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Critique of The Way of the Master

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evangelist6589

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One crucial teaching for evangelism is the power of God. When we witness for Christ or do personal evangelism, we can access three sources of God's power:

1. The power of the Word of God (Heb. 4:12, 1 Peter 1:23, Rom. 10:17, etc.)
2. The power of the Holy Spirit, received through being filled with the Spirit (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8, 4:31, etc.)
3. The power of the Gospel itself (Rom. 1:16, etc.)

In the two books by Comfort I've read, he only gives credit for power unto salvation to one portion of the Word of God (the Law, which he defines as the Decalogue), and never to the Gospel itself or to the Holy Spirit.

This explains why Comfort and his followers see some success in using his method. Using the Ten Commandments is powerful, and they can be used by the Holy Spirit to produce conviction.

However, this lack of emphasis on the complete Gospel and the power of all of the Word of God limits Comfort's method. It also allows him to criticize other good methods that use the Word of God (powerful) and present the complete Gospel (powerful) such as what he mistakenly calls the Roman (sic) Road (p. 156-157), the 4 Spiritual Laws (pp. 123-128), and Evangelism Explosion (p. 311). This is sad to me. Instead of rejoicing that the Gospel is proclaimed, even if by what he considers by a mistaken method, he opposes the proclamation of the Gospel by these methods.

Why do you insist that using the law is a Comfort method? Have you read the following books?

Tell the Truth
Today's evangelism

Both authors emphasize using the law in evangelism.
 

John of Japan

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I don't think it merits the Rippon treatment at all. The Roman Road is a well-attested alternate name for the method.

https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/trevinwax/2015/01/30/know-your-southern-baptists-chuck-kelley/

Fundamentalist Journal Feb. 1985, p. 21
Never heard of it named that way until now. Are you sure your link is talking about the evangelistic method and not something else? Alternatively, how do you know that, if it is talking about the evangelism method, it's not a typo on the websited?
 

John of Japan

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Why do you insist that using the law is a Comfort method? Have you read the following books?

Tell the Truth
Today's evangelism

Both authors emphasize using the law in evangelism.
Comfort himself insists that he is the first one for 100 years to use the Law correctly in evangelism. Read his books. :Biggrin
 

Baptist Believer

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Never heard of it named that way until now. Are you sure your link is talking about the evangelistic method and not something else?
I grew up hearing it called the Roman Road, and still hear it that way in Texas.

Since the letter was sent to the church in Roman, I guess that's the Roman method.

I personally don't care for the Roman(s) Road, so it doesn't make much difference to me, but I wanted to add my testimony of that nomenclature.
 

Yeshua1

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Since McCree79 asked about it, I'll go ahead and point out Comfort's problems in the area of pneumatology (the study of the Holy Spirit). IMO, this book has an even poorer pneumatology than The Way of the Master.

There are several mentions of the Holy Spirit in passing (p. 74, etc.). Also, once again he briefly acknowledges the role of the Holy Spirit in convicting sin on p. 296. However, in Comfort's mind the Law (meaning only the Decalogue in his mind, though the term also means "OT") convicts of sin, and he says so on p. 171 about Peter's sermon in Acts 2: "Only after the Law convicted them of their sinfulness did Peter offer them grace (v. 38)." This is a false statement. Nowhere in the Bible does it say the Law convicts of sin. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts of sin, though He may use the Law.

On the page before he quotes a paragraph from a book by Jim Cymbala, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, in which Cymbala writes, "With the gracious manifestation of God's Spirit in the Upper Room, the disciples encountered their first audience" (p. 170). In answer, Comfort writes, "The inference is that the key was the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. This is true. However, we have the same Holy Spirit toda, yet we rarely see such a harvest of souls. Why not? Simply because Peter properly prepared the ground upon which he was sowing. His audience was composed of 'devout men' who were gathered at Pentecost to celebrate the giving of God's Law on Mount Sinai" (ibid).

Do you see what Comfort is saying? He is teaching that the power of the Holy Spirit is not as important as using the Law in evangelism. Furthermore, he is confusing the indwelling of the Holy Spirit with the filling of the Holy Spirit--two different things indeed. We all have the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are not all filled with the Spirit, something absolutely vital to evangelism. But Comfort's perspective is that of the Charismatic, that the fullness of the Spirit means tongues speaking, not power for evangelism.

So, as I said, Comfort's pneumatology has gotten worse, not better, contrary to my hopes.
He would hve us seeing that the Spirit cannot convict apart from te Law, but again, the Apostles preached not he Law, especially to the Gentiles, but Jesus death and resurrection! So Guess Paul and John and all the rest lacked that knowledge of the Law!
 

Yeshua1

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
One crucial teaching for evangelism is the power of God. When we witness for Christ or do personal evangelism, we can access three sources of God's power:

1. The power of the Word of God (Heb. 4:12, 1 Peter 1:23, Rom. 10:17, etc.)
2. The power of the Holy Spirit, received through being filled with the Spirit (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8, 4:31, etc.)
3. The power of the Gospel itself (Rom. 1:16, etc.)

In the two books by Comfort I've read, he only gives credit for power unto salvation to one portion of the Word of God (the Law, which he defines as the Decalogue), and never to the Gospel itself or to the Holy Spirit.

This explains why Comfort and his followers see some success in using his method. Using the Ten Commandments is powerful, and they can be used by the Holy Spirit to produce conviction.

However, this lack of emphasis on the complete Gospel and the power of all of the Word of God limits Comfort's method. It also allows him to criticize other good methods that use the Word of God (powerful) and present the complete Gospel (powerful) such as what he mistakenly calls the Roman (sic) Road (p. 156-157), the 4 Spiritual Laws (pp. 123-128), and Evangelism Explosion (p. 311). This is sad to me. Instead of rejoicing that the Gospel is proclaimed, even if by what he considers by a mistaken method, he opposes the proclamation of the Gospel by these methods.
 

Yeshua1

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His teaching of the fullnesso the Holy Spirt as defined by Charasmatics is real danger, as there are NO commands given to seek that Baptism and tongues ad thus power, but all commanded to be infilled by Him!

And is there ANY passae were Paul/Peter/John et all ever said use the Law as he does?
 

Jerome

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Never heard of it named that way until now.



Let's Build an Evangelistic Church (Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1962)
went through the plan of salvation, the Roman Road

Dr. Rice Goes to College (Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1977)
over the Roman Road with him, and got him saved

What the Faith is All About (Elmer Towns, 1983)
the Roman Road of Salvation...the verses that are often used to lead a person to Christ

http://jackhyles.net/soul-winning-course-annually/
We simply teach the simple way to lead a soul to Christ. We call it the “Roman Road.”

http://tractleague.com/tracts/the-roman-road-single-page/
images



Shall I go on?
 

Yeshua1

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Site Supporter
Why do you insist that using the law is a Comfort method? Have you read the following books?

Tell the Truth
Today's evangelism

Both authors emphasize using the law in evangelism.
Does

Maybe his Grandfaher neglected passing that on to him!
 

John of Japan

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Site Supporter
One thing that I pointed out in my thread on Hell's Best Kept Secret was that Comfort tries to discern whether or not proclaiming the Law has had an effect on the hearer. His recommendation was that if someone did not respond to the Law (something impossible for a human to tell, because "Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart."), there was no use in giving them the Gospel. Thus, in effect, Comfort advised in that book that we do not need to give the Gospel to "every creature," thus advocating disobedience to the Great Commission in Mark which commands us to do so. I found that to be very sad, and hoped that he would not advise the same thing it this book.

Unfortunately, in The Way of the Master also, Comfort once again advises against giving the Gospel to "every creature." He writes on p. 196, "Don't feel pressured to share the good news with a proud, self-righteous sinner (rebellious, cussing, arrogant) who is not willing to admit his guilt before God.... You will have to watch and listen carefully, because humility is not always obvious. If the person admits that the possibility of going to Hell does concern him, only at that point should you present the gospel."

On our last furlough from Japan, the main message I preached taught the exact opposite from Mark 16:15. Since we are to give the Gospel to everyone, we must not judge a person unworthy to hear the Gospel. Only God knows the heart. That tough-looking man with all the tattoos, that woman with the smirk, may be crying out for help deep down inside.

In contrast, Arthur Blessitt (a street preacher who has preched in every single country in the world), wrote, "Sometimes a wise guy will say, 'I've never sinned; I'm no sinner.' I just tap him on the chest and say, 'Hey, man, you're smarter than that. You know better than that.' Then I move right on to the second verse without arguing with him. Deep within, every pwerson knows that he's a sinner" (Arthur Blessitt's Street University, p. 158).

Again, "Don't let people's outside appearance intimidate you--their build, their skin color, their style of clothes, their language. Speak to their hearts. They may try to put you off with conversation, saying they're not interested in religion at all. Yet the person inside may be crying out for you to keep talking about Jesus" (ibid, p. 150).

One of the most intimidating guys I've ever known was a black belt in full contact karate and an enforcer for a drug pushing yakuza gang. Yet he trusted Christ as Savior easily. Inside he was crying out for help.

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John of Japan

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Tell you what, friends, I think I can finish off this critique with just one more post, and this one is somewhat positive. I'm convinced that Comfort is still a Charismatic, but a moderate one. On pp. 260-262, he very gently opposes some of the excesses of the movement such as healing meetings (though he says "There is healing in the atonement" on p. 261) and the Health and Wealth Gospel.

He writes about the huge Charismatic healing and campaigns and other meetings, "Judgment Day isn't mentioned; neither is Hell; nor is there a call to repentance. I try to feel gracious toward these preachers and excuse them by thinking that perhaps these are 'teachers' within the body of Christ, whose particular gifting is to exhort and encourage rather than to save what is lost. However, the most gifted of teachers cannot be excused for not caring about the fate of the ungodly" (p. 261).

And with that I announce the end of my critique of The Way of the Master, by Ray Comfort. Thanks for tuning in. :Coffee
 
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