Ray Frankling sent us this note:
From your letter to Ray Comfort:
“‘And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire’ (Revelation 20:15 EMTV).
That is where you are going, Ray, not without purpose, as in your doctrine of punishment without restoration, but to purge and cleanse you, to teach you not to blaspheme and to know the Lord in truth. Is this not what the Word of God says?:”
It certainly does not! The Lake of Fire is for non-believers (Rev 21:8) and certainly not to bring them to Christ. We come to Christ by faith, not by being purged and cleansed in a fire. We are purged and cleansed only through the blood of Christ who suffered FOR US:
Heb:1:3: Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he [i.e. Christ] had BY HIMSELF purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
1Pt:3:18: For CHRIST also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that HE might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
It is God’s grace that teaches us to live righteously and “not to blaspheme”.
Ti:2: 11: For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12: Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
“‘If the fire puts an end to any man’s work, it will be his loss: but he will get salvation himself, though as by fire’ (1 Corinthians 3:15 BBE).”
The CONTEXT of this passage is the testing of the believer’s works for rewards. The “works” are tested by fire, not the person. Salvation is a gift. Believers work for rewards not for a gift.
Gal:6:14: But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
In His Grace,,
Ray Frankling
Paul and Victor’s reply:
“The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD tries the hearts”
(Proverbs 17:3 KJV).
Mr. Frankling,
Your letter has brought up some questions and considerations.
You have a problem with Ray Comfort being sent to the Lake of Fire for the purposes God declared in the Scriptures – to put an end to man’s unbelief and to be made right with Him. You write:
“We come to Christ by faith, not by being purged and cleansed in a fire. We are purged and cleansed only through the blood of Christ who suffered FOR US.”
His blood is much hotter than you realize. But let us first make it clear that we are not preaching salvation by works or by anything other than the faith of Christ, which faith works effectually in those who believe by producing acceptable fruits to God. Mr. Comfort, lacking those necessary fruits, demonstrates his great need of saving faith and the remedial action God prescribes for all who fall short of His grace:
“And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire” (Revelation 20:15 EMTV).
For the Savior’s part, Jesus Christ does as He sees fit with one, be it by saving fire or anything else He deems suitable and necessary.
You also write:
“It is God’s grace that teaches us to live righteously and ‘not to blaspheme’”
To which we say that, having the Spirit of Christ, we are not inclined to blaspheme, but those who blaspheme are walking in the flesh and in the spirit of antiChrist. The apostle Paul wrote of such:
“Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan so that they may learn not to blaspheme” (1 Timothy 1:20 MKJV).
These were not unbelievers, but those who believed and yet were deemed in need of severe judgment. As Paul declared, he had nothing to do to judge those who are without:
“For what is it to me to also judge those who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?” (1 Corinthians 5:12 MKJV)
It appears there are other aspects of God’s power to cleanse and deliver from sin and unrighteousness than you allow. While you emphasize Christ’s blood and grace as opposed to the fire of God, we ask you a simple question:
Did John the Immerser say of Christ, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with His blood,” or was it, “and with fire”? Not that we refute the fact that remission of sins comes by grace through faith in His shed blood – God forbid!
But what was John the Immerser talking about when he said?:
“I indeed baptize you with water to repentance. But He Who comes after me is mightier than I, Whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matthew 3:11 MKJV)
How is it that believers (those who receive the Holy Spirit) are immersed in fire, if such fire is only for unbelievers, as you say? Yet how can those who receive the living God expect anything other than fire?
“But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap; and He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to the LORD offerings in righteousness” (Malachi 3:2-3 HNV).
(Only those offerings offered through faith are in righteousness, even as it was with Abraham, whose faith was accounted to him for righteousness.) Those who are of the household of faith are warned and exhorted to submit to the fires of purification for their wellbeing and salvation:
Revelation 3:16-18 MKJV
(16) So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
(17) Because you say, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
(18) I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified by fire, so that you may be rich; and white clothing, so that you may be clothed, and so that the shame of your nakedness does not appear. And anoint your eyes with eye salve, so that you may see.
And now to a key point, given what I have said of Mr. Comfort and his lack of true faith manifested by his works: What was Jesus talking about when He said that every man would be salted with fire?
“For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt” (Mark 9:49 MKJV).
He also said:
“Salt is good; but if the salt becomes saltless, with what will you season? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another” (Mark 9:50 MKJV).
If salt is good and desirable, and fire brings out the desirable effects of salt, is the fire of God an evil thing and an end in itself?
The Scriptures say the fire is not an end in itself, as quoted in 1 Corinthians 3:15:
“If the fire puts an end to any man’s work, it will be his loss: but he will get salvation himself, though as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15 BBE).
In other words, though the works that are not built on the Foundation Stone, Jesus Christ, are lost, the person doing those works will be saved, “though as by fire.”
You say, “The ‘works’ are tested by fire, not the person.” What difference is there, when the Scripture says the judgment of the works is followed by the judgment of the doer of the works? The Lord judges those brought before Him at His judgment throne, after He finds their works lacking:
“Then will He say to those at His left, ‘Begone from Me, with the curse resting upon you, into the Fire of the Ages, which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels’“ (Matthew 25:41 WNT).
What did these professing believers do to merit this judgment? They did not recognize or receive the Lord in His servants:
“Then He shall answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these [His brothers], you did not do it to Me” (Matthew 25:45 MKJV).
If a person (Ray Comfort, for example) doesn’t recognize or receive the Lord in His brethren, his works can’t be founded on the Lord, wouldn’t you say? There is something essentially amiss with this person’s profession of faith. Isn’t faith without the works of God dead, as James says? Isn’t that what the Lord says here?
Matthew 7:21-23 MKJV
(21) Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.
(22) Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your Name, and through Your Name throw out demons, and through Your Name do many wonderful works?
(23) And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness.
And where do these lawless professors of Christ go?
“Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:19 MKJV).
Is being thrown into the fire good or bad for the one being thrown into it? We just heard the Scripture saying that those persons whose works are rejected will be saved “though as by fire.” How can the fire be an evil end, unto itself, if the one subjected to it is saved by it?
Does God take pleasure in the death of the wicked, or is it His will that the wicked turns from his evil ways and lives? Which gives God glory? Aren’t all things created to glorify Him?
“Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:13-14 KJV).
Can’t God turn men from their wicked ways after death? How will all Israel be saved if this isn’t so (Romans 11:26)? Aren’t many of Israel dead now, whether alive in this world or having physically died? Mustn’t the covenant with death, their present disconnection from God their Savior, be put away for them to be saved?
“And your covenant with death shall be wiped out, and your vision with hell shall not stand; when the overwhelming rod shall pass through, then you shall be beaten down by it” (Isaiah 28:18 MKJV).
The Scriptures call the destruction of death and hell “the second death”:
“And death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death” (Revelation 20:14 MKJV).
What have you thought the purpose of the Lake of Fire was?
All flesh, all of the First Adam, must pass through the fires, the second death:
“But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, will have their part in the Lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8 MKJV).
The one who overcomes in Christ, however, is formed in the image of the Last Adam and will not be hurt by the second death:
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death” (Revelation 2:11 MKJV).
The one who overcomes is not hurt by the second death because there is no impurity left for the fire to remove. The baptism of fire has accomplished its purposes within. The sting of death and sin are gone! That person has been made one with God through the blood of the sinless Son; he is made a pillar in His Temple and goes out no more (Revelation 3:12).
Has Ray Comfort overcome? Is Ray Comfort sitting on the throne of Christ, ruling with Him over the nations and shattering them with a rod of iron? By the eye of faith, we do not see this. Instead, we see him preaching blasphemous error, and he is in need of correction. He, along with so many others, wittingly or otherwise, performs an egregious character assassination on Jesus Christ.
Whether or not Ray Comfort is an actual believer (rather than a tare), he has not yet overcome, which all must if they are to be saved: “He that endures unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Not having overcome, he can be hurt by the second death, because his flesh is still alive and well, and not crucified, as Paul experienced and expressed:
“I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf” (Galatians 2:20 MKJV).
This is what all must experience to enter the City of God, called the Garden of Eden, called Paradise, which God has ordained all will, according to The Good News of Jesus Christ.
Many who profess faith in Christ presume to have victory over death, the substance of Paul’s words, without having overcome, but simply because they have experienced Passover (repentance), and perhaps Pentecost (receiving the Spirit). But all must finally keep Tabernacles, the third and final feast, as well. As it is written, “He that endures to the end, the same shall be saved.”
Three times in a year the males were to appear before the Lord (Exodus 23:17; 34:23-24). Once or twice was not good enough. God instituted three feasts, not for nothing; the third, with the fullness of fruits harvested, being as important as the others. All were to be kept. Of what value is a sower’s work if he cannot reap the main fruits of his labors, which is what the Feast of Tabernacles is all about?
Why do you suppose Zechariah mentions only the Feast of Tabernacles for the last day in which the Kingdom of God reigns?
“And it shall be, everyone who is left of all the nations which came up against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16 MKJV).
This is the feast that counts at the last! The third feast included the Day of Atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month, the most solemn of all the solemn feasts, the only day of the year when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat on behalf of all Israel. Unless one enters there, he cannot receive the fullness of salvation purchased by Christ’s blood:
Hebrews 10:19-23 MKJV
(19) Therefore, brothers, having boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus,
(20) by a new and living way which He has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh;
(21) and having a High Priest over the house of God,
(22) let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies having been washed with pure water.
(23) Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for He is faithful Who promised).
If all were accomplished in our first coming to Christ, and our salvation was complete, there would be no need for the exhortation not to waver. Faith and patience are necessary to receive the promise and fulfillment of Christ in you, the hope of glory. Again, Jesus said that one must endure to the end to be saved.
Ray Comfort has not endured to the end. His works, we have shown, are not acceptable before God. That is why he needs the fires and the second death. Otherwise he will not be saved, according to the Word of God.
Mr. Comfort has knowledge and a form of godliness, but neither of those things brings life. In fact, the first death came on all men through partaking of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In this state, no man is fit to eat from the Tree of Life:
“And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the Tree of Life, and eat, and live for ever…. So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the Tree of Life” (Genesis 3:22-24 KJV).
To overcome the first death and to partake of the Tree of Life, all men must go through the flaming sword. The flaming sword is the second death. It is the fire that crucifies and purifies the carnal man through the judgment of Christ. It is the re-entry to life. It is how the carnal professor of Christ, whose corrupt works have been rejected by God, is saved by fire. For “flesh and blood,” it is written, “does not inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption” (1 Corinthians 15:50 MKJV).
There must be the second death (which is spiritual) to put away the corruption of the first death (which is also spiritual). That is why Christ tasted death for every person and the cross is preached to all men, in order that they might become dead to sin, but alive to God through Him. This is the entrance and key to the Kingdom of God. The first death was to God’s righteousness; the second is to man’s unrighteousness.
Regarding this second death, it is written of God:
“And He said, You cannot see My face. For there no man can see Me and live” (Exodus 33:20 MKJV).
No carnal man can see Him and live. But that all men will see Him, God has ordained:
“Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, and those who pierced Him will see Him, and all the kindreds of the earth will wail because of Him. Even so, Amen” (Revelation 1:7 MKJV).
Will they not therefore die? And what death is that, since they already died once through Adam? It is the second death.
Joel prophesied these things would happen to all people, which Peter confirmed at Pentecost, when the disciples received the Spirit of Christ:
Acts 2:16-18 KJV
(16) But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
(17) And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
(18) And on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
Joel also spoke of fire at the time of receiving the Spirit:
Joel 2:29-30 MKJV
(29) And also I will pour out My Spirit on the slaves and on the slave women in those days.
(30) And I will show wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
Now we know that 120 in the upper room received His Spirit that day, and then, through Peter’s preaching, 3,000 more believed and received His Spirit (and fire), but not all men were baptized into Christ that day (or ever since) as prophesied. Those who have entered God’s Kingdom by His Spirit since Pentecost have only been the firstfruits of mankind. The rest remain to be baptized and judged by fire after the firstfruits have been gathered, as Peter later wrote:
“But the present heavens and the earth being kept in store by the same Word, are being kept for fire until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7 MKJV).
This final Day of Judgment comes through the saints, the completed firstfruits and Body of Christ who have received the baptism in His Spirit with fire, have overcome, and have brought this testimony of the Word made flesh in them to the rest of the world:
“Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world?” (1 Corinthians 6:2 MKJV)
“Until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the Kingdom” (Daniel 7:22 KJV).
Just as Noah brought judgment to the world through its baptism of water (Hebrews 11:7), so the saints in Christ bring the final and necessary judgment to the world through its baptism of fire.
“But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10 HNV).
Notice the Scripture does not say the people will be burned up, but that their works will be. Again:
1 Corinthians 3:13-15 EMTV
(13) Each one’s work shall be made manifest; for the Day shall reveal it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall test each one’s work, as to what sort it is.
(14) If anyone’s work which he has built remains, he shall receive a reward.
(15) If anyone’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, but so as through fire.
The judgment of God (the coming of Christ!) brings pain, not for the sake of pain, but for deliverance from the things that kill and destroy mankind.
What do you think it means to be hurt by the second death? Those who have not overcome are still in need of the judgment of God for their correction and deliverance. Doesn’t correction hurt?
“Now chastening for the present does not seem to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are exercised by it” (Hebrews 12:11 MKJV).
We who believe and have been chastened of God (which chastisement we received as His sons and daughters – Hebrews 12:8) are delivered from the sin nature and the body of death. Yes, the blood of Christ atones for our sins, but only the walk of faith, made possible by having His blood coursing through us, endures the correcting fires of God that bring deliverance from the sin nature:
“For whom the Lord loves, He disciplines, and whips every son whom He receives. If you endure discipline, God is dealing with you as with sons; for who is the son whom a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become sharers, then you are bastards, and not sons” (Hebrews 12:6-8 LITV).
Sons are sons by blood, and they inherit the nature of their fathers. The sons of God inherit the Nature of God.
“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same mind, because he who suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the remaining time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1-2 EMTV).
Those who are consigned to the Lake of Fire need the extra chastening, stripes, and purging that will deliver them from subservience to their sin nature and bring them to the place where they will finally be made complete with God, producing the peaceable fruits of righteousness in Christ. The works of those sent to the Lake of Fire were found unacceptable because they themselves were unacceptable. They were walking in the flesh, in which, Paul said (with the sure knowledge of God), nothing good dwells (Romans 7:18).
The works of the flesh are judged and disposed of by fire, but the workers, who by nature produced those works, are corrected (saved) by the same fire. Thereafter they will no longer walk in the will of men and the flesh, but will be brought before God, worshipping Him in holiness:
Revelation 7:9-10 MKJV
(9) After these things I looked, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number [a rather vast number then!], out of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palms in their hands.
(10) And they cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb.
They will have come through the great tribulation, without which no man will see God:
Revelation 7:13-14 MKJV
(13) And one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these who are arrayed in white robes, and from where do they come?
(14) And I said to him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are the ones who came out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes, and have whitened them in the blood of the Lamb.
If the Lake of Fire is not for correction, then how do you explain that death and hell are cast into it?
“And death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death” (Revelation 20:14 MKJV).
The Lake of Fire and the second death put away death and hell.
Those who overcome in Christ are no longer subject to death and hell, because the fire has done its work. They now live with God in Paradise:
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7 MKJV).
“And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire. And those who had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God” (Revelation 15:2 MKJV).
Those who have the victory over the flesh and over this present evil world eat from the Tree of Life and are no longer subject to death and hell. Those who walk outside of Christ are yet subject to the flesh, this world, death, and hell. But if those outside of Christ were meant to continue in those things indefinitely, why then are they, along with death and hell, put in the all-consuming fire of God that abolishes everything that offends and opposes Him? As it says:
“Then will be the end, when He [Christ] hands over the Kingdom to God, even the Father, when He abolishes every ruler and every authority and power. For He must reign till He puts all His enemies under His feet” (1 Corinthians 15:24-25 EMTV).
How can there be any more suffering if death and hell are abolished?
“And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying out, nor will there be any more pain; for the first things passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4 MKJV).
When all enemies and enmity are put away, the tabernacle of God will be with all men and not just with the believers of this present dispensation, who live in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation (Deuteronomy 32:5). The Lake of Fire and the second death do away with the first death for all those afflicted by it, which are all those who are not presently crucified with Christ and living by His resurrection power that overcomes death.
“Therefore as by one offense sentence came on all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came to all men to justification of life” (Romans 5:18 MKJV).
Praise God; the second death is a very good thing!
The second death puts away the last enemy, death, the tool by which the destroyer ruled over men! The second death is the agent of Christ’s salvation for which He paid the full price in His blood. Would God shortchange Himself in anything for which He paid with the blood of His Son?
Put it this way: Christ’s blood paves the way for our correction and sanctification at His hand, by His grace through the gift of His faith; otherwise, we would be without hope. The journey through fire and tribulation is needful, yes crucial, for reaching the intended destination:
“…being confident of this very thing, that He Who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the Day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6 MKJV).
The journey begins with the revelation and recognition of Jesus Christ, which is also something He will initiate for everyone else, even as He has with us:
“Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, and those who pierced Him will see Him, and all the kindreds of the earth will wail because of Him. Even so, Amen” (Revelation 1:7 MKJV).
Have you presumed because there is pain associated with the process of judgment in the second death, that therefore no good comes of it? Is this not a flesh-preserving notion? Are the saints in Christ salted with fire to no good end? Does the pain that comes from the correction of God by scourging have no purpose other than to hurt? Is it an end in itself, the Omega – as is erroneously believed and ignorantly and blasphemously preached by orthodox Christendom – rather than the Lord Jesus Christ? We know the answer, don’t we?
Solemnly consider Peter’s words: “Beloved, do not be astonished at the fiery trial which is to try you, as though a strange thing happened to you, but rejoice according as you are partakers of Christ’s suffering, so that when His glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12-13 MKJV).
But you will say that those whose names are not written in the Book of Life are cast into the Lake of Fire, rather than the believers to whom Peter refers. That is true, because the saints called and chosen in Christ in this life experience the fires of God presently for their perfection, as we have been telling you. There is no need for the Lake of Fire once the work has been done. We have been baptized with His Spirit and fire, by which we are consumed by God and granted entrance into Heaven:
“Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let us have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28-29 HNV). (Note: These bolded words are addressed not to the heathen, but to the household of God, and declare that God Himself is the fire. Whoever comes to God, or to whomever He comes, will be consumed.)
And consider that Jesus was speaking to believers when He said that those who overcame would not be hurt by the second death (the Lake of Fire). Does it not follow that those who are believers but who have not overcome, will be hurt by the Lake of Fire?
Judgment (fire) begins at the House of God – 1 Peter 4:17. We enter the Kingdom through much tribulation:
“… confirming the souls of the disciples, calling on them to continue in the faith and that through much tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22 MKJV).
Question for you: Have you, through much tribulation, entered the Kingdom of God? If not, can you speak with knowledge and authority? Something to think about?
Speaking for ourselves specifically in what God has done for us, we have overcome through the blood of the Lamb. Our names have been recorded and established in the Book of Life. Others, however, who have not yet overcome, can be blotted out of His Book:
“The one who overcomes, this one will be clothed in white clothing. And I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels” (Revelation 3:5 MKJV).
To be blotted out of His Book of Life means that you must first be recorded in It; is that not so? Therefore, the Lord warns those who believe, such as you and Mr. Comfort, that you should not be so self-assured and comfortable with your status as believers, because you can be blotted out of His Book, losing what you have or think to have:
“Therefore be careful how you hear. For whoever has, to him shall be given; and whoever has not, from him shall be taken even that which he seems to have” (Luke 8:18 MKJV).
Ray Comfort has not been careful how he hears. He misuses the Scriptures, abuses others through his misuse, not rightly dividing the Word of Truth, and rejects the reproofs of life given by the Spirit of God through His servants. God’s Word, as fire in our mouths, has come to burn up his (and wicked men’s) works:
“For a place of fire has long been ready; yes, it has been made ready for the king; he has made it deep and wide: it is massed with fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of fire, puts a light to it” (Isaiah 30:33 BBE).
The breath of the Lord, the same that brings life (Job 33:4), also brings fire:
“Is not My Word like fire? says the Lord; and like a hammer, smashing the rock to bits?” (Jeremiah 23:29 BBE)
The fire is His judgment that puts the flesh to death, in order to give life through His Spirit:
“For to this end the Gospel was preached also to the dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the Spirit” (1 Peter 4:6 MKJV).
How about you? Is your judgment complete?
Have you overcome to the end?
Have you entered into rest (Feast of Tabernacles), as exhorted by the author of Hebrews?
Are you no longer speaking your own words or doing your own works?
Are you crucified with Christ and raised up by His Spirit to live in the Temple of God forevermore?
Are you walking in the Spirit, rather than the flesh at any time?
Are you manifesting the works of Christ, the greater ones Jesus spoke of before His resurrection and ascension, which He said those who believed on Him would do?
If not, then the Lord is not confessing your name before the Father and His angels. If not, then you have not yet endured to the end for your salvation (Matthew 10:22).
That’s not necessarily a problem, if you are walking on the path of truth and receiving instruction in the things of God. But if you are doing your own thing, thinking to know better than God and judging the brothers in Christ whom He has sent, then you have a problem:
“Do not speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against his brother, and who judges his brother, speaks against the Law and judges the Law. But if you judge the Law, you are not a doer of the Law, but a judge” (James 4:11 MKJV).
Those who are not establishing the Law (Romans 3:31) are contrary to the King and His Kingdom (Matthew 5:17-20). Consider your defense of Ray Comfort in light of these words:
“He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 17:15 HNV).
All men have needed to be salted by fire, and God has met, is meeting, and will meet this need by His grace through Jesus Christ. He has sent His Spirit and fire to do a complete work. It’s His work, and it’s solely by His grace that any receive the necessary and effectual judgment, which is not strictly for the sake of pain and punishment, as you have been falsely taught by men. It is for the salvation of all men:
1 Corinthians 15:21-26 MKJV
(21) For since death is through man, the resurrection of the dead also is through a Man.
(22) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive.
(23) But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruit, and afterward they who are Christ’s at His coming;
(24) then is the end, when He delivers the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when He makes to cease all rule and all authority and power.
(25) for it is right for Him to reign until He has put all the enemies under His feet.
(26) The last enemy made to cease is death.
Shall death ever dwell with Him Who contains all things? Will you tell us that the fire of God does not do away with death entirely? And when death is gone, is not the sin that generates death gone as well? And if no more sin, there is no more need for mercy or forgiveness, for those are fulfilled by the unmerited favor God has intended to bestow on all:
“For God has shut up all in unbelief, so that He might show mercy to all” (Romans 11:32 MKJV).
When death is done away, there will be no more suffering for sin, unlike what is blasphemously and deceitfully reported by preachers throughout nominal orthodox Christendom.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57 MKJV
(55) O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”
(56) The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the Law.
(57) But thanks be to God Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have something for you to read, an exposure of the ridiculous and blasphemous doctrine that declares the Lake of Fire’s reason for existence is the eternal, never-ending torment of sinners: A Divine Revelation of Hell Debunked.
Do you know what the problem is with the nominal orthodox Christian gospel preached primarily in Protestant evangelical circles? No, you don’t, so we speak:
It is a fireless, crossless gospel (the cross is preached in name only), and they call it “grace.” It is a counterfeit gospel that promises and encourages re-entry to the Garden of Eden by another way, whereby the flesh remains intact. This false gospel uses the same words that are found in the true, but with false application – no cross (except in word) and no fire.
This gospel is highly treacherous, so as to deceive, if possible, the very elect of God. It is preached under the Name of Jesus Christ so as to lend it credibility and lead astray the simple and the wayward, who choose to have their cake and eat it too. It is the perfect subtlety of the serpent successfully at work, sowing and watering tares.
Because you cannot discern our Gospel, which is the Gospel, not of works, not of iniquity called “grace,” but of true grace, the same Gospel Paul and the apostles preached, we must conclude or at least highly suspect that you have been snared by the destroyer ever so wonderfully. He is a magnificent devourer of souls, pleasing them even as he destroys. The whole world lies in darkness, but particularly religious Christendom:
“The light of the body is the eye. Therefore if your eye is sound, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23 MKJV)
How big is the victory you declare Jesus Christ has won by such a great price as His holy blood? The Lord and His Scriptures say not nearly big enough. Your idea of victory is His idea of tragic and shameful defeat.
We ask you, “What army general would be satisfied with the ‘victory’ nominal Christendom attributes to Christ, wherein the enemy destroys far more than the winning general is able to save, even of his own?”
That’s assuming you believe in eternal torment for great multitudes, while relatively few will be redeemed. Perhaps we’re wrong in that assumption? If we are, you certainly didn’t pay attention to the content of our correspondence with Mr. Comfort or the links provided to him as evidence of his error.
Read The Restitution of All Things, and The Second Death.
Victor Hafichuk