Isaiah 59:2 ²But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

B.   Regarding iniquity.

Psalm 66:18 ¹⁸If I had cherished sin in my heart, the LORD would not have listened;

C.   The repentance of Nineveh.

Jonah 3:5-10 ⁵The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. ⁶When Jonah's warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. ⁷This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. ⁸But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. ⁹Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." ¹⁰When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

D.   The repentance of Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel 4:28-37 ²⁸All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. ²⁹Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, ³⁰he said, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?" ³¹Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, "This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. ³²You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes." ³³Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. ³⁴At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. ³⁵All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?" ³⁶At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. ³⁷Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

E.   God has no respect of persons.

Acts 10:34-35 ³⁴Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.

F.    God reigns on the just and unjust.

Matthew 5:45 ⁴⁵that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

III.           SALVATION DURING THE TIME OF CHRIST.

A.   Disciples only asked to follow.

Matthew 4:19 ¹⁹"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people."

B.   Zacchaeus only asked only for dinner.

Luke 19:9 ⁹Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.

C.   Woman told she was forgiven.

Luke 7:48 ⁴⁸Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

D.   Thief on the Cross.

Luke 23:43 ⁴³Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise."

IV.           SALVATION IN BETWEEN THE CROSS AND PENTECOST.

A.   Christ said you must be born of water and Spirit.

John 3:5 ⁵Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.

B.   The Disciples received the (birth of the ) Holy Ghost prior to Pentecost (where they received the Baptism).

John 20:22 ²²And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

V.      SALVATION IN THE BOOK OF ACTS.

A. Luke empathized repentance. Water baptism is also important in Luke's writing as it was the ultimate sign of turning your back on the world and following Christ (many families begged their loved ones not to do it). For those who emphasize modes and formulas - please take note of two things

1. The Name "Jesus" did not exist until recently - because the letter "J" was not created until the 1600's. Technically the name of the Savior is "Yeshua" which means "Yahweh is Salvation."

2.  Original baptism was done naked in "living water," a river or stream. Signifying taking off the world and having your sins washed away.

C.   Examples in the book of acts.

1.     Three thousand were baptized.

Acts 2:41 ⁴¹Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

2.     The gentiles are granted repentance receive the Holy Ghost and are baptized.

Acts 10:47-48 ⁴⁷"Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." ⁴⁸So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Acts 11:18 ¹⁸When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life."

3.     Samaria repents and is baptized.

Acts 8:12 ¹²But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

4.     The Ethiopian eunuch is baptized.

Acts 8:36 ³⁶As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?"

5.     The Philippians believe on Jesus and are baptized.

Acts 16:31-33 ³¹They replied, "Believe in the LORD Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household." ³²Then they spoke the word of the LORD to him and to all the others in his house. ³³At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.

6.     Confession of Jesus as Lord. This was considered a total insult to the emperor (who was considered Lord and King of Kings). And confession has to be powerful; because a Christian would be afraid to confess Muhammed as Lord or Satan as Lord. See I Corinthians 12:3).

Romans 10:9-10 ⁹If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is LORD," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

1 Corinthians 12:3 ³Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is LORD," except by the Holy Spirit.

VI.     THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO MAKE YOURSELF RIGHT WITH GOD.

A.   Your righteousness is filthy rags.

Isaiah 64:6 ⁶All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

B.   The robe of righteousness.

Isaiah 61:10 ¹⁰I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

C.   You do not choose Him He chooses you.

John 15:16 ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit-fruit that will last-and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

D.   We become his righteousness.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

E.   Salvation is God's idea.

Ephesians 2:8-9 ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.

VII.    BUT THERE ARE REQUIREMENTS. Part 1 and 2 can be included in    a "sinner’s prayer."

1.     Repenting of your sins.

Luke 13:5 ⁵I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

2.     Confessing Jesus as the risen Lord.

Acts 22:16 ¹⁶And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'

3.     Being baptized in water. Jesus words in Mark.

Mark 16:16 ¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

4.     Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is how the Jews knew that the Gentiles had received repentance. And, Samaria was required to receive the Holy Ghost.

Acts 8:15-16 ¹⁵When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the LORD Jesus.

VIII. Conclusion. The sinner’s prayer can work if a person is given an understanding of the importance of repentance and confessing Christ as Lord.