thomasm wrote:
The simplest answer to that question of course is God. Paul declared to the Athenian pagans that "God commands all men everywhere to repent"(Acts 17:30), and he went on to warn them of the coming Day of Judgment. God uses us as His mouthpieces to preach repentance and faith in Christ.
As to the need for a change of mind, Ray Comfort does not deny that need, he only asserts that it must be accompanied with an outward change or else it is false. Both are to go together and be preached. The danger that Ray confronts is the danger of only mentioning a change of mind, which is unbiblical and has led to multitudes being deceived in a false assurance.
If we only preach that part of the Gospel it is not the full Gospel and it is contrary to what Christ Himself has commanded us to preach. His first message was "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.(Matt.4:17)" In His glorified state He told the disciples that "repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."(Lk.24:47)
In general, it seems evident in Scripture that repentance should always be included in a Gospel message to the lost, especially in an open air or public setting.
That said, when speaking to individuals, I would agree with some that our main emphasis and tone can vary depending on the individual's attitude toward God and sin. It seems that Christ always spoke more sternly to those He perceived were the proudest at heart. For example, to the rich young man he did not even preach the good news, but only the Law of God which he had violated(Matt.19:16-26).
Many preachers have watered down or completely ignored the clear warnings of Scripture, particularly those of Christ and the apostles. They set the example for us of preaching repentance, Judgment, and hell as well as the good news of the cross and resurrection. I want to be safe and follow their example in dealing with lost souls. I want to be faithful in declaring the whole counsel of God as Paul did, proclaiming repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ(Acts 20:20-21;26).
Jesus-is-God wrote:
I agree with your assesment there brother, to a certain extent. The concern I see is in stating that Christ is thee only example in Scripture we should look at and follow. We also must take into account that the apostles example and doctrine is much profitable for us to learn from, for they too were moved by the Spirit as our Lord was, and their word is also Christ's word.
The whole point of Ray Comfort's article has to do with defining biblical repentance. Since repentance is a crucial part of the Gospel, it is important for us to understand what it means so that we can explain it properly to the lost when we are led by the Spirit to do so.
I do not deny or discount your testimony brother. However, I would ask you how you knew that you were a wretch? Was it not that the Spirit of God was convicting you of your sin and your need for repentance?
Because God is sovereign, He can and does sometimes save us without anyone verbally preaching the Gospel to us. It might be through us reading a tract, a Scripture, etc. Just because God sometimes uses these means does not negate the need for us to verbally preach repentance and faith to all those that are lost.
I agree that God may at times give us special insight into a person's heart or situation, but that is not the norm and we should not depend on those kinds of special revelations in declaring the Gospel. Regarless of whether or not we receive special revelation about a lost person we are commanded to preach to them if given the opportunity. If we rely on special revelations we will miss out on many opportunities God may give us to share the Gospel with someone. But yes, we should try to be sensitive to the Spirit's guidance, there should be a balance here.
I can testify to many coming to know the Lord through witnessing encounters, because someone was faithful to declare repentance and faith in Christ, and this without receiving a special revelation from God. They simply endeavored to be faithful to the clear commands of Scripture.
You mentioned the woman at the well as an example of a soft message from Christ. Yet we see that Christ called her out regarding her adulterous lifestyle before He told her He was the Messiah. We would do well in following in His footsteps and reasoning with lost people regarding their sins before God as we share the Gospel with them. We see Christ doing this plenty of times, yet we hardly hear that kind of reasoning or preaching from pulpits or evangelists today?
Again, with all due respect brother, it is dangerous and spiritually unhealthy for us to rely on that kind of "special revelation" when it comes to faithfully preaching the Gospel.
thomasm wrote:
With regard to Peter and the other apostles, it seems evident that they already knew who Christ was based on what He preached and did. They had already heard him preach repentance and the kingdom in the open air and heard about or seen His miracles.
Regarding Cornelius, we read that Peter preached Christ as the One "appointed by God to judge the living and the dead"(Acts10:42). In preaching the coming Judgment, we warn people about it and thereby imply the need for repentance before that Judgment comes upon them. Cornelius did not need much preaching on repentance because he was already humbled before God and sincerely seeking Him.
As to Saul's conversion, Christ also warned Him of his serious sin of persecuting His followers. In essence He told him, "in the end you cannot and will not win if you continue in your rebellion against Me." And again, we would do well in following in Christ's footsteps.
