Author RAY COMFORT
Publisher LIVING WATERS PUBLICATIONS
ISBN 1-878859-49-5
Ray Comfort is a New Zealander now residing in California. This short book, the
title of which is an ironic jab at the philosophy underlying so much evangelicalism in
the western world today has the sub-title “The Myth of the Modern Message.”
Apparently these chapters are a précised version of a much longer book by this author,
but this shortened version is ample and straight to the point as they challenge,
Biblically, the bases upon which many seeker friendly churches build.
There are a host of statistics included in the earlier chapters, as Comfort seeks, later on, to
provide what he believes to be the reason for the fact that nine out of ten children
raised in Christian homes leave the church and many professing Christians show little
or no evidence for their faith and why to eighty to ninety percent of those making
decisions for Christ fall away from the faith. The common gospel approach is the
reason for this massive falling away. The idea that God has a wonderful life in store
for us and that we should therefore give our hearts to Jesus is a flimsy basis for the
salvation of a soul. God is a convenience for individual happiness; this is a travesty
of the true gospel. Instead, the Scriptures reveal that conviction of sin, brought on by
the preaching of the Law of God will provide a solid ground upon which the Spirit of
God will establish saving faith in the heart.
The central argument here is bolstered helpfully and adequately by quotations from John Wesley, George Whitfield, D.L.
Moody and a number of other ministers of previous generations. God honored the
message of these men by pouring out His Spirit indeed. The outcome of an honest
reading of this book will mean the ditching of the easy gospel approach exemplified
by the four spiritual laws Campus Crusade method of getting folk to make a decision
for Jesus. In fact, there is a lengthy appendix at the end where the author writes
appreciatively of Bill Bright, the man responsible for the formation and rise of
Campus Crusade and its methods in which this man of God speaks of the change of
his understanding later in life as he considered what really constitutes the essentials of
evangelism.
The demands of God revealed in His law adequately set forth will bring to the fore the issue of sin, judgment and hell and so, the need of a Savior. Those believing upon Jesus in the light of the convicting power of the Spirit will have a firm foundation in their spiritual life. This book contains an important message for us all.
