On a local radio station Sunday morning, I heard an Evangelical preacher in Louisville discussing various approaches to evangelism. According to him, one way to win people to Christ was to meet strangers and urge them to receive Jesus on the spot. The speaker explained that “the Romans road” was a tested and proven method for accomplishing this. The following paragraph (though not a verbatim quote) accurately conveys his message:
First, go to Romans 3:23. Paul says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This verse helps the lost person to become aware of his condition. Then, turn to Romans 5:8. The Bible says that “God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” Everyone is a helpless sinner, but Jesus took our sins upon himself at the cross. Next, read Romans 6:23, which declares that “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The penalty for sin is death, eternal separation from God in hell. But Jesus offers sinners a free gift, the gift of eternal life with God. Finally, share the words of Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Go ahead! Say a prayer right now and ask Jesus into your heart! You will receive the free gift of eternal life.
Many of the things affirmed by this Evangelical preacher are true. Every person is indeed a sinner, Jesus did pay the full price for human treachery against God, and eternal life is a free gift that no human effort can merit. However, “the Romans road” has some potholes in it. For one thing, Romans 10:9 provides no support for the so-called “sinner's prayer.” To “confess” Jesus as Lord is to make a public declaration of faith before human witnesses at the time of conversion. Paul, the author of Romans, urged Timothy to “take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Tim. 6:12). Nowhere in any of his letters does Paul ever speak of conversion in terms of saving prayer.
Furthermore, “the Romans road” completely bypasses fundamental salvation doctrines taught in Paul's masterpiece letter. Romans 2:4 asserts that “God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” Is the change of heart at the crux of conversion so insignificant that Evangelicals can ignore it altogether when teaching a lost person? And what about Romans 6:4? Paul says that “we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” If immersion into Christ is the point at which new life begins, then a zigzag around baptism is worse than a pothole. The Evangelical “Romans road” shoots the unsuspecting traveler over a chasm with no bridge.
