"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." —Romans 4:5
First, let me say that I respect Ray Comfort for sincerely standing up for what he believes is right. However, I respectfully disagree with his views on Biblical repentance as concerns salvation. If a man is wrong on salvation, then he is going to be wrong on everything else too. As Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1994) wisely says... If you get the first button wrong while buttoning a shirt, you're going to get all the other buttons wrong too. Dr. Hutson is 100% correct!
On Ray Comfort's website, located at http://www.livingwaters.com... he leads sinners to pray a sample prayer:
"Dear God, today I turn from all my sins (name them), and I put my trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Please forgive me, and grant me your gift of everlasting life. Amen."
The major problem with Mr. Comfort's philosophy is that it incorporates the damnable doctrine of Lordship Salvation, i.e., the unbiblical requirement for lost sinners to literally forsake the act of sin as a prerequisite to salvation. This is exactly what unsaved Seventh Day Adventists teach.
Ray Comfort is an extremely popular evangelist, with his ministries THE WAY OF THE MASTER and LIVING WATERS. Ray Comfort says...
“Merely being sorry for your sins, or confessing them to God won't help you. You must turn from sin (repent).”
SOURCE: LIVING WATERS ministry, SAVE YOURSELF SOME PAIN
Heresy! That is self-righteousness!
Clearly,
Ray Comfort believes
that some personal effort to depart from sin is necessary to be saved
by God. This is self-righteousness and not the salvation of the Bible which
is received freely by faith in Christ. Revelation 22:17 states: "Let him
that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
Romans 4:5 plainly states that A MAN'S FAITH IS COUNTED FOR
RIGHTEOUSNESS!!! One's faith in Christ makes that person
righteous in the eyes of God. Adding even
the slightest work of self-righteousness to the gospel corrupts it into a
false way, a false plan, a road to damnation.
Sadly, Mr. Comfort and his sidekick, Kirk Cameron, are doctrinally corrupted and confused; likely because they are followers of heretic Dr. John MacArthur (evidenced by Kirk Cameron promoting the John MacArthur Study Bible on his website). They are WRONG to teach that repentance unto salvation means ceasing from sin. They are also wrong to teach that repentance is a completely separate act from believing upon the Lord to be saved. These are two deadly heresies concerning salvation.
THE TRUTH is that you simply turn to the Lord by faith to be forgiven of
your sins and you are saved immediately, completely and eternally. It's that
simple. We are the SINNER and Jesus is the SAVIOR! We are saved by GOD'S
RIGHTEOUSNESS. Please read Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law,
but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith.” How much clearer could the Bible be!!!
Ray Comfort Corrupts Matthew 7:22,23
"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." —Matthew 7:22-23
On page 1197 of THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, Ray Comfort comments on Matthew 7:22,23...
"These are perhaps the most frightening verses in the Bible. Vast multitudes of professing Christians fit into the category spoken of here. They call Jesus 'Lord,' but they practice lawlessness. They profess faith in Jesus, but have no regard for the divine law. They tell 'fibs' or 'white' lies, take things that belong to others, have a roaming eye for the opposite sex, etc. They are liars, thieves, and adulterers at heart, who will be cast from the gates of heaven into the jaws of hell."
SOURCE: THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, by Ray Comfort, pg. 1197; 2003, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Orlando, Florida
In sharp contrast, read what Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) has to say Scripturally about worldly believers.
Ladies
and gentleman, Ray Comfort is teaching works salvation! According to what we
just read by Ray Comfort, every believer who is still living in deliberate
sin won't be allowed into Heaven.
The correct interpretation of Matthew 7:22,23 must include verse 21...
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
What is "the will of the Father"? The answer is found in John 6:40...
"And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."
The group in Matthew 7:21-23 were unsaved because they refused to do God's will concerning salvation. It wasn't because they still had personal sins in their life. Every believer still has sin in their life! We all sin every day. That's not to say that we have God's approval to sin, God forbid (Romans 3:31). It just means that even the best of Christians are still sinners. Ray Comfort wrestles the Scriptures to his own destruction.
John 3:20 states... "For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved" (John 3:20). Such apostates are willing to follow a false gospel or a milquetoast preacher like Joel Osteen. However, it is not one's unwillingness to forsake personal sins that prevent a person from being saved; but rather, one's love for such sins. In John 5:40 Jesus said, "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Jesus didn't say, "Ye cannot come." He said, "Ye WILL NOT come." But if such a sinner does come to Jesus, acknowledging his guilt of sin and sincerely desiring to be forgiven, the Lord will save him eternally.
Ray Comfort perverts Matthew 7:22,23 by claiming that false prophets are those who claim to be Christians; but are not because of sin in their life, i.e., because they have not literally forsaken their sins yet. Clearly, Mr. Comfort is teaching works salvation. Satan is a master liar and deceiver and his ministers are turned into ministers of righteousness (2nd Corinthians 11:13,14). There are many groups who falsely profess to be "Christian" nowadays, but it's not because they still have sin in their life... it's because they're trusting their own self-righteousness; namely, Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Christian Scientists, Scientologists, Lordship Salvationists and innumerable others.
Every proponent of Lordship Salvation claims that eternal is a free gift, provided by God's free grace, and that works are not essential to salvation; yet, they 100% contradict themselves when they mandate a changed life as part of saving faith. Forsaking one's sins is the FRUIT of genuine repentance; not a prerequisite to being saved.
Jesus clearly taught that the reason why the group in Matthew 7:21-23 wasn't saved is because they had failed to do GOD'S WILL. John 6:40 tells us that God's will is for us to BELIEVE ON JESUS CHRIST. Ray Comfort would have us to believe that forsaking one's sins is God's will for salvation; but that is NOT what the Bible says at all.
Ray Comfort is an extremely popular evangelist, with his ministries, THE WAY OF THE MASTER and LIVING WATERS. Unfortunately, Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron teach the heresy of Lordship Salvation...
“Merely being sorry for your sins, or confessing them to God won't help you. You must turn from sin (repent).”
SOURCE: LIVING WATERS ministry, SAVE YOURSELF SOME PAIN
Heresy! That is self-righteousness! Adding even
the slightest work of self-righteousness to the Gospel corrupts it into a
false way, a false plan, a road to damnation.
What About Charles Spurgeon?
As with other false prophets, Ray Comfort leans heavily upon the quotes of historically great men to support his unbiblical position. THE EVIDENCE BIBLE quotes Spurgeon often. Unfortunately, Ray Comfort (as does John MacArthur) horribly take Charles Spurgeon's words out of context, and claim that Spurgeon taught Lordship Salvation. Nothing could be further from the truth, as this quote by Spurgeon himself plainly reveals...
"You must not expect that you will be perfect in "repentance" before you are saved. No Christian can be perfect. "Repentance" is a grace. Some people preach it as a condition of salvation. Condition of nonsense! There are no conditions of salvation. God gives the salvation himself..."
—Pastor Charles Spurgeon
SOURCE: http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0044.htm (from a sermon preached at the New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, on September 23, 1855)
Why doesn't Ray Comfort quote those words by
Spurgeon? Ray Comfort is guilty of twisting the Scriptures around and
misrepresenting the beliefs of Spurgeon to support his unbiblical position.
Birds of a Feather Flock Together
Lordship Salvation has become a major teaching across America and Canada because of one lone false prophet—Pastor John MacArthur. Ray Comfort's sidekick, Kirk Cameron, promotes Mac Arthur's lame Study Bible on his website.1 John MacArthur has also commended Ray Comfort's ministry.2 As they say, the nut never falls too far from the tree. Followers of pastor MacArthur are a corrupted bunch, who instead of SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES as Jesus commanded in John 5:39, are searching the writings of John MacArthur for answers. "Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar..." (Romans 3:4).
This explains where Mr. Cameron and Ray Comfort get their Lordship Salvation heresy from, because John MacArthur is Mr. Lordship Salvation himself. MacArthur is also a proponent of the corrupt New International Version of the Bible, which also teaches Lordship Salvation in Romans 10:9. John MacArthur treads underfoot the literal, physical, precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. MacArthur foolishly teaches that a lost sinner cannot get saved unless they are amongst God's lucky chosen few. Truly, John MacArthur is a WOLF in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15), and his Study Bible is extremely dangerous. MacArthur is a confused man. John MacArthur is an unsaved Modernist!
Wherever you find someone teaching Lordship
Salvation today, they've likely been influenced by John MacArthur. I cringed when I heard a pastor in Canada call John MacArthur, "A Great man
of God." Only an ignorant pastor would make such a statement. MacArthur is an Antichrist! The man denies the redeeming power of
Jesus' literal physical blood. Remember, even the unsaved Catholic Pope teaches that Jesus died, was
buried, and rose again. The Gospel message excludes all forms of
self-righteousness, religious devotion, and effort to clean up one's
personal life of sin.
Comfort's Words of Discomfort
I commend Ray Comfort for focusing on the necessity of the Law in salvation. That is good. Many people think just because they've joined a church, or have turned over a new leaf, that they are going to Heaven; but they are not. To be saved, a person must first realize their GUILTY condition because of sin. A person must realize that they are coming to Jesus Christ to be forgiven of their sin, which will send them to Hellfire if they die in them. Sin must be dealt with... For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
Unfortunately, Ray Comfort goes to the opposite extreme by requiring lost sinners to drastically change their own lifestyle to be saved. In salvation, it is God Who changes man; and not man changing him self. A changed life is the fruit of genuine repentance; and not a part of saving-faith as Ray Comfort and John MacArthur teach.
To be saved, Ray Comfort requires:
"You must turn away from sin and turn to God. Desire to have NOTHING to do with sin, and surrender your life to the One who can save you."
Since when is desiring to have nothing to do with sin a requirement for salvation? This is the same heresy which Jack Chick teaches in his tracts. To be saved Mr. Chick requires lost sinners to...
"Be willing to turn from sin (repent)"
SOURCE: http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0001/0001_01.asp (see pages 20 and 23)
Again, this includes self-effort, which is self-righteousness. If Jack Chick and Ray Comfort are correct in their philosophy, then it is not enough to merely receive God's gift of eternal life on the basis that we are guilty sinners. According to them, some willingness to clean up one's life must be included as a prerequisite to getting saved. This is exactly what unsaved Seventh Day Adventists teach. This totally violates the plainest teachings of the Scriptures. Romans 4:5 and 4:22 put MacArthur, Chick and Comfort to shame... "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness... And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness." I kindly suggest that these false prophets go look up the meaning of the word "Imputeth" in the Bible (Romans 4:6-8).
