Comfort, Washer & MacArthur Agree With Jehovah's Witnesses!!!

Comfort, Washer & MacArthur Agree With Jehovah's Witnesses!!!

By David J. Stewart | September 2013

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.”

In acts 15:1 a group of false prophets came to town teaching a false plan of salvation, errantly requiring sinners to be physically circumcised in order to be saved. This is no different than the false teachings of men like Ray Comfort, Paul Washer and John Macarthur who errantly teach that a person cannot be saved by faith unless they first determine to cease from their sinful bad habits, forsake the world and surrender their life to Jesus Christ.

These men are sincere, no doubt, but they are sincerely wrong, perverting “the simplicity that is in Christ” (2nd Corinthians 11:3). If a person must purpose in their heart to depart from literal sins to be saved, then salvation has become very complicated for anyone (“For all have sinned...,” Romans 3:23).

In sharp contrast, as the wonderful Gospel hymns goes, God receives us “JUST AS I AM.” I had the wonderful opportunity to witness to a woman yesterday, who said that a Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) had recently tried to recruit her. I plainly warned her to avoid the SDA religious cult, because they teach that a person must cease from sinful living or else they cannot be saved. I preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to her. She replied sadly by saying that she was very “backslidden,” but I could tell she meant far from God. She wasn't saved.

I had heard Brother Lester Roloff singing the famous hymn, “Just As I Am,” earlier that day from an old sermon. So I told the woman that we are all sinners, and mentioned the song “Just As I Am.” I started to sing it. She remembered hearing the song before and I saw the happiness in her eyes when I mentioned Romans 4:5, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth THE UNGODLY, his faith is counted for righteousness.” She realized that God would receive her just as she is, as a horrible sinner.

I taught her that we ought to live right because WE ARE saved, not to BE saved. I explained to her the difference between the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) religion verses the Bible's teaching concerning sin. Whereas SDA's require a person to cease from sinful living in order TO BE saved, the Bible teaches the exact opposite, that is, we should forsake our sins because WE ARE saved. God only saves sinners! God doesn't save the self-righteous who trust in their earthly riches, manmade traditions and church membership. Repent sinners believe on the name of Jesus!

Whatever changes need to be made in a new convert's life are God's department, as He convicts every believer, and they “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1st Peter 2:2). Lordship Salvationists confuse salvation with discipleship, and sonship with fellowship. 1st John 1:6, “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.” In 1st John the topic is fellowship, not sonship. God accepts us “Just As I am” for salvation. Anyone who receives the Gospel as full payment for their sins is saved immediately, irrevocably and eternally.

Jehovah's Witnesses share the same false beliefs with Lordship Salvationists that faith in Christ Jesus is insufficient to save a person. They BOTH teach that a person must continue in obedience in order to be saved. Here is a frightening comparison chart showing that Ray Comfort, Paul Washer and John MacArthur share the same beliefs as JW's concerning salvation...

Jehovah's Witnesses		Comfort , Washer & MacArthur
Jehovah's Witnesses: So, what does "accepting" Jesus really mean? Is it a one-time act of faith, or is it a continuing way of life? Must our belief be strong enough to motivate us to action? Can we really accept the benefits of Jesus' sacrifice without the responsibility of following him? SOURCE: Have You Been Saved? - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site		John MacArthur: "Salvation isn't the result of an intellectual exercise. It comes from a life lived in obedience and service to Christ as revealed in the Scripture; it's the fruit of actions, not intentions. There's no room for passive spectators: words without actions are empty and futile...The life we live, not the words we speak, determines our eternal destiny" (Hard to Believe, p. 93). [emphasis added]
Jehovah's Witnesses: Salvation is a free gift from God. It cannot be earned. Yet it does require effort on our part. SOURCE: What Must We Do to Be Saved? - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site		Ray Comfort: "If belief is all that is necessary for salvation, then the logical conclusion is that one need never repent. SOURCE: http://www.livingwaters.com/ witnessingtool/browse.shtml
Jehovah's Witnesses: Thus, "accepting Christ" involves far more than just accepting the blessings that Jesus' superlative sacrifice offers. Obedience is required. ... So we must do more than simply hear and believe. SOURCE: What Must We Do to Be Saved? - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site		Paul Washer: “But if you profess to have gone through the narrow gate, and yet you live in the broad way ... just like all the other people who are carnal and wicked ... the Bible wants you to know that you should be terribly, terribly afraid — you know not God.” (time: 24:37 in video) SOURCE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuabITeO4l8
Jehovah's Witnesses: Well, how valuable is the lifeblood of Jesus Christ? It is a free gift, but we must demonstrate deep appreciation for it. SOURCE: What Must We Do to Be Saved? - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site		Ray Comfort: “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
Jehovah's Witnesses: We do not earn salvation by doing these things, for no human could ever do enough to merit such an astounding blessing. We are not worthy of this magnificent gift, though, if we fail to demonstrate our love and obedience by doing the things that the Bible says God and Christ want us to do. Without works to demonstrate our faith, our claim to follow Jesus would fall far short, for the Bible clearly states: "Faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself."—James 2:17. SOURCE: What Must We Do to Be Saved? - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site		Ray 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
Jehovah's Witnesses: Surely we would not want to agree with one of America's best-known evangelists, who said that you do not have to "clean up, give up, or turn around."—Contrast Acts 17:30; Romans 3:25; James 5:19, 20. SOURCE: What Must We Do to Be Saved? - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site		John MacArthur: "The false brethren's departure left John's congregations shaken (2:19). He assured those who remained that since they adhered to the fundamentals of the faith (a proper view of Christ, obedience, love), their salvation was sure. SOURCE: The Revised and Updated edition of The MacArthur Study Bible, Thomas Nelson publishers, page 1973
Jehovah's Witnesses: Without works to demonstrate our faith, our claim to follow Jesus would fall far short, for the Bible clearly states: "Faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself."—James 2:17. SOURCE: What Must We Do to Be Saved? - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site		Ray Comfort: "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... If you will confess and forsake your sins..." SOURCE: http://www.livingwaters.com/good/ 022.shtml
Jehovah's Witnesses: True Christians are in a saved condition in that they are in an approved position before God. As a group, their salvation is sure. Individually, they must meet God's requirements. However, we can fail, for Jesus said: "If anyone does not remain in union with me, he is cast out as a branch and is dried up."—John 15:6. SOURCE: What Must We Do to Be Saved? - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site		Ray Comfort: "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

SOURCE: Lordship Salvationists Teach Same Doctrine As Jehovah's Witnesses
 

UNBELIEVABLE!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!

As with all false prophets, Lordship Salvationists and Jehovah's Witnesses place the BURDEN of sin upon the sinner's shoulder, requiring CHANGE as a prerequisite to being saved...

Thus, "accepting Christ" involves far more than just accepting the blessings that Jesus' superlative sacrifice offers. Obedience is required.

SOURCE: What Must We Do to Be Saved? - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site

In sharp contrast to the false plan of salvation put forth by Lordship Salvationists, SDA's and JW's, the Bible places all the BURDEN of our sins upon Jesus Christ. He bore our sins upon the cross, so we wouldn't have to go to Hell and pay for our own sins in the Lake of Fire forever. Eternal life is a free gift that needs only be received without obligation. Salvation is received, not achieved. We are saved eternally by simply receiving Christ's death, burial and resurrection from the dead as full-payment for our sins. JESUS PAID OUR SIN DEBT!!!

Here are some important contrasts between the Biblical Gospel verses demonic Lordship Salvation...

Biblical Gospel Truth		Lordship Salvation Heresy
Burden of bearing our sins rests solely upon Jesus Christ		Burden to forsake sin is placed upon the sinner to bear
Instant salvation		Salvation is a process
Repentance means a change of mind		Repentance means a change of lifestyle
Based upon God's promises		Based upon man's self-righteousness
Rooted in God's love		Rooted in man's obligation
No strings attached		Strings attached
A free gift		An earned reward
Grace of God		Works of man
Christ saves ungodly by faith		Christ saves self-righteous by works
Beginning of growth in grace process		Demands instant consecrated (changed life)
Root of faith produces fruit		Root + Fruit = False Gospel
Saved by God's righteousness		Saved by self-righteousness
Salvation cannot be lost		Salvation can be lost
Word of God		Based in Calvinism (John Calvin)
Church at Corinth saved, but “carnal” and “babes in Christ” (1st Corinthians 3:1)		Church at Corinth unsaved due to ongoing sin
Safe and secure by faith in Jesus		Not safe and secure by faith in Jesus
Jesus is Savior!		Jesus is Lord!
Easy to believe		Hard to believe
Children easy to be saved		Children difficult to be saved
Salvation received		Salvation achieved
Saints preserved		Saints must persevere
Exposes the religious cults		Agrees with the religious cults
sonship only		sonship + discipleship

Think about this friend... If God imputes (i.e., places Christ's righteousness upon our record) at the time of salvation, then why would we have to “continue on” in belief and repentance to have “true security” as Washer's teaches? That is works salvation! Clearly, Paul Washer is sincere, but sincerely corrupted and wrong in his teachings. Mr. Washer understands repentance unto salvation to mean a departure from the act of sin itself. And he says that anyone who doesn't depart from sin has never repented.

Paul Washer is tricky in his words. Although he speaks of “evidence” of salvation, he also plainly makes it clear that those “evidences” are a requirement for salvation. In effect, Washer has combined the FRUIT of a believer's faith (James 2:18-21) with the ROOT of a believer's faith (Romans 4:5-6). To do so is damnable heresy and a guaranteed road to Hell. The doctrines of Lordship Salvation and the Perseverance of the Saints are foreign to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Both doctrines are rooted in works salvation.

Paul Washer is clearly a follower of John Calvin (1483-1546), who errantly taught that a believer will continue in faith and repentance as part of salvation. The dangerous mindset in all of Washer's teachings is that the convert is required to keep his salvation, which goes 100% contrary to the Biblical teaching that salvation is a NEW BIRTH, a miracle of God (John 1:12-13), a SECOND BIRTH, which cannot be undone. A person cannot be unborn physically. Likewise, the spiritual birth is also just as irreversible.

That is a false Gospel. In one statement Paul Washer says that we are saved by faith alone; but then in the next statement he subtly requires giving up one's sinful lifestyle to be saved. Washer says that repentance must precede faith to be valid. This is not faith alone as the Bible teaches. The Bible is clear that salvation is without works. 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.”

According to Paul Washer's thinking the church congregation at Corinth wasn't saved, because they lived in horrible sin. Yet, Paul calls them “babes in Christ” in 1st Corinthians 3:1. In Romans 12:1, Paul begged the believers at Rome to surrender their lives to God, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." They were saved, but they hadn't presented their bodies to God “a living sacrifice” yet.

Look at the carnal church at Corinth! They were suing each other (1st Corinthians 6:6), eating meats offered to idols (1st Corinthians 8:12), allowing fornication within the church (1st Corinthians 5:1), showing up drunk at the Lord's Supper (1st Corinthians 11:21), et cetera. The carnal church at Corinth is proof that Lordship Salvation is a lie. I am not trying to justify believers who live in sin. I am simply saying that our salvation is not dependent upon giving up our sins.
 

What is Biblical Repentance?

Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951) correctly understood repentance . . .

“Repentance is the very opposite of meritorious experience. It is the confession that one is utterly without merit, and if he is ever saved at all it can only be through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, 'who gave himself a ransom for all.' Here is firm footing for the soul who realizes that all self-effort is but sinking sand. Christ alone is the Rock of our salvation.”

SOURCE: Harry A. Ironside; Except Ye Repent, pg. 36)

Clearly, Ironside taught a Free Grace view of the Gospel. Harry A. Ironside correctly recognized repentance as the confession that "one is utterly without merit" and that if one is "ever saved at all it can only be through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ." Salvation is without works of self-righteousness. Romans 4:5 plainly teaches that a man's faith is COUNTED for righteousness, i.e., the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to one's heavenly record by faith.

“Repentance is the recognition of my sinnership — the owning before God that I am as vile as He has declared me to be in His holy Word.”

SOURCE: Except Ye Repent, by Dr. Harry Ironside, chapter 3

Now it is certainly possible for a person to accept the hope of salvation and still not be saved, because they failed to see themselves as a guilty sinner. But acknowledging one's guilt of sin is far different than being required to forsake the sinful world and commit one's life to holy living. The latter is consecration, which most believers never grow to fulfil. This has nothing to do with salvation, which is the gift of God by faith in Christ's death, burial and resurrection. A gift is free for the taking, and can have no conditions or strings attached if it is a genuine gift. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
 

The Gospel + Faith = Salvation

All that God requires for salvation is that we receive Christ's death, burial and resurrection from the dead (three days later) as full-payment for our sins. Concerning salvation, “repentance” does NOT mean to cease from sinful bad habits, nor turn over a new leaf, nor make a full surrender to Christ, nor to forsake the world. A person may do all of these things and yet never have believe the Gospel at all. The Gospel is Good News to simply be believed; and not conditions to be achieved or met. Christ bore the heavy weight of our sins, so we wouldn't have to in the Lake of Fire. The Lord said that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30).

To demand that lost sinners declare “Jesus is Lord” (as the perverted New International Version (NIV) of the Bible requires in Romans 10:9) is a false plan of salvation. If a person must surrender their life in lordship to Christ, and depart from every sinful bad habit formed over a lifetime to be saved, then how terrible and heavy is such a horrible burden!!! In sharp contrast, Jesus said His burden is light, because the Lord carried the heavy load of our sins upon Himself at Calvary. Our part in SALVATION is only to believe (trust) upon the name of Jesus. God does everything else.

Gospel + Faith = Salvation (Hebrews 4:2)

I don't know what the future holds, but I do know who holds the future. My friend, it is easy and simple to be saved. I'm not saying that anyone has God's permission to get saved and continue living in gross immorality. God forbid (Romans 3:31). What I am saying is that the Bible teaches salvation is without works, and a man's faith is counted in place of righteousness (Romans 4:5-6). And a good thing because we have no true righteousness (Isaiah 64:6). No amount of self-righteousness can atone for one's past sins (and we all have innumerable past sins). Even one sin is enough to condemn a person to the Lake of Fire forever (James 2:10).

That's why God sent His only begotten Son into the world to pay the debt incurred by our sins. Romans 6:23 teaches that the “wages” of our sins is death. Sin brings death (Romans 5:12). We all have to die the physical death (Hebrews 9:27), but we can escape the second death (Revelation 20:6; 21:8) because of Christ's precious blood sacrifice (1st Peter 1:18-19). We are saved by the blood. Romans 5:9, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

SDA Book “The Great Hope” Exposed!

Eternal Security

“No Christian will ever have his name blotted out of the Lamb’s book of life, for all such have eternal life—which is unforfeitable and everlasting.”
— Pastor Harry A. Ironside

“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”
—Acts 26:18

Believe The Gospel

Lordship Salvation

Lordship Salvation Exposed

The Curse of Lordship Salvation

The Hypocrisy of Lordship Salvation

The Foolish Doctrine of Lordship Salvation

Scriptural Proof that Lordship Salvation is a Lie

Lordship Salvation Ignores Babes
in Christ and the Backslidden

Lordship Salvation-An Enemy of Soul Winning

The Core of the Lordship Salvation Issue

Dr. John R. Rice Refutes Lordship Salvation

Dr. Harry Ironside DIDN'T Teach Lordship Salvation

Lordship Salvationists Agree With Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses & Creation Science Evangelism Agree

Catholics Teach the Exact Same Meaning of
"Born Again" as Lordship Salvationists!

Lordship Salvation Heresy
— Ecumenical Bridge to Catholicism

Are There 2 Gospels?

Who's The Biggest Sinner?

Do I Have to Give Up My Sins to be Saved?

Men Who Opposed Lordship Salvation

Opponents of Lordship Salvation

Repentance

Repent! Repent! Repent!

What Is Biblical Repentance?

The Unbiblical REPENTANCE Heresy!

Repentance Is "A Change Of Mind"

Repentance: What Does the Bible Teach?

Dr. Curtis Hutson is 100% Correct on Repentance!

Stop Lying About Charles Spurgeon!

The Raging Battle Over "Repentance"

What Does "do works meet for repentance"
Mean in Acts 26:20?

A Dangerous Teaching in Fundamentalism

Has the Doctrine of "Repentance" Changed
in the Last 50 Years?

Biblically Refuting David Cloud's False Plan of Salvation
and Unjust Attack Against Soul Winners

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How does a person get to Heaven?

Ye Must Be Born Again! | You Need HIS Righteousness!