Heathen Much Wiser than Foolish Preacher
Paul wrote this letter to Ray Comfort:
Hi Ray,
We were watching you interview a nonbeliever on TV the other day. As Jesus Christ is our witness, in Whom we live, we surely found the heathen’s testimony to be far more acceptable than yours. The fellow you interviewed was candid and honest, readily admitted that he had failed to live up to the Ten Commandments, but spoke of doing what was right for the sake of right, and trying to live according to his conscience:
“For whenever Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law unto themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience witnessing with them, and among themselves their thoughts accuse or even defend them” (Romans 2:14-15 EMTV).
Whereas he was not presuming anything, you presumed to represent God to him, yet represented Him falsely. You told him that God is going to send everyone that does not accept Him into a place of interminable torment. That is one of the biggest lies ever told about God, if not the biggest, and certainly the most heinous. And though you obviously think so, you will not find such a threat in the Bible anywhere.
You are not dividing the Scriptures aright, having been taught error by men who were misled by their own insecure, vindictive and self-righteous carnal natures. They did not know Christ or have understanding by Him, and neither do you. I give you three writings here that prove what I am saying, by rightly dividing the Scriptures:
The Good News
The Reconciliation of All Things
Who Then Can Be Saved?!
Consider this: The Lord Jesus rebuked John and James for asking Him about calling down fire from Heaven on those that did not receive Him, telling them that they did not know their own spirits. Jesus said (listen carefully and mark these words well) that He had not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.
You are not just calling down fire. You are calling people down into fire without end, a never-ending torment. How much more do you not know of what spirit you are, Ray, when you teach people that the Lord Jesus will torment them forever in hell fire if they do not receive Him?
But whereas James and John were with Him, and asked Him before calling on fire, receiving correction from Him, you go on presumptuously, as if God has sent you when He has not. You misrepresent Him and cause the heathen to blaspheme at the thought of such a vile and unjust ogre as you make Him out to be. Mr. Comfort!? I do not think so! You are preaching horrific, unimaginable punishment without purpose as the ultimate destination for the majority of mankind, against the Word of God and His expressed will in Christ Jesus. You are not bringing the comfort of the Good News, but the threat of the “Most Awful News Possible, Ever, and Forever.”
In this you bear false witness against God. You have made another god that you worship in the Name of Christ, breaking the first, second, third, and ninth commandments. In essence, you have broken them all (James 2:10). Breaking the Law makes you a sinner:
“Whoever sins is guilty of breaking God’s law, because sin is a breaking of the law” (1 John 3:4 GNB).
As one in sin, particularly being in denial about it, you show that you do not know Him or abide in Him:
“Everyone who abides in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him nor has he known Him” (1 John 3:6 EMTV).
Being found outside of Him means you cannot enter into the Heavenly City:
“And there shall in no way enter into it anything that defiles, or any making an abomination or a lie; but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life” (Revelation 21:27 MKJV).
Not being found in the Book of Life, you are the one cast into the Lake of Fire:
“And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire” (Revelation 20:15 EMTV).
That is where you are going, Ray, not without purpose, as in your doctrine of punishment without restoration, but to purge and cleanse you, to teach you not to blaspheme and to know the Lord in truth. Is this not what the Word of God says?:
“If the fire puts an end to any man’s work, it will be his loss: but he will get salvation himself, though as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15 BBE).
The heathen on the street that you interview do not have a profession of faith in the One Who delivers from sins. They are not doing works in His Name. Therefore, are you not in for more severe judgment than those you interview? Surely this is so:
“For if we sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery zeal being about to devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26-27 EMTV).
You have been quite secure in your “theology” until now, having it down pat and thinking you are “airtight.” Here, however, is the real reason for your confidence:
“Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having been seared with a hot iron as to their own conscience” (1 Timothy 4:2 EMTV).
I marvel at the following excerpt posted on your web site. Once again I see a heathen showing far greater understanding and wisdom than you have in your preaching of Christ (how great is your darkness!). I marvel even more because you have chosen to highlight this letter as if it justifies your position, whereas it does the very opposite. You have been completely exposed and condemned by these three simple, honest paragraphs written to you from an “atheist” who is right on is his analysis, yet you do not get it. You think to use his words to motivate others to emulate your example of religious evangelism. How foolish! Can you not see that you fall entirely short of what would be your reasonable service to God if you were right in your preaching? No, you cannot. That is because your conscience has been seared with a hot iron.
This man has you dead to rights:
You are really convinced that you’ve got all the answers. You’ve really got yourself tricked into believing that you’re 100% right. Well, let me tell you just one thing. Do you consider yourself to be compassionate of other humans? If you’re right, as you say you are, and you believe that, then how can you sleep at night? When you speak with me, you are speaking with someone who you believe is walking directly into eternal damnation, into an endless onslaught of horrendous pain which your ‘loving’ god created, yet you stand by and do nothing.
If you believed one bit that thousands every day were falling into an eternal and unchangeable fate, you should be running the streets mad with rage at their blindness. That’s equivalent to standing on a street corner and watching every person that passes you walk blindly directly into the path of a bus and die, yet you stand idly by and do nothing. You’re just twiddling your thumbs, happy in the knowledge that one day that ‘walk’ signal will shine your way across the road.
Think about it. Imagine the horrors Hell must have in store if the Bible is true. You’re just going to allow that to happen and not care about saving anyone but yourself? If you’re right then you’re an uncaring, unemotional and purely selfish (expletive) that has no right to talk about subjects such as love and caring.
Of course, the one thing this fellow is wrong about is that the Bible does not teach what you teach. He reacts to your hypocrisy born of false doctrine and gross misrepresentation of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. What you proudly display is the fact that you have brought dishonor to the wonderful Name of God.
Another writing, “tailor-made” for you, in teaching against your false gospel:
The False and Misleading Gospel of “Accepting” Jesus Christ
And this, from a writing on our page showing the error of translation and interpretation of “eternal” and “everlasting” in the KJV: The True, Scriptural Meanings of “Forever” and “Hell”.
You have much to consider, Ray, and much to lose before you will ever gain anything of value in the sight of God.
Contending for the faith once delivered to the saints, because God has not forgotten the promise of His Kingdom and the restoration of all things,
Paul Cohen
A reply from Ray’s organization:
Hi Paul,
Thank you for expressing your concerns. As you can imagine we receive a high volume of emails so please understand that I am not able to answer all of your questions. I would encourage you to visit all of these sites, listed below, to get a better grasp on what our ministry is all about. I have added our Statement of Faith as well as our Mission Statement. Thank you again for writing to us.
____________________________________________________
Trisha
Living Waters Email Facilitator
www.livingwaters.com
www.wayofthemaster.com
www.wayofthemasterradio.com
Important sites that explain who we are:
www.livingwaters.com
www.evidencebible.com
www.wayofthemaster.com
www.wayofthemasterradio.com
Statement of Faith
- We believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, authoritative, and inerrant Word of God (II Timothy 3:15-17, II Peter 1:21).
- We believe there is one God, eternally existing in three persons: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19, John 10:30).
- We believe in the deity of Christ (John 10:33); His virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:34-35); His sinless life (Hebrews 4:15, 7:26); His miracles (John 2:11); His vicarious and atoning death (I Corinthians 15:3, Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 2:9); His resurrection (John 11:25, I Corinthians 15:4); His ascension to the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19); His personal return to earth in power and glory (Acts 1:11, Revelation 19:11-16).
- We believe in the absolute necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit for salvation because of the exceeding sinfulness of the human nature, and that all are justified on the single ground of faith in the shed blood of Christ, and that only by God’s grace through faith alone are we saved (John 3:16-19; 5:24, Romans 3:23; 5:8-9, Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:5).
- We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; those who are saved unto the resurrection of life, and those who are not unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5:28-29).
- We believe in the spiritual unity of the believers in our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:9, I Corinthians 12:12-13, Galatians 3:26-28).
- We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by Whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life (Romans 8:13-14, I Corinthians 3:16, 6:19-20, Ephesians 4:30; 5:18).
- We believe that we as Christians are examples of the love of God in this world. It is this (agape) love that we desire to possess and without which we have no right to call ourselves Christians (I John 4:16-17).
- We believe it is the mandate of the whole Church to go into the whole world and to preach the Gospel to every living creature. (Mark 16:15, Matthew 28:19-20).
Living Waters Mission Statement
Living Waters Publications is an interdenominational ministry whose purpose is to educate God’s people in the principals of Biblical evangelism; to encourage the Body of Christ to faithfully fulfill the great commission; and to equip every individual believer with the necessary resources to practically proclaim the everlasting gospel. We do this through the teaching and preaching of God’s Word and through the production and dissemination of various printed and audio/visual mediums.
Paul’s reply:
Trisha, did you actually read my email? I am not asking you for answers that I need – I am giving you one that you need. I suggest you get out of auto-pilot mode and read what I sent to Ray, removing your doctrinal blinders as well. If you do not think it important enough to send on to him, then let his blood be on your hands.
You people have no business whatsoever preaching lies in the Name of the Lord. He has not revealed Himself to you, nor has He sent you. Your “Statement of Faith” is all about men’s doctrines and teachings. You are putting your trust in them, not Christ, Whom we know and believe. That is why you proclaim false doctrines, like the trinity and eternal damnation (dealt with in my letter to Ray). You act as if there could not possibly be anything wrong on your end. There is:
“For you had faith in your evil-doing; you said, ‘No one sees me’; by your wisdom and knowledge you have been turned out of the way: and you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no other.’ Because of this evil will come on you, which may not be turned away for any price: and trouble will overtake you, from which no money will give salvation: destruction will come on you suddenly, without your knowledge” (Isaiah 47:10-11 BBE).
By the way, Kirk (Cameron) received this letter, red it, and responded. He did not ask me to read more from his site, or to “get a better grasp of what our ministry is all about.” I have just told you what it is all about.
Paul