No way, did Ray Comfort really just say that?

You’re an idiot. Belief is always synonymous with action

Are your actions lining up with your beliefs here? Scripture says “Show perfect courtesy” (Titus 3:2) Beliefs result in changed actions, but beliefs and actions aren’t actually synonymous. There’s a distinction between them.

When Jesus called the Pharisees serpents he wasn’t wrong. There is no biblical distinction between actions and belief. Ephesians 2:8-10

John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” Here, “believes” implies an ongoing trust, not a one-time event, but it doesn’t equate belief directly to action, it’s the starting point that leads to salvation through grace. Similarly, Ephesians 2:8-9 affirms, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast” (NIV). This highlights that salvation comes from belief (faith) alone, not earned by actions, to prevent boasting.

@needGod_net Cherry picking is your middle name. It does say that in John 3:16 but before that he says you must be born of water and spirit. Similarly you did the usual false teachers thing of quoting Ephesians 2:8-9 without the 10 disqualifying you from being taken seriously

@proper2332 @needGod_net He didn’t do a false teaching of Ephesians 2:8-9. Even by adding 10, the teaching still stands the same. We HAVE BEEN SAVED (already saved) through faith, created in Christ Jesus FOR good works, not as a result of works. Good works comes from our salvation, not to be saved.

@proper2332 @needGod_net No, adding 10 shows what faith is. FOR gives it away. To say ‘for’ implies that this is our expressed purpose. To miss out verse 10 is to deny what faith is

"Belief" is not "Faith". The demons believe. Read the book of Hebrews to understand. Read Hebrews chapter 11 to see it in action.

Ray sometimes gets a little careless with his words, but he clearly means that genuine repentance always accompanies genuine faith, which is biblically accurate.

I agree he needs to be clearer in his language, and not say belief isn’t enough to be saved. The Catholics are all agreeing with Ray on that. The context of his comments is that he thinks those who deconstruct from Christianity truly did believe in Christ alone for salvation, but they just lacked repentance, so he says believing alone doesn’t save. But in reality those people didn’t truly believe in Christ at all.

Pretty sure the only time “Faith alone” is mentioned it is to reject the premise and says “not by faith alone”.

So if somebody says that they believe, and they don't have works, is there anything they can or should do?

Why do people always backload faith with works? He said “believing is all one needs to be saved, BUT a change in behavior will come along with that”…..he’s literally saying the same thing Ray Comfort is saying….these guys can’t separate flesh and Spirit.

I'm convinced you don't read the Bible. “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.” — James 2:19 “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out,” — Acts 3:19 “I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” — Luke 13:3

"...many believed...but..."

If you believe in Jesus but you don’t believe Him when He teaches about eternal life, you do not have a living and saving faith to receive the grace of Christ.

Belief and Faith are different things. What's hard to understand about that? Lol

Actually, biblically speaking, believe and faith are synonyms. One is the verb and the other is the noun. Like in Galatians 2:16 [16] yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Think of it like this. You can believe in marriage, be married, and not be a faithful spouse. You can believe God exists, but put no faith in Him, and not live faithfully to Him. St. James puts it this way: "You believe in one God, good for you, even the demons believe that"

Faith without works is dead.

Those verses does not say believe by itself saves. “by itself” is key here and is not there. The place we find “believe by itself” in Scripture is in James 2 where he explicitly says it is dead i.e not sufficient to save: “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (Js. 2:17). Even when Peter was asked a similar question “what shall we do” by people who had already received the gospel in their heart, he did NOT say “you need nothing, you have already received forgiveness and the Holy Spirit by just believing in your heart .” No, he required the expression of their belief: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) So, “Believe and you will be saved” as other parts of Scripture clearly show, means “believe in your heart and you will be saved by Christ through His grace which He bestows on you in the expression of your belief i.e in obeying His commands of repentance, baptism etc” (both to believe and its expression in obedience is enabled by God not your own doing) If Paul was telling the jailer that “believe by itself NOT accompanied by its expression in obeying Jesus” will save him, that would directly contradict James 2, contradict Peter’s answer when he was asked a similar question and contradict even Paul himself who warned believers severally that they will not be saved if they live in sins of the flesh i.e in grave disobedience of the commandments of Christ (Gal. 5:21, 1 Cor. 6:10, Col. 3:6, Romans 8:13 etc): “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.” (Eph. 5:5-6)

For those who want to know what Ray Comfort means by "repentance", see this clip. When I'd say the biblical definition of repentance is a change of mind. Going from unbelief to believing in Christ, and there will also be a change of mind/attitude about sin.

James 2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Ray Comfort of no comfort at all. Love the irony.

James says even the demons believe Jesus says in some places you must obey the father and pick up your cross to be saved Why the confusion? Because the Bible is very contradictory on this issue .. it doesn’t give us any easy and clear answers about anything. Maybe that is not it’s purpose

Ray Comfort is a terrible theologian. He always has been. Can God use his terrible preaching & teaching. Sure. But that doesn't mean we should let him get away with teaching falsehoods.

I think it was his wording. You can superficially believe in Christ, but repentance shows your faith is genuine. Jesus said "No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." I doubt Ray would ever stray from the true Gospel.

It's only semantics. As he said himself, a true belief always results in repentance. It's a direction of logic. He's not saying faith, then repentance results in salvation. He's saying faith that is true results in repentance, and THAT is a sign of true faith & salvation.

This is a great example of why you must take the whole of Scripture and not isolated verses. Jesus and the Apostles taught that faith justifies, but they also taught that works justify, and justification by faith alone is explicitly refuted by James.

But scripture does NOT say "justification by faith alone". In fact, the ONLY scripture with the phrase "faith alone" states it is NOT BY faith alone (Jam 2:24). Meanwhile, Paul states "the only thing that counts is faith EXPRESSING ITSELF through love" (Gal 5:6).

Jas 2:19-20 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? To believe is to obey. Believing has action that follows it. Noah responded with action. Abram as well

Here are some good works, that you probably think are unnecessary. We’ll let God judge.

I can’t believe he said that. I didn’t think he was a faith plus works guy.

You can’t just take one verse; you have to apply the whole counsel of the Word of God. “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are TRULY my disciples.” John 8:31 That means some believe, but they don’t do what they say they believe.

Ray Comfort is correct, thanks for sharing!

If you don’t keep the law you not going to be in the new heaven and new earth 💯

So salvation by keeping the Mosiac law? Romans 3:20 [20] For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

You don’t understand what Paul is even saying 💯 yall Paulites twist the word of God to fit your sin

@needGod_net Can you keep the whole of the law without even violating any law in the least part? What does Jesus say in the sermon on the mount? When He took the law to the nth degree, was it to show that we can keep the law?

@needGod_net Yes you can😂💯 didn’t Jesus say go and sin no more ? What is sin ? Transgression of the law. So in other words keep the law💯

Sola scriptora baby

Heart breaking to hear. I can't believe he thinks you must deserve the undeserved favor called grace. Praying for Ray, God may yet offer him repentance. Please bring us wisdom, Lord, that we may come to know you and understand your saving message. Ephesians 2:8-9

You are 99% of the way there. But the belief does not save us. We are saved by grace through faith. It is God that saves. Not our belief, faith, etc. You kind of hint at that towards the end, but didn’t actually say it.

To Believe is to trust in, rely or depend on someone. Now how do you trust someone you do not know? This is what the likes of Ray Comfort and Roman Catholics fails to understand. One who doesn't change, didn't believe in the gospel. Without the gospel, no one truly believes.

But even the devil believes in Jesus- James 2:19

Jesus shows us what it means to believe in John 3:14 when he mentions Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness. Numbers 21:4-9 shows that it wasn’t enough to just believe the statement was true, they had to actively participate to experience healing.

he is right, belief does not save. The Bible even says so: "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder." Satan believes that Jesus is God incarnate who came to save sinners. That does not save you. GOD saves you through applying the doing and dying of Jesus Christ to you, which you respond to in faith having been made alive.

@LivingWatersPub @RayComfort has always been a false teacher who demeans the Gospel of Jesus. Believing may change you. Most pagan religions can change you morally & even yoga & music can change you. Which means the moral betterment in my life is not an evidence of my salvation👇🏻