Hi there,
So this is a thorny problem for me. I have known for some time that Ray Comfort preaches that the sinner needs to be convicted of the Law, before they are offered Salvation. That approach seemed fine to me, for some time, but I never really felt great about approaching people about the Law. The problem for me, was that it seemed too authoritarian. You know, "thou shalt not" did not seem like a great way to introduce people to the Gospel. But I had a realization recently, that it really is the best of two alternatives: if you don't offer "the Law" to someone, that is, require a confession of some sort, but just put their hope down to luck, a "Man of the World" is always going to just choose "luck". They will choose "luck" and they will leave "confession" until it is too late.
Why does trusting luck, leave a "Man of the World" with no interest in "confession"? The reason is, the "Man of the World" is already trusting luck. If you say "your luck might run out" you are not telling him anything he does not know already. That may be fine, while you are coming to grips with the Law yourself, but at some point, you are going to have to point out, the limitations of luck alone, as a "faith". The limitation of luck, is in part that you don't need to confess anything, to make the best of it. Luck comes and luck goes, and confession has nothing to do with it. Indeed Christ said "the Holy Spirit will convict you of sin" (John, from memory), that is that we fall short of the Law. In other words, we can never have enough of "luck", because we do not trust God, to change our hearts.
I don't know if I am harping on here, I just find it so frustrating, that "men of the World" cannot be trusted. It feels like I am being straight-jacketed into espousing the Law, because I can't trust men, to approach "luck" sensibly! As Ray Comfort says "if you say 'why do I need a parachute?' and I hang you by your ankles out of the plane, when you come back in, you are going to say 'give me that parachute!'". Men need to know their standing, in the Law. If they don't, the Law is never going to save them, from a life of sin. I say this, in all honesty, still thinking "there must be a way to reach Men, that they will want to find in their own way". You can't praise Men, Men don't trust prophecy, but surely they don't hang their life on whatever luck comes their way? Well, they do!
I think the difficulty for me, is that the only way you can really preach the Law, is on a one-to-one basis. I mean, in love. Like you don't approach a crowd and say "what are this crowd's sins?" - that approach doesn't make sense. Not for the most part. I think what it is is that we need to preach Jesus as crucified by sin. John says the Holy Spirit will convict them of sin, because they do not believe in Jesus. Jesus is compromised by the Law, because He makes Himself a sacrifice for sin. No one makes themself a sacrifice for sin, and does not suffer the Law. There is power, in that. Luck, is there "yes", but when you see the effects of the Law on the sin Christ became, then you are shocked into action. I think that is where the Holy Spirit, has been taking me with this. Not to put off luck forever, for no reason, but to amplify the danger of putting things down to luck and to bring the Law into perspective, as the justifier of punishment, for those things we have left undone.
I suppose it is a curious thing, to let you hear my thoughts on Christ, the Law and Luck, but it has helped me understand where I should stand - so thank you!
God bless.
So this is a thorny problem for me. I have known for some time that Ray Comfort preaches that the sinner needs to be convicted of the Law, before they are offered Salvation. That approach seemed fine to me, for some time, but I never really felt great about approaching people about the Law. The problem for me, was that it seemed too authoritarian. You know, "thou shalt not" did not seem like a great way to introduce people to the Gospel. But I had a realization recently, that it really is the best of two alternatives: if you don't offer "the Law" to someone, that is, require a confession of some sort, but just put their hope down to luck, a "Man of the World" is always going to just choose "luck". They will choose "luck" and they will leave "confession" until it is too late.
Why does trusting luck, leave a "Man of the World" with no interest in "confession"? The reason is, the "Man of the World" is already trusting luck. If you say "your luck might run out" you are not telling him anything he does not know already. That may be fine, while you are coming to grips with the Law yourself, but at some point, you are going to have to point out, the limitations of luck alone, as a "faith". The limitation of luck, is in part that you don't need to confess anything, to make the best of it. Luck comes and luck goes, and confession has nothing to do with it. Indeed Christ said "the Holy Spirit will convict you of sin" (John, from memory), that is that we fall short of the Law. In other words, we can never have enough of "luck", because we do not trust God, to change our hearts.
I don't know if I am harping on here, I just find it so frustrating, that "men of the World" cannot be trusted. It feels like I am being straight-jacketed into espousing the Law, because I can't trust men, to approach "luck" sensibly! As Ray Comfort says "if you say 'why do I need a parachute?' and I hang you by your ankles out of the plane, when you come back in, you are going to say 'give me that parachute!'". Men need to know their standing, in the Law. If they don't, the Law is never going to save them, from a life of sin. I say this, in all honesty, still thinking "there must be a way to reach Men, that they will want to find in their own way". You can't praise Men, Men don't trust prophecy, but surely they don't hang their life on whatever luck comes their way? Well, they do!
I think the difficulty for me, is that the only way you can really preach the Law, is on a one-to-one basis. I mean, in love. Like you don't approach a crowd and say "what are this crowd's sins?" - that approach doesn't make sense. Not for the most part. I think what it is is that we need to preach Jesus as crucified by sin. John says the Holy Spirit will convict them of sin, because they do not believe in Jesus. Jesus is compromised by the Law, because He makes Himself a sacrifice for sin. No one makes themself a sacrifice for sin, and does not suffer the Law. There is power, in that. Luck, is there "yes", but when you see the effects of the Law on the sin Christ became, then you are shocked into action. I think that is where the Holy Spirit, has been taking me with this. Not to put off luck forever, for no reason, but to amplify the danger of putting things down to luck and to bring the Law into perspective, as the justifier of punishment, for those things we have left undone.
I suppose it is a curious thing, to let you hear my thoughts on Christ, the Law and Luck, but it has helped me understand where I should stand - so thank you!
God bless.