Do you agree or disagree with this commentary on Matthew 7:22,23?

[Timothy]

On page 1197 of Ray Comfort's, THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, he 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

 

[Castor Muscular]

No, I don't think they're the most frightening verses.

21

 

[Ransom]

Do you agree or disagree with this commentary on Matthew 7:22,23?

Yes, I agree or disagree with this commentary. Can you be more specific?

 

[Timothy]

No, I don't think they're the most frightening verses.

21

 

[Castor Muscular]

The will of God is quite simple. John 6:40 "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."

Be true to your teeth or they will be false to you. 

 

[rsc2a]

[quote author=Timothy]The will of God is quite simple. John 6:40 "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."[/quote]

Yes, simple.

Can you tell me what "looks to the Son" means and then define "believes"? In fact, we might as well ask for the definitions of "eternal life", "will", and "last day".

 

[FSSL]

On page 1197 of Ray Comfort's, THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, he comments on Matthew 7:22,23 . . .

"These are perhaps the most frightening verses in the Bible.

I've never been a fan of a "get lost" Christianity. What I mean by that is, a Christian must live in a state of fear, where he thinks he is lost and needs salvation. It is this kind of statement that produces fear instead of a spirit of loving obedience.

The doctrines of sanctification and perseverance are undermined by this kind of teaching. The teens in my youth group were confronted with this kind of preaching at their Xian school. The evangelist told them if they had "unrepentant sin" in their lives, they needed to get saved. Actually, since we all have areas of sin in our lives that we massage, the "fix" is not getting saved all over again.

This strikes the soft underbelly of IFBxr'dom and certain evangelicals. These would certainly be the most frightening verses to a person whose Christianity is marked by how many souls they saved or how their ministry in life was to defend the text of the KJV at the expense of defending its teachings.

So... how should a believer apply these warning passages to his/her life? Realize that no matter how much we do in the name of Christianity, if we use good works to compensate for our secrete disobedience, it won't work!

Should a believer live his/her life in fear? Absolutely not.

 

[rsc2a]

On page 1197 of Ray Comfort's, THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, he comments on Matthew 7:22,23 . . .

"These are perhaps the most frightening verses in the Bible.

I've never been a fan of a "get lost" Christianity. What I mean by that is, a Christian must live in a state of fear, where he thinks he is lost and needs salvation. It is this kind of statement that produces fear instead of a spirit of loving obedience.

But it's the fear of eternal damnation that leads us to repentance...

 

[FSSL]

On page 1197 of Ray Comfort's, THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, he comments on Matthew 7:22,23 . . .

"These are perhaps the most frightening verses in the Bible.

I've never been a fan of a "get lost" Christianity. What I mean by that is, a Christian must live in a state of fear, where he thinks he is lost and needs salvation. It is this kind of statement that produces fear instead of a spirit of loving obedience.

But it's the fear of eternal damnation that leads us to repentance...

Partially and only initially for salvation... Fear is only one part of an unbeliever coming to Christ. There is a regeneration of the unbeliever's mind that works in him to fear damnation, but to also love Christ.

For the Pharisees... there was only fear. They were not regenerated in mind. So, they were incapable of anything but fear.

For sanctification, post salvation, that fear works, not to condemn our consciences as to frighten us as to our eternal destiny.

1 John 2:18: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.
Romans 8:15 "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear..."
2 Tim 1:7: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear...."

 

[rsc2a]

On page 1197 of Ray Comfort's, THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, he comments on Matthew 7:22,23 . . .

"These are perhaps the most frightening verses in the Bible.

I've never been a fan of a "get lost" Christianity. What I mean by that is, a Christian must live in a state of fear, where he thinks he is lost and needs salvation. It is this kind of statement that produces fear instead of a spirit of loving obedience.

But it's the fear of eternal damnation that leads us to repentance...

Partially and only initially for salvation... Fear is only one part of an unbeliever coming to Christ. There is a regeneration of the unbeliever's mind that works in him to fear damnation, but to also love Christ.

For the Pharisees... there was only fear. They were not regenerated in mind. So, they were incapable of anything but fear.

For sanctification, post salvation, that fear works, not to condemn our consciences as to frighten us as to our eternal destiny.

1 John 2:18: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.
Romans 8:15 "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear..."
2 Tim 1:7: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear...."

I was being facetious.

 

[FSSL]

Ha!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[FSSL]

No to belabor this too much, but this is not a well written paragraph by Comfort.

He says they are the most frightening verses in the Bible. Then he shifts to professing Christians.

By implication, he is including himself among the professing.

 

[Torrent v.2]

On page 1197 of Ray Comfort's, THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, he 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

From his perspective, they are frightening.  HIs ministry is based on the "Expose them to the law, make sure they know they can't keep it, then the gospel."  It is what Lutherans do every week in their liturgy. Law then Gospel.  So, for him, that is the only way to lead someone to Christ and he strongly believes that people all over the world who do not keep the law are not saved.  The problem is that NO ONE KEEPS THE LAW perfectly. No one other than Jesus ever has. And so, at some level, we all lie, etc.  The person who is in trouble is the one who keeps the law pretty good, but does not believe that Jesus is his only path to salvation.

 

[Castor Muscular]

I keep the law perfectly.  Why, just last month, I had a rash, so I showed it to a priest (from the line of Aaron, of course), and he isolated me for seven days, etc., etc. 

 

[Torrent v.2]

I keep the law perfectly.  Why, just last month, I had a rash, so I showed it to a priest (from the line of Aaron, of course), and he isolated me for seven days, etc., etc.

You are a liar...... 8)

 

[Castor Muscular]

I keep the law perfectly.  Why, just last month, I had a rash, so I showed it to a priest (from the line of Aaron, of course), and he isolated me for seven days, etc., etc.

You are a liar...... 8)

What???  You doubt me???

I even fly to Israel on a regular basis, recover the lost ark, build a temple while nobody is looking, grab a high priest, offer my sacrifices as required by the law, send the priest back, hide the ark again, and tear down the temple before anyone notices it, just so I can obey the law to the letter. 

 

[rsc2a]

[quote author=Castor Muscular]I even fly to Israel on a regular basis, recover the lost ark, build a temple while nobody is looking, grab a high priest, offer my sacrifices as required by the law, send the priest back, hide the ark again, and tear down the temple before anyone notices it, just so I can obey the law to the letter. [/quote]

This sounds an awful lot like some sermons I've heard before...

 

[Torrent v.2]

I keep the law perfectly.  Why, just last month, I had a rash, so I showed it to a priest (from the line of Aaron, of course), and he isolated me for seven days, etc., etc.

You are a liar...... 8)

What???  You doubt me???

I even fly to Israel on a regular basis, recover the lost ark, build a temple while nobody is looking, grab a high priest, offer my sacrifices as required by the law, send the priest back, hide the ark again, and tear down the temple before anyone notices it, just so I can obey the law to the letter.

Can I borrow some money from you? I am really broke.

 

[subllibrm]

I have always taken the passage to refer to people who think they are saved and aren't. It could be the Xer law keeper. It could be the guy on the street that says something like "me and the man upstairs have an understanding". It could be the person that thinks their good deeds will beat the bad at the final weigh in on the judgement scales.

Whatever form this person comes in they are not aware of the missing element of their faith (Jesus).

 

[fbcinsider]

I agree 100% with this commentary. Matthew 7 is about people who claim they are believers and are not. Having a confession of faith doesn't save you. A confession doesn't prove you're a believer.

When Jesus referred to the will of the Father, it was not a direct reference to John 6:40. This is a common teaching with IFB'ers, but it takes the passage out of context. He's referring to an obedience of God's law. We know this because He ends verse 23 with "depart from me, ye that work iniquity" not "ye who don't believe."

I'll even go a step further and say that He's also talking about people who say "Lord, Lord" in verse 14. He's talking about people sitting in churches who are trusting in a prayer, in the promise of a preacher, in their involvement in church, or in a decision they made. Only 100% faith in Jesus Christ will save a sinner. A sinner cannot trust in any action even if it's a determination of his own heart.