Lesson 30 (Advanced Lesson 10)
Does God Hear the Prayer of an Alien Sinner?
Apologetics Press Advanced Christian Evidences Correspondence Course
Bert Thompson, Ph.D. and Brad Harrub, Ph.D.

INTRODUCTION

     Most would agree that people constantly are looking for the “easy way out.” In both the business world and in our personal lives, corners often get cut in order to obtain quick results. The society in which we live has taken on a “fast food” mentality—I do not want to work (cook) and I want my food right now. So what happens when this idea of “I want it quick and I want it easy” seeps into the religious world? What corners are people willing to cut in order to obtain a “quick and easy” salvation? Rather than reading the Bible and then acting on the commands of God, individuals are opting for an easier method—a method that is being used by literally millions of people in an effort to obtain what they perceive as salvation. The idea, quite simply, is this: “Pray and ask Jesus to come into your heart” and you will be saved from your sins. This teaching, although quite wide spread, is completely at odds with the Bible's specific instructions regarding what one must do to be saved (see Thompson, 1999, pp. 33-51). In fact, in numerous sermons, books, and tracts within the religious world at large, it is not uncommon to hear or read what usually is referred to as the “sinner’s prayer.” Those who embrace this quick and easy method frequently suggest something like this:

Accept Christ into your heart through prayer and he'll receive you. It doesn't matter what church you belong to or if you ever do good works. You'll be born again at the moment you receive Christ. He's at the door knocking…. Just trust Christ as Savior. God loves you and forgives you unconditionally. Anyone out there can be saved if they accept Christ, now! Let's pray for Christ to now come into your heart (see Staten, 2001).

And the prayer that the alien sinner is urged to pray frequently goes something like this:

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 my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be (see McDowell, 1999, p. 759).

Where, exactly, in the Scriptures does it teach that, in order to be saved, one should “pray to ask Jesus to come into his heart”? Through the years, we have asked many within various religious groups this important question. But we have yet to find anyone who could provide a single biblical reference to substantiate such a claim. The salvation that Jesus freely gives is not conditioned on prayer; rather, it is conditioned on the “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5; 16:26). Truth be told, the alien sinner can pray for salvation as long and hard as he wants, but that prayer will not result in such. God has stated—in plain, easy-to-understand language—exactly what the alien sinner must do to be forgiven. And that cannot be accomplished through prayer. It is fruitless for the alien sinner to pray to God to “send Jesus into his heart.” God will not respond to such a request, and, additionally, salvation is not accomplished via prayer.

HISTORY OF THE SINNER'S PRAYER

     Society has not always possessed a “fast-food” mentality toward religion. During the Reformation, many individuals truly were seeking to do God’s will, and therefore the Scriptures were consulted often. It was during this period that many denominations splintered in an effort to revive, or “perfect,” various branches of Christendom. However, even these reformers could not reach a consensus on many of the major issues (such as infant baptism and salvation) that still plague religious groups today. Many of these new denominations held on to traditional practices, even when they did not fully understand the significance.
     During the early- to mid-1700s, preachers began stressing the need for repentance and confession. Although ambivalent on the practice of baptism, preachers began to “pressure” individuals into conversions—which eventually led to the mourner’s bench (or front pew) for sinners. The pressure intensified following a revival that took place in 1801 at Cane Ridge, Kentucky. This meeting lasted for weeks, and throughout it people were alleged to have become delirious from lack of food in the intense heat. The delusions that these individuals suffered caused weird vocalizations and people literally rolled in the aisles—a new, added “emotion” that would continue in various branches of religions for more than two centuries. It soon became expected for preachers to stir members into a frenzied state. J.V. Coombs witnessed such nineteenth century hysteria and stated:

The appeals, songs, prayers and the suggestion from the preacher drive many into the trance state. I can remember in my boyhood days seeing ten or twenty people laying unconscious upon the floor in the old country church. People called that conversion. Science knows it is mesmeric influence, self-hypnotism…. It is sad that Christianity is compelled to bear the folly of such movements (see Staten, 2001).

     Capitalizing on this emotional revolution and the concept of the mourner's bench, Charles G. Finney (1792-1875) developed the “anxious seat.” In describing it, he wrote:

The church has always felt it necessary to have something of this kind to answer this very purpose. In the days of the apostles, baptism answered this purpose. The gospel was preached to the people, and then all those who were willing to be on the side of Christ, were called out to be baptized. It held the place that the anxious seat does now as a public manifestation of their determination to be Christians (see Staten).

This “anxious seat” system, which Finney admits replaced baptism, became the backbone of the modern“sinner’sprayer” plan of salvation. Dwight Moody modified Finney’s system by eliminating the pressure of a public response. Instead of having individuals come forward publicly, he invited people to join him and his trained counselors in a room called the Inquiry Room. During their visit, prospective converts were asked questions, taught from the Scriptures, and then had prayers offered for them. By the late 1800s, this notion of praying at the end of conversions to “receive Christ” spread across both the United States and the United Kingdom. R.A.Torrey succeeded Moody’s ministry and then modified it to include “on the spot” street conversions to convey the idea of instant salvation with no strings attached. Thus the phraseology“receive Christ, right now, right here” was born.
     Billy Graham played the next major role in the evolution of the sinner’s prayer. By the late 1940s, it became evident that Graham was becoming the“champion” evangelizer. His crusades found literally thousands of people who desired a faithful relationship with God. Following an “altar call,” individuals who responded were told to pray and “accept Christ as their Savior.” In the late 1950s, Bill Bright (of the Campus Crusade for Christ organization) convinced the “average believer” that he or she could experience the benefits of these evangelical crusades in any living room across America. Further odifications
were carried out, and eventually a Bible was printed with this theology inserted right into God's Word. John1:11-13 was retranslated to read:

Even in his own land and among his own people, the Jews, he was not accepted. Only a few welcome and received him. But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. All they had to do was trust him and save them. All those who believe this are reborn!—not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan—but from the will of God (Living Bible Paraphrased, emp. added).

Thus, church auditoriums all over the world now ring out with the words “accept Jesus into your heart and you will be saved.” In defense of this manmade plan of salvation, believers point to Romans 10:13 which states: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

DOES GOD HEAR (TO RESPOND TO) THE SINNER'S PRAYER?

     Is this correct? Are sinners simply to call upon the Lord and be saved? Regardless of what some may teach about this verse, the fact is it instructs sinners to call upon the name of the Lord for salvation. This is far different from simply “praying Jesus into your heart.” Calling on the Lord's name refers to appealing to His authority. According to Colossians 3:17, every single act a Christian performs (in word or deed) should be carried out by Christ’s authority. Receiving salvation is no different. In order to obtain salvation, we must submit to the Lord’s authority. This is what Romans 10:13 is teaching; it is up to us to go elsewhere in the New Testament to learn how to call upon the name of the Lord.
     For millennia, men have discussed the issue of whether or not God hears— to respond to—the prayer of an alien sinner. Certainly there is no question that God “hears” all prayers. God is omniscient, and therefore hears and sees everything that transpires on Earth. The Scriptures affirm this repeatedly. The Proverbs writer observed: “For human ways are under the eyes of the Lord, and he examines all their paths” (5:21, NRSV). Jeremiah wrote in the book that bears his name: “‘Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him?’ saith Jehovah. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’” (23:24). The writer of the book of Hebrews commented: “And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (4:13).
     There should be no doubt that God hears every prayer—in the sense that He is aware of the petitioner and his or her prayer. The crucial question then becomes: Does God respond to every prayer? Specifically, does God “act” based upon requests made by someone who is not a Christian? While responses to this question often are fueled by a great amount of passion and emotion, we must turn to the Scriptures for answers—for only after opinions and emotions have been laid aside can we open God’sWord and seek out the Truth. What do the Scriptures teach us about God’s response to the alien sinner? The Scriptures are explicit in their testimony that God does not hear (to respond to) the prayer of alien sinners. A litany of passages in the Old Testament confirms the idea that God does respond to the prayers of the righteous, but does not respond to the prayers of the wicked. Proverbs 15:29 declares:“Jehovah is far from the wicked; but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.” Psalm 66:18 further explains: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” The Proverbs writer also taught: “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah; but the prayer of the upright is his delight. The way of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah; but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness” (15:8-9). David wrote: “The eyes of Jehovah are toward the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of Jehovah is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth” (Psalm 34:15-16). And Isaiah concluded: “Behold, Jehovah’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, so that he will not hear” (59:1-2).

BIBLICAL EXAMPLES

     Some in the religious world today erroneously appeal to Luke 18:9-14— commonly known as the parable of the Pharisee and the publican—to support their idea that God hears the prayer of the alien sinner. In this situation, the Lord contrasted the attitudes of two men—one a self-righteous religious leader (a Pharisee), and the other a humble tax collector (a publican). The Pharisee stood up in a prominent area of the temple sanctuary and loudly thanked God that he was not like other men, announcing his “righteous”deeds and attributes. Conversely, the publican, standing afar off, asked God to be merciful to him, a sinner. Christ explained that it was the publican, not the Pharisee, who went away justified. Those who advocate the “sinner's prayer” or the “mourner's bench” as the way to heaven use this text to suggest that God will hear and forgive an alien sinner. But in doing so, they overlook the publican’s relationship to God. This man was a Jew—one of God’s chosen people (the story takes place in the temple sanctuary, where Gentiles were not allowed). As a Jew under the Old Covenant, this man was a child of God— a child in sin, but one of God's own nonetheless. Additionally, this humble publican did not pray to God for salvation; rather, he, like King David before him, prayed for forgiveness—something that, as a Jew, he had every right to do, just as David had done years earlier (and just as Christians today who have fallen away but seek to return have the right to do). This parable cannot be used to justify the “sinner’s prayer.”
     Others attempt to defend the position that forgiveness can be given through prayer by turning to the conversion stories in the Bible such as Cornelius in Acts 10. Let us begin with an examination of the conversion of Cornelius. And as we do, let us state plainly that God did hear Cornelius’ prayer. As the angel said to him on the Lord’s behalf: “Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up for a memorial before God” (Acts 10:3-4). Did God hear the centurion’s prayer? Yes, he did. But was Cornelius an alien sinner when God heard his prayer? No, he was not. Consider the following.
     First, note specifically the words Luke used to describe Cornelius .“Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house” (Acts 10:1-2, emp. added). How could Cornelius be described as devout if he were an alien sinner?
     When Peter asked why the men had come, they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one that feareth God, and well reported of by all the nation of the Jews, was warned of God by a holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words from thee” (Acts 10:21-22, emp. added).
     This is the picture of a sincere, godly, devout, righteous man. The Scriptures never refer to an alien sinner as “devout” or “righteous.” And therein lies the solution to the problem of Cornelius’ answered prayers. Guy N. Woods explained the solution to this seeming conundrum when he wrote:

It is interesting and important, in this connection, to inquire as to the nature and identification of the law under which Cornelius, the Centurion, was worshipping God. (1) It was not Christianity; for, he had not thus far obeyed the gospel. (2) It was not Judaism, because he was neither a Jew nor a proselyte to the Jewish religion, being an uncircumcised Gentile. There has been but one other law, through the ages, under which God accepted worship: Patriarchy. (3) It follows, therefore, that Cornelius was worshipping God under a system which had continued since Eden—the patriarchal arrangement. We should recall that the Law of Moses was given only to the descendants of Jacob—Israel—and to those Gentiles who suffered themselves to be proselyted— by circumcision—to it (Deut. 5:2; Acts 2:10; 13:43). Inasmuch as Cornelius was neither a Jew nor a proselyte, it follows that he was worshipping God under the patriarchal system obtaining from the beginning. It had, indeed, been in the divine purpose to make of the two—Jew and Gentile—“one new man” (Eph. 2:14-18), but the attitude of Jews toward Gentiles had thwarted that plan, until the events of Acts10(1976, p. 63).

     Second, note that in this situation we see a man who had been living [observe the past tense] in a right relationship with God and who was seeking to do His will in everything. Yet during Cornelius’ lifetime came the dawn of a new era—a time when men would have to call on the Lord Jesus (Acts 22: 16) in obedience to be saved. Cornelius’ prayer, therefore, was not the prayer of an alien sinner, but of one living righteously under Patriarchal Law. When Paul spoke in Ephesians 2:12 of certain Gentiles who in the past had no hope and were “without God in the world,” he did not imply that they were in that position because they were Gentiles, but because they were Gentiles who had not been obedient to the particular law they had been given.
     Cornelius was not an alien sinner but a “devout” and “righteous” follower of God who had been worshipping God acceptably under the only law system available to him at the time—Patriarchal Law. The case of Cornelius cannot be used to establish that God hears the prayer of an alien sinner. [Note carefully that no one today falls into the category in which Cornelius found himself, since everyone now is amenable to the Gospel— Acts 17:30.]
     It is clear that God will not respond to the requests of the wicked. But does the same principle still apply today?Yes, it does, as Peter confirmed when he wrote: “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1Peter 3:12, NRSV).Will God respond to the prayers of alien sinners for forgiveness or other spiritual blessings? Woods asked and answered a similar question.

Will God hear and answer an alien sinner’s prayer for what? Forgiveness? Sonship? Eternal life? No. These blessings, and all others needed by an alien sinner (one who has never obeyed the gospel), are promised on conditions other than prayer (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3-4; 10:9-10). Forgiveness is available only in Christ (Eph. 1:7; II Tim. 2:10; II Cor. 5:17; Gal. 3:26- 27). To be “in Christ,” one must have believed the gospel, have repented, have confessed faith in Christ, and have been baptized. Prayer does not put one into Christ. One becomes a member of the family of God by being “born again” (John 3:3-5).
The “new birth” is the equivalent of being saved; and is obtained by being born of water and the Spirit. Since things equal to the same thing are equal to each other, it follows that to born of water and the Spirit is to obey the gospel (James 4:3; Prov. 28:9). Every blessing needed by an alien sinner is obtained on specified conditions, not including prayer. In no instance, in the Scriptures, is an alien sinner promised salvation on the condition of prayer (1976, p. 312).

WHAT SHOULD AN ALIEN SINNER PRAY FOR?

1. That God would give him faith? No, faith comes via hearing the Word of God(Romans10:17).
2. For wisdom? No, it is the Scriptures that make us wise (2 Timothy 3:14ff.).
3. To be sanctified? No, the Truth does that through the Word of God (John 17:17).
4. For salvation? No, the Word offers knowledge of what one must do to be saved (James 1:21).

     Does this mean that individuals who truly are seeking God are destined to remain lost? No. God has, through His divine providence, provided a means for the alien sinner to be assured of understanding what that will is. God's pledge throughout all time has been, and remains: “I love them that love me; and those that seek me diligently shall find me” (Proverbs 8:17). God, through His marvelous providence, can (and does) lead the open and searching heart to someone who is able to teach them the Gospel (cf. Acts 8:26-40 and 16:6- 10). Jesus Himself stated: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). But this does not imply that He hears (to respond to) the prayer of the one lost in sin. He already has set in motion—through that providence—the means by which a diligent, probing soul can find the Truth. Those who are earnest in their desire to do God’s bidding will be successful in their endeavor to locate God and to learn what His will and way is for their lives.

REFERENCES

McDowell, Josh (1999), The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict (Nashville, TN: Nelson).
Staten, Steven (2001), “The Sinner' s Prayer: Modern Apostasy and False Teaching that Prevents Men from Being Saved,” [On-line] URL: http://www.bibleca/gsinner'sprayer. htm.
Thompson, Bert (1999), My Sovereign, My Sin, My Salvation (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press).
Woods, Guy N. (1976), Questions and Answers: Open Forum (Henderson, TN: Freed-Hardeman University), Vol. 1.

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