Evangelist Ray Comfort Preaches 'Another Gospel'

by David J. Stewart | September 2019

Luke 13:23-24, “Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

       I sincerely love Ray Comfort in the Lord, even though I personally do not believe he is saved. I don't hate one human being in the world. God knows my heart. Kindly, Ray Comfort claims he was saved at age 22 in 1972 out of the surfer scene in California. I love Ray's Australian accent. I do not question his sincerity. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 16:25, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” If you add anything to the finished redemptive work of Christ, you don't get grace!

The bottom line is that Mr. Comfort thinks he is right, and I humbly think I am right, and we do not agree on the plan of salvation. So you dear reader, must examine the evidence set forth by Ray Comfort and myself, and decide for yourself who is teaching the Word of God, and who is a liar! Romans 3:4, “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) rightly said:

“In great contests [battles], each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God—both may be, but one must be, wrong—God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time!” —President Abraham Lincoln

Kindly, Ray Comfort told an unsaved woman on an airplane that to be saved she must repent of her sins. When asked what it means to “repent,” Ray heretically said: “Repentance is saying 'God I'm sorry,' and then LIVING A LIFESTYLE that proves the reality of your repentance. IT'S A CONTINUAL THING!'” Is “living a lifestyle” necessary for salvation? Is there “a continual thing” that we have to keep doing to have our sins forgiven and obtain eternal life? I thought it was all a gift from God. What saith the Scripture? Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Do we have to live a lifestyle of turning away from sins to receive God's gift of eternal life? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! There is nothing “continual” that a person must do to be or remain saved, anymore than you would have to “continually” do something to receive a birthday gift and keep it. If you foolishly agree with Mr. Comfort that you must LIVE A LIFESTYLE of forsaking sinful behavior to get to Heaven, then YOU ARE GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL when you breath your last breath and your heart beats for the last time.

At best Ray Comfort is horribly confused in his theology. It grieves me that most pastors and churches today don't think this matter is worth debating. For example: Dr. John Goetsch recently told several hundred students at West Coast Baptist College in Lancaster, California, that “YOU CAN'T HAVE SALVATION AND YOUR SINS!” Paul Chappell is the pastor of Lancaster Baptist Church. Birds of a feather flock together. Apostasy has infected the churches and Bible colleges. Somebody needs to care! I AM SET FOR THE DEFENCE OF THE GOSPEL. The Lord warned in Matthew 24:4b-5, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Most Bible students think this passage (a link to a literal Interlinear Greek study tool) is a warning against false Christs (and it may very well be), but I agree with Dr. Hank Lindstrom (MP3 sermon called “Deception”) that the Lord was warning us about false prophets who would claim to be Christian (acknowledging that Jesus is Christ), but they are actually tares. Case in point, Ray Comfort acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ, but he is a false prophet who preaches “ANOTHER GOSPEL.”
 

The 'Salvation Army' and Ray Comfort Get it Wrong

Furthermore, I also want to make mention, respectfully, that the Salvation Army does teach some Calvinist heresy. In their official doctrinal statement established in 1878. Read what core belief number 9 teaches:

“We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.” —SOURCE:  1878 Foundation Deed Of The Salvation Army

Folks, that is damnable heresy! Do you see how subtle the Devil is? Salvation is a miraculous new birth, not “a state” that can be gained or lost by the manner in which we live. If a person claims to be saved, but then totally abandons their faith and declares to be an atheist, I believe it evidences that they were never truly saved at all. They only previously ascribed to the philosophies of Christianity, but never truly believed on the name of the Lord. Look at Judas! Judas was so convincing that no one suspected him of being a tare. John 6:70 says Judas had a devil in him, but none of the other apostles even suspected him. When the Lord foretold that one of the apostles would betray Him, they all asked, “Is it me Lord?” Wow! Judas was an unsaved tare, a wolf among lambs, and by all outward appearances he looked real.

The salvation which God gives every believer upon placing our faith in His only begotten Son, is permanent, irrevocable and eternal. The Salvation Army is very wrong doctrinally to call salvation “a state” that “depends upon continued obedient faith.” That is satanic Calvinist theology, known as, 'The Perseverance Of The Saints'! I believe in the preservation of the saints. Amen! If the Salvation Army is correct, then no one can fully know beyond any shadow of a doubt that they are saved, because they have to maintain continued obedient faith. 1st John 5:13 says that every Christian believer can “KNOW THAT YE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.” 1st John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” Dear reader, the new birth (or, second birth) is instantaneous, just as is the physical birth (or, first birth). Jesus spoke of these two births in John chapter three. John 3:6-7, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

The reason why I mentioned the Salvation Army is because Ray Comfort cites Salvation Army founder William Booth (1829-1912) as a secondary authority. Since he cannot backup his false teachings with the inspired Word of God, Ray quotes popular preachers of the past (flawed human beings) as a secondary authority to bolster his straw-man heresy of Lordship Salvation. Ray cites the following quote from William Booth to support his false plan of salvation...

“The chief danger of the 20th century will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.” —General William Booth

I agree mostly with what General Booth said. We see churches everywhere today with no regeneration (i.e., no one is born again). Apostasy is everywhere today, which is what William Booth was warning about. Yet, as I just shared with you in the previous section, the Salvation Army is wrong on the new birth. I am not sure what William Booth meant by “repentance” in the preceding quote. It does seem that he is implying that a person must turn from sinful behavior to obtain forgiveness, which is untrue. You don't have to be willing to stop any particular sin to be saved. To do so would be keeping the law for salvation. I don't know why it is so hard for preachers to see this Bible truth. We are repeatedly warned in the Bible not to trust in keeping the law for salvation. The idea that God will not forgive a man who is not willing to forsake his sins is of the Devil.

Men complicate everything so that Satan is able to obscure the truth of the Gospel, to hinder men from being saved. 2nd Corinthians 4:3-4, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” The majority of preachers today errantly teach that a person must “turn away from sinful ways” to be saved, which reminds me of the 450 prophets of Baal. Only Elijah was faithful to tell THE TRUTH. Only a small percentage of preachers today uphold the inspiration of the King James Bible, teach the Gospel of free grace accurately, and genuinely care about other people. To most pastors, their job is a mere career.

It was William and Catherine Booth (his wife) who established their official Statement of Faith in 1878. It is clear to me that John Calvin (aka, Calvinism) had some degree of influence on the Booth's doctrine. But regardless, our final and only authority in all doctrinal matters is God's Word. What saith the Scripture? 2nd Timothy 3:15-16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” The word “perfect” here means “complete.” The Holy Bible is the only authority of the believer in all doctrinal matters. It doesn't matter what men may say about God. All that matters is what God says about man.
 

Ray Comfort Versus the Gospel of John

In a YouTube video titled, “Ray Comfort Addresses Accusation of Heresy,” he affirms the Bible truth that salvation is by grace through faith and not of ourselves. At first he sounds Kosher, like he is on cue doctrinally. However, Ray goes horrible astray and horribly contradicts himself when he states:

“We've got a problem in contemporary Christianity. Millions are being told not to repent AND believe in Jesus, but simply to believe. The fruit of this unbiblical gospel is that it's filled the church with false converts. Tares among the wheat, foolish virgins among the wise, bad fish among the good, goats among the sheep—those to whom Jesus will say on the day of judgment, 'Depart from Me you worker of lawlessness (you worker of iniquity), I never knee you!'”

SOURCE: Ray Comfort - Living Waters - Ray Comfort Addresses Accusation of Heresy (Time in video: 27)

I want you to consider dear reader that God authored an entire book of the Bible for the sole purpose of getting you saved. That wonderful book is the Gospel of John. John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Literally, the Gospel of John is God's Gospel tract! In the Gospel of John we find the words “believe,” “believeth” and “believed” mentioned 87 times, but the word “repent” is not mentioned even once. That speaks volumes! Clearly, repentance and faith happen simultaneously and are inseparable. One who believes has repented, and one who repents has believed.

If repentance were a separate act from BELIEVING to be saved, no doubt God would have made sure to tell us so, but he didn't. John 14:2b, “if it were not so, I would have told you.” Nowhere in the Gospel of John are we taught to turn away from sinful behavior to receive the gift of eternal life. What saith the Scripture? John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” Oh, how wonderfully plain it is to see the simplicity of the Gospel! Bible verse after Bible verse throughout the Gospel of John teach us to simply “BELIEVE” to be saved, and no mention is made of turning away from sinful ways.

Ray Comfort totally ignores the Gospel of John. Instead, he cherry-picks selected Scripture passages to fit his agenda. Throughout the Gospel of John the Lord Himself teaches us that the way of salvation is simply TO BELIEVE. John 11:25, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” There is no mention of repenting from sin to be saved. Again, please notice Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” We find no mention of turning away from anything to be saved. Kindly, Mr. Comfort is a woefully ignorant and arrogant man. 2nd Peter 3:16-17, “As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.” Ray Comfort is a dangerous false prophet!

Lordship Salvation Errors: Best Looking Heresy Ever! (a needful MP3 sermon by Pastor Marc Monte)

God Saves a Man and Then the Holy Spirit Changes Him, Not Self-Reformation

What saith Ray Comfort? The following statements are taken from the same video I quoted from earlier. Ray is very deceitful. The most dangerous and effective LIE is the HALF-TRUTH. Ray is absolutely correct that salvation is by grace through faith, and that it is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. The half-truth is deadly, because in part it can be defended with incontestable logic. Who can argue that salvation is by grace through faith, and without works, it is the gift of God? However, the learned Bible student will see through Ray's subtle deception and identify his lies. Ray ADDS a false form of repentance which is actually human reformation, or behavior modification, for salvation. This is blatantly a counterfeit plan of salvation—ANOTHER GOSPEL!

The following quote below sounds so good. Ray emphasizes the fact that he preaches salvation BY GRACE and THROUGH FAITH, and NOT OF OURSELVES. Who can argue with that, right? Ray fully knows this, which is why he says stuff like that. The big problem is that it is all a smokescreen for what the man really believes and teaches, which is works for salvation. Again, Ray heretically tells this curious woman on an airplane (video): “Repentance is saying 'God I'm sorry,' and then LIVING A LIFESTYLE that proves the reality of your repentance. IT'S A CONTINUAL THING!'” Dear reader, how can we reconcile the preceding quote, with the following quote from Mr. Comfort. These two quotes are diametrically opposed to each other...

“There are certain things that accompany salvation, certain fruits that should be evident if someone's truly saved. Among these are the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of repentance, and the fruit of holiness. No one is saved because they do these things, they do these things because they're saved. We're saved by grace through faith. It's not of ourselves. It's the gift of God. That's without works! That's what I believe and that's what I preach. There are a number of people who say I'm a heretic, because I tell the unsaved they must repent and trust in Jesus to be saved. They say that I'm preaching 'works salvation' because I am telling them to repent, something of which they say they're incapable. They maintain, all a sinner needs to do, is believe in Jesus. They say he's incapable of repentance, but he is capable of believing (i.e., of having faith).” [emphasis added]

SOURCE: Ray Comfort - Living Waters - Ray Comfort Addresses Accusation of Heresy (Time in video: 105)

Clearly, “LIVING A LIFESTYLE,” which Ray says is “A CONTINUAL THING,” is totally incompatible with a salvation “BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH” and “NOT OF OURSELVES.” If being saved is solely by grace through faith, then why do we have to live a lifestyle of forsaking sins? Why is it a continual thing that we must maintain? Does any of this set right with you friend? I seriously worry about professed Christians today who make light of this doctrinal issue. False prophets are nothing new. Read what the Bible says in Acts 15:1, “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” The $64,000 question is—will you be deceived by them?

In the preceding lengthy quote, Ray Comfort mentions Hebrews 6:9. We read in Hebrews 6:1 that salvation involves repentance, “FROM DEAD WORKS,” not from sinful works. Many of the Jews were stuck on the Old Testament law, trying to keep the law to merit salvation. The issue is repentance (thinking differently) regarding trusting in DEAD WORKS which could not save anyone, to trusting on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to have one's sins forgiven (i.e., the remission of sins). Hebrews 6:1 and 9-10, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God... “But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” Ray Comfort perverts the Scriptures, teaching that the “things that accompany salvation” mandate holy living, repentance (turning from sinful behavior) and righteousness, as proof of salvation. The “things that accompany salvation” refer to the FRUIT of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and not to anything God requires of a person to be saved. Mr. Comfort gets it all backwards!

What Ray Comfort and other proponents of the Lordship Salvation heresy are really doing, is replacing the job of the Holy Spirit with self-reformation. Instead of preaching the simplicity that is in Christ (which is simply believing the 'GOOD NEWS' to be saved), they pervert the Gospel by adding a requirement for sinners to be willing to amend their ways, turn over a new leaf, do better, and “LIVING A LIFESTYLE (backup MP3) that proves the reality of your repentance. IT'S A CONTINUAL THING!'” Listen to the preceding recording for yourself, and hear Ray Comfort speak those exact blasphemous words! What in the world does “LIVING A LIFESTYLE” have to do with the simplicity that is in Christ? Oh how I desire for my web visitors to see through this wicked man, for what he is, an imposter!

We all know that sin is bad. We all know that God doesn't want us to commit sin. We all know that people in Hell are punished for their sins. We all know that we are sinners. Knowing all these things tends to cause us to think turning away from sins is necessary for salvation. It makes sense to our carnal nature and weak flesh. Fortunately, that is not how God's plan of redemption works. God's plan is for sinful men to submit to the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 10:3-4, “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” That is so very beautiful. Romans 4:5-6, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.” It baffles me how Ray Comfort can read all these obvious passages of Scripture—about being saved by God's imputed righteousness WITHOUT WORKS, and how a man's FAITH IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS—and yet he still insists that to be saved a person must be willing to forsake a life of sin.

Mr. Comfort is confused. Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” If all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in God's sight, then why would anyone try to impress God with those filthy rags? Ray speaks double-talk in typical cult fashion, professing to believe in a salvation by grace through faith, while at the same time teaching that a person must live a lifestyle of turning away from sin to prove the reality of their repentance. That is a doctrine of devils! It is a forked-tongue plan of damnation! Think about what Ray Comfort is saying. Either salvation is by grace through faith, or else it is by works and you must live a lifestyle to prove you have it (which effectively means you are working for it). IT CANNOT BE BOTH!

I absolutely love the following Bible verse. The epistle of Galatians blows Ray Comfort's battleship out of the water. I sunk your battleship! Notice here that Paul mentions how simple it is to be saved—“BY THE HEARING OF FAITH,” that is, you are saved by BELIEVING the 'GOOD NEWS' when you hear it preached...

Galatians 3:2, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

Evangelist Ray Comfort's Satanic False Gospel

Here again, Ray Comfort tells an unsaved woman on an airplane that to be saved she must repent of her sins. When asked what it means to “repent,” Ray heretically says: “Repentance is saying 'God I'm sorry,' and then LIVING A LIFESTYLE that proves the reality of your repentance. IT'S A CONTINUAL THING!'” Is “living a lifestyle” necessary for salvation? Is there “a continual thing” that we have to keep doing to have our sins forgiven and obtain eternal life? I thought it was all a gift from God? What saith the Scripture? Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Do we have to live a lifestyle of turning away from sins to receive God's gift of eternal life? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! There is nothing “continual” that a person must do to be saved, anymore than you would have to “continually” do something to receive a birthday gift. If you foolishly agree with Mr. Comfort that you must LIVE A LIFESTYLE of forsaking sinful behavior to get to Heaven, then YOU ARE GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL when you breath your last breath and your heart beats for the last time.

Ray hypocritically claims that we are saved solely by God's grace, and it is a gift; but then he totally contradicts his words by requiring people to live a certain way in denunciation of their sins, to prove that they are saved. This forced type of mandatory servitude as a post-condition of getting saved is of the Devil. It is pure self-righteousness that does not produce the new birth in Christ. Ray Comfort claims that he was saved at age 22 in 1972, but he is a tare corrupting the churches. Here is doctrinal proof...

“Merely being sorry for your sins, or confessing them to God won't help you. You must turn from sin (repent).”

SOURCE: Ray Comfort, 'LIVING WATERS' ministry, 'SAVE YOURSELF SOME PAIN'

What you just read is of the Devil. Ray says it is not enough to merely admit being a sinner to receive eternal life, he says you must turn away from your sins. That is behavior modification, not Bible repentance unto life! How is that a free gift?

Here again, read the damnable lies of Mr. Comfort...

“The forgiveness that is in Jesus Christ is conditional upon ‘repentance towards God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Acts 20:21). It is a gift that God offers to everyone, but individuals must receive it by repenting and trusting in Christ, or they will remain dead in their sins. No one has Biblical grounds to continue in sin, assuming that they are safe just because Jesus died on the cross. See 1 John 3:4-6.” [Emphasis added]

SOURCE: THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, by Ray Comfort, pg. 1513; 2003, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Orlando, Florida

I can barely express in words how ungodly Mr. Comfort's teachings are. He says that salvation is a gift, but in order to obtain that gift you must forsake your sins. If you aren't ready to stop doing certain bad things in your life, such as living in fornication, then Ray says you cannot be saved until you repent (turn away) of those sins. This is not a gift in any sense of the word. Mr. Comfort has perverted the truth of the Gospel, preaching “ANOTHER GOSPEL,” bringing God's curse upon himself. ...

Galatians 1:6-9, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

As reasonable as Ray Comfort's teachings may sound to the common man, you need to keep asking yourself the question—“What saith the Scripture?” You cannot show me one place in the Holy Bible where it tells us to “repent from sins” or “turn from sins” to be saved. Repentance is never mentioned even once in the Gospel of John, which is God's Gospel tract according to John 20:31.

Even a small child can see a problem with Ray Comfort's teachings. Try telling your child that you bought him a birthday gift, but to have it he must clean up his room, and keep it clean from now on. He would say, “Hey, wait a minute, you said that it was 'a gift'! Why do I have to keep my room clean?” I sometimes see false advertising from banks. They advertise that they will give you “a gift” if you open a new account, but it is really a reward, because you have to open an account to get it. Biblical salvation is by God's grace alone, and that means a sinner's “faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works” (Romans 4:5b-6). None of these Bible passages agree with Ray Comfort's lame theology. Trying to fit Ray Comfort's religious ideas within the scope of what the Word of God teaches is like trying to put square blocks into round holes. In other words, nothing fits! Ray Comfort's teachings regarding salvation are foreign to the King James Bible!!! Ray Comfort and the inspired Word of God are completely INCOMPATIBLE!!!

I love something that Pastor Ralph “Yankee” Arnold said...

“If you have to look at your life to prove that you are saved, it proves that you're not!” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold; an excellent quote from the YouTube sermon titled, “Why Lordship Salvation is WRONG! | MP3.”

In fact, the satanic cult of Jehovah's Witnesses teach the same mumbo-jumbo as Ray Comfort, which is extremely confusing and deceptive. Here is a frightening comparison chart showing that Ray Comfort shares the same beliefs as Jehovah's Witnesses' concerning repentance. If there is one thing that we learn from the Word of God, it is the danger and warning against mixing LAW with GRACE...

The apostle Paul was simply challenging the Jews to “LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE,” which they possessed. Hebrews 6:11, “And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” In other words, SEIZE THE DAY!!! 1st Timothy 6:12 and 17-19, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses... Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”

These Scriptures are not talking about getting saved; but rather, challenging believers to lay hold on the gift of salvation that we already have. Why do you think I am sitting here writing this article? I am trying to help you and others see the truth. That is what a friend does, he helps others to see. Kindly, I tried to help the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam to see, but they counted me as their enemy, as did the church of Galatia against the apostle Paul (Galatians 4:16). I am contending for the faith, fighting the good fight of faith, being a friend. Let him that hath ears to hear, hear. It is tragic that many of the people reading my words will mock me, leave in scorn, and think ill of me, and yet those very people will suffer the wrathful judgment of God one day in Hell beneath, because they followed a counterfeit plan of salvation that does not produce the new birth.

The big problem is that Ray Comfort teaches a very different meaning of “repentance” than the Bible's meaning. The Bible meaning is “A CHANGE OF MIND,” not a change of behavior. Pastor Bob Wilkin gets repentance correct. According to Ray Comfort and the Lordship Salvation crowd, repentance means “TO TURN AWAY FROM SINFUL WAYS.” Clearly, that is a drastically different meaning than a simple change of mind. Repentance is an open-ended term in the Bible, meaning that it applies to anything and everything (all inclusive) that is hindering a person from believing the Gospel. To repent is a change of mind unto the Gospel itself. Mark 1:15 says, “Repent, and believe the Gospel.” The object of the verb “repent” is “the Gospel.” Most people don't care, which sadly includes most pastors and churches today, but I CARE VERY MUCH! That is why I write articles like this. Ray Comfort took in $3,571,713 in 2017 for his ministry, and he is about to get into bed with the devil 'PURE FLIX', which will likely make him much richer. Humbly, I have never made a single penny for serving God and never will. My website ministry is a labor of love for God and others. So who really loves you?
 

Charles Spurgeon Plainly Said Repentance is NOT a Condition of Salvation!

Always remember that man is not our doctrinal standard—the inspired Word of God alone is our benchmark. That is why I often say, “What saith the Scripture?” (that beautiful phrase is found in Romans 4:3a). Ray Comfort is attempting to deceive you by claiming that famous preachers agree with his heretical teachings. Let's take a look at Charles Spurgeon, whom Ray Comfort quotes extensively in his “The Evidence Bible,” which is based upon the corrupt satanic, Amplified Bible (AMP). Ray Comfort often tries to quote Pastor Charles Spurgeon as a secondary authority to bolster up his straw man argument of Lordship Salvation. I am tired of preachers cherry-picking the sermons of great preachers of the past, not telling the whole story. Let me give you a quote from Charles Spurgeon that Ray Comfort will never give you...

“'Repentance' is a grace. Some people preach it as a condition of salvation. Condition of nonsense! There are no conditions of salvation.” —Pastor Charles H. Spurgeon

SOURCE: https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/the-repentance-unto-life (Charles Spurgeon, from a sermon titled, REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE, preached at the New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, on Sept. 23, 1855)

Whew, that is great stuff! In case you missed it, read this again by Mr. Spurgeon:

“but salvation comes to him before he has any of the results of salvation. It comes to him, in fact, while he deserves only this bare, beggarly, base, abominable description, 'ungodly.' That is all he is when God's gospel comes to justify him.”

SOURCE: Charles Spurgeon; All of Grace; Chapter 1 - God Justifieth The Ungodly!

Clearly, Charles Spurgeon DIDN'T believe nor teach that a person must forsake their sins TO BE SAVED. As you just read, Spurgeon believed that salvation comes to a person BEFORE the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit becomes evident. Spurgeon is 100% correct—a person is “UNGODLY,” and “that is all he is when the Gospel comes to justify him!” Amen!!! Why don't Ray Comfort, Paul Washer and John MacArthur quote these teachings from Mr. Spurgeon? Do you see how dishonest they are theologically?

Spurgeon plainly taught that he believed repentance “includes the man who has the lowest degree of real repentance.” You'll never hear this quote from Ray Comfort, Paul Washer, John MacArthur, Jack Chick, or others today who are sinfully teaching Lordship Salvation. Biblically, repentance is a “change of mind.” The changes that follow are the result of the work of the blessed indwelling Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25), and not repentance itself. 

Also, please notice that Spurgeon stated: “Repentance is also a continual life-long act.” Spurgeon was not teaching that salvation is a process, because it's not. Spurgeon simply meant that once a person initially repents, thus acknowledging their guilty sinful condition and trusting the Lord by faith to be forgiven, those same elements of repentance and faith will work in the believer's mind and heart for the rest of their life. Salvation is more than being saved. When God saves us, the lifelong process of growing in the Lord begins. But this has nothing to do with the GIFT OF GOD, WHICH IS ETERNAL LIFE (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9).

It is heresy to say that if a person is really saved, they should have a desire to turn away from sinful behavior. That is works salvation! The desire to turn from sin comes from the indwelling Holy Spirit, but if a new believer is not involved in a good Bible-preaching church, they are highly likely to continue in sin. New converts need to be mentored! The reason why there are so many “phonies” in the churches today, who are living in open sin and worldliness, is simply because pastors no longer preach against sin as they used to!

Evangelist Phil Kidd is absolutely correct, who said:

 “Sometimes you may leave here and say, 'I wonder what he's mad about?' I'm not mad about anything, I just know one thing—whatever a preacher quits preaching on, is what his church will fill up with!” ~Pastor Phil Kidd, a quote from the needful sermon “I AM Ashamed | MP3”

So there you have it! The reason why our churches are filling up with LGBT freaks and all manner of wickedness is only because preachers have dropped the ball. The problem is not that preachers have stopped preaching a false plan of salvation, that requires turning away from sins to be saved; but rather, preachers have lost their Holy Spirit fire for God! Preachers no longer walk with God as they once did, for if they did they would know that “our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” A preacher who spends time with the Lord will become like Him, hating iniquity (Hebrews 1:9) and loving people (Mark 5:19). Preachers today don't walk with God, they merely show up for work. That is why the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam doesn't care about me, or truth, or God's Word, or the Gospel, they just play church.

Ray Comfort is wrong, wrong, wrong! Our entire nation has deteriorated over the past 75 years, ever since the damned television came into American homes in 1946. In the year 1946 only 6,000 wealthy U.S. households owned a television. By 1952 that number skyrocketed to 22,000,000 television sets! Today it is well over one hundred millions Tv sets. Our problem in America is tolerance, not intolerance! We have tolerated sin so long that it now defines, saturates and festers in our culture. Drugs and alcohol are everywhere! This didn't just happen. Evil monsters like George H. Bush (former sinister CIA chief) made it happen (spiritual wickedness in high places), but we the people went along with it.

I could name hundreds of evils in our culture (including the fraud of 9/11), that we have succumbed to (the raunchy music video industry, nationwide obesity, the epidemic of prescription drug fraud, the murderous abortion industry, banking fraud, massive shacking up instead of marriage, pervasive shady advertising, dishonest business practices nationwide, rampant lying politicians and blatant criminal activities in government, blatant U.S. Justice Department injustice, an epidemic of public crimes and mass-shootings across the nation, fascist TSA tyranny at the airports, removing God's Word from public schools, the satanic Emerging Church Movement, hundreds of counterfeit Bible versions, et cetera).

I could mention hundreds more evils that are increasingly worsening in our country, and no one seems to be in control of anything. We are headed for imminent destruction! (Pastor David Wilkerson preached these sobering words in 1972, read from a transcript). How did this happen? The answer is obvious, we have forsaken the God of the Bible. Freemasons are to largely blame, who control everything at the top. But most of all, America's foolish, shallow and ungodly pastors are to blame, for not searching out THE TRUTH, as I have, and proclaiming it from the rooftops!!!

Ray Comfort is pulling on the same rope as the Devil, by propagating a works-based plan of salvation that he packages as solely by grace. How can Ray's salvation be by grace through faith, if turning away from sins is necessary to obtain it? Mr. Comfort talks out of both sides of his mouth, confusing people everywhere. I know because I have read their e-mails, talking about how they almost commit suicide because of Ray Comfort, because they feared going to Hell because they still had intentional sins in their life. Ray says double-speak, telling you that salvation is a free gift from God by faith, but unless you repent (forsake the willful sinning in your life, he says) God will not receive you. What saith the Scripture? John 6:37, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Whereas the Bible says that Jesus never turns anybody away who comes to Him by faith to be saved, Ray Comfort says Christ won't save anyone who is not first willing to forsake the sins in their life.

But a desire to forsake the sins in your life is not what repentance is. That is reformation, a desire to do better and amend one's ways. I love what Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951) says, who is 100% correct on repentance...

“The Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past …

Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.”

SOURCE: Harry A. Ironside, from the sermon: What Is The Gospel?

If you are struggling dear reader with the subject of repentance, then I strongly encourage you to delve into the excellent doctrinally-sound book by Dr. Ironside called, “EXCEPT YE REPENT.” God wants each and every Christian to absolutely KNOW, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that you are saved and on your way to Heaven. If you do not have that blessed assurance, then I plead with you to diligently pursue that peace until you obtain it. I can help you, by God's grace, which is why I wrote a lengthy .PDF book titled, “SALVATION.”

Is repentance necessary for salvation? Yes, of course. But the man who believes, has repented. Repentance is an automatic thing. If a person didn't repent, they would never come to Christ. John 3:20 makes that very clear, “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” Here is a very helpful quote from Pastor Ironside...

“Which comes first, repentance or faith? In Scripture we read, 'Repent ye, and believe the gospel.' Yet we find true believers exhorted to 'repent, and do the first works.' So intimately are the two related that you cannot have one without the other. The man who believes God repents; the repentant soul puts his trust in the Lord when the Gospel is revealed to him. Theologians may wrangle over this, but the fact is, no man repents until the Holy Spirit produces repentance in his soul through the truth. No man believes the Gospel and rests in it for his own salvation until he has judged himself as a needy sinner before God. And this is repentance.” (Except Ye Repent, p. 16)

Also, Dr. Hal Lindsey has repentance biblically correct, who states:

“Repentance, as it relates to Christ, means to change our minds about Him, who He is and what He's done to provide forgiveness, and deliverance from our sins. When we place faith in Jesus as having taken our place personally on the cross and borne the penalty due our sins, then we're automatically repenting, because we couldn't accept Him in this way without having to change or minds in some way concerning Him.” (From the Liberation of the Planet Earth, by Hal Lindsey. (p. 133).

The Great Meaning Of The Word “METANOIA”!

My intent is not to personally attack Ray Comfort, God forbid. He has every right to his opinion as an American, and I support his right to disagree. That is what makes America great, that we can agree to disagree with one another. A truly free society is only one in which is it safe to be unpopular. We'll find out in eternity who is right, me or Ray Comfort. We both claim to believe the Bible, but we both cannot be correct. We may both be wrong, but we cannot both be right! The raging battle over repentance has endured for centuries, which perpetuates the conflict between the theologies of Abel and Cain.

Here are some helpful articles to make sure you are saved and on your way to Heaven my friend...

Galatians 3:2, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

John 3:16, “For God o loved the world, that he gave his on ly begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

END OF ARTICLE

---

“Everything born is born dying... Death is inevitable... The length of your life depends on how much you fight the inevitable death... The day will come when the Hyles-Anderson College will be liberal. The day will come when this Bible is not believed in Hyles-Anderson College, if the Lord tarries... The day will come when this church will turn.” —Pastor Jack Hyles, from the timeless sermon, “The Church First”