Why Jesus? E-Book

Ray Comfort

• Herausgeber: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 269

Beschreibung

Jesus is our hope. The world offers countless choices for how to live and who to follow. With each conflicting option, we're often left uncertain and confused in our search for truth and meaning. Ray Comfort has spent decades pointing people to Jesus. Now he describes how you, too, can share the truth and love of the Lord with confidence to a world that needs hope. Taking you step-by-step through real-life evangelistic conversations, Why Jesus? will help you - recognize Jesus as the only path to everlasting life, - identify lies that distort humanity's view of God, and - use the Bible to highlight our need of the Savior. Surrender your fears and trust God's faithfulness to transform lives as you share the good news with those around you.

Leseprobe

BroadStreet Publishing® Group, LLC

Savage, Minnesota, USA

BroadStreetPublishing.com

Why Jesus?: Answering Life’s Most Important Question

Copyright © 2023 Ray Comfort

9781424566105 (faux leather)

9781424566112 (ebook)

All video and email transcripts have been lightly edited for readability and clarity.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible, public domain. Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP). Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

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Cover and interior by Garborg Design Works | garborgdesign.com

Printed in China

23 24 25 26 27 5 4 3 2 1

To my faithful cameraman and friend, Yale Chiang.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1: Good People

Chapter 2: More than Jesus Loves You

Chapter 3: Witnessing to Jews

Chapter 4: Death and the Afterlife

Chapter 5: The Necessity of New Birth

Chapter 6: The Human Assumption

Chapter 7: A Mix of Beliefs

Chapter 8: The Dangers of Sin

Chapter 9: The Instruction Book

Chapter 10: The World’s Voice

Chapter 11: Forgiveness Isn’t Automatic

Chapter 12: Idolatry Distorts God’s Nature

Chapter 13: Sin and Responsibility

Chapter 14: A Former Mormon’s Testimony

Chapter 15: More than Mistakes

Chapter 16: A Contrite Heart

Conclusion

Endnotes

About the Author

INTRODUCTION

This book was a first. I have never deconstructed and explained witnessing encounters in written form before, and I loved every minute. But I had one hesitation.

There was a time when teaching someone to drive wasn’t easy. Those were the days of the dreaded stick shift, when, to change gears, you had to have the right timing of clutch-in and clutch-out. If you didn’t get it right, it was very embarrassing—with a terrible grating sound and a jerky vehicle that lunged forward uncontrollably. But nowadays, driving a car with automatic gears is so easy a child can do it. Take for instance the eight-year-old boy who craved a cheeseburger, hopped into his father’s car, and drove himself and his younger sister to a McDonald’s near their Ohio home:

Police arrived at the McDonald’s in East Palestine, Ohio, around 8 p.m. Sunday after receiving multiple calls from people who saw the young boy driving, the Weirton Daily Times reported. According to authorities, the children headed to McDonald’s after their parents fell asleep early. During the mile and a half road trip, the 8-year-old obeyed all traffic laws and drove “effortlessly” through downtown, East Palestine Patrolman Jacob Koehler told the Times. “He didn’t hit a single thing on the way there. It was unreal,” he said. The 8-year-old used money from his piggy bank to pay for the food.1

Driving a car is simple. You get in, turn it on, put it in drive, push the accelerator, and steer it in the direction you desire. But there are a few extra things we would want to say to a new driver:

1. You are driving a weapon that has the potential to kill other human beings.

2. You must stay on the right side of the road.

3. Stay sober.

4. Don’t text while driving.

5. Obey the speed limit.

6. Continually be on the alert for road signs.

7. Keep a close eye on those who are in adjacent lanes, behind you, and in front of you.

8. If the person in the car you are following suddenly slams on his or her brakes and you plow into it causing injuries, you could find yourself facing a serious lawsuit.

9. Be ready for parked motorists who thoughtlessly open the driver’s door without looking to see if you’re approaching. You should also watch for dogs, cats, and kids who might run out from between parked cars.

10. Plus, there are cyclists you pass who could easily end up crushed under your wheel if you don’t give them a wide berth.

All these dos and don’ts could turn you against ever wanting to experience the joy and convenience of driving. And that was my hesitation in writing this book. I want you to experience the joy of sharing the gospel with the lost, but as I analyze each witnessing encounter, I don’t want you to be discouraged by what sounds complex. Much is going on, but in reality (like driving), it is a simple process that just entails common sense and a learned skill, which will, in time, take place without a second thought. The gears will change automatically.

In the following chapters, you’ll see me use very similar gospel presentations with different people. While some find this tedious, others are trained by the repetition until their gears shift without effort. Seeing how people react to hearing the gospel gives them the confidence to go through the Ten Commandments with those around them, even using the analogies they have seen work. They help the lost understand their state before God. The following is an encouraging email I received from a woman who did just this:

Dear Ray,

Somewhere in the world just now, a young man is either saved or at least reading his bedside, yet-untouched Bible. Praise the Lord!

I pulled what we’re calling a “total Ray” on him. To my surprise, he’d never heard the gospel. Shocking, huh! When he heard the parachute-versus-flapping-arms part, he was completely attentive and said, “Wow, I’ve never heard it put like that before, but it makes total sense. No one would refuse the parachute!” Actually, witnessing was easy considering we were a few miles up. I figured what’s better than being on a plane to make someone think of dying, right?

What started as a clerical error—that is, our seats got separated—turned out for someone’s potential salvation. He said he’d go back to reading his neglected Bible and would never see anything the same way again. Brilliant! And don’t worry. I’m completely unafraid of using the word hell. So if we see him in glory, we’ll know the Holy Spirit scared him enough. Thank God for your YouTube videos. Bless you, precious brother!

Much love in Jesus,

Deb

You don’t have to be the bravest or be the most eloquent or have all the answers to share the gospel. What I’ve learned in my many years of witnessing is that every encounter, every conversation, every time I use the law to expose someone’s sin is all about revealing the answer to one question: Why Jesus? And this question expands into many: Why did Jesus suffer and die on the cross? Why did Jesus rise from the dead? Why is Jesus the only way to salvation and eternal life? The answer is the gospel. The answer is what changes people’s lives.

May God use this book to take you to new and great places.

Ray Comfort

CHAPTER 1

GOOD PEOPLE

When I first filmed a witnessing encounter way back in the late 1990s, I never dreamed for a moment that years later, those videos would end up on something called “YouTube” on “the internet,” let alone that they would get more than two hundred million views.

That first video was called “Seal Beach Kid,” and in it, I showed a very polite young man why he needed Jesus. More than two decades later, I still explain the same simple gospel—summed up in one question: “Why Jesus?”

Getting people to come on camera isn’t easy. Most respond to my “Would you like to be on YouTube?” with a quick but firm “No, thank you.” If they ask what it’s about, I respond, “I ask people if they think there’s an afterlife. What do you think?” When they give their thoughts, I say, “That’s interesting. Will you give me five minutes for an interview?” If they say they will, I turn my camera on, point it at them, and ask, “May I have permission to interview you for YouTube and for all media purposes?” They say yes, and away we go.

In the following transcript, you’ll see conversations I had with Abram and Elena. We recorded these on different days, but we’ve merged them together so that you can see two different people who both believe they’re good encounter the same gospel message. Abram surprised me with what he said, and Elena was a friendly woman.

RAY: If you died today, where would you go?

ABRAM: I say hell because everyone is not perfect, but Jesus died for our sins on the cross. So, he paid the price for us to have eternal life.

RAY: So why aren’t you going to heaven then if that’s true?

ABRAM: I have to repent and give my life to Jesus.

RAY: So that hasn’t happened yet?

ABRAM: I’m working on it.

RAY: You’re working on it. Let’s see if we can speed up that process. [TO ELENA] The promise of the Bible is for everlasting life. In the Old Testament, God says, “I’m going to destroy death for you” [see Isaiah 25:8]. The New Testament tells us how he did it. Can you think of a way to prove the Bible’s the Word of God? Because there is a way. The Bible says in the book of Acts that the apostle Paul used [Bible prophecy] when he reasoned with people about Jesus. He did so out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets. He used prophecy. Prophecy for the Messiah.

But we’ve gotten prophecy for the last two thousand years. Jesus said, way back two thousand years ago, that the Jews would get Jerusalem back. That’s one undeniable prophecy we’ve seen fulfilled in 1967 after two thousand years without a homeland. God said, “I’ll scatter you throughout the whole earth, and I’ll draw you back to Jerusalem, to Israel” [author’s paraphrase; see Isaiah 11:11–12; Jeremiah 31]. That happened in 1967 [Israel became a nation in 1949 but didn’t possess Jerusalem until 1967], and that shows us that God knows the future. If he knows the future, he’s the Creator of the universe, and the Bible’s the Word of God—and its promise of everlasting life is true. Do you think it’s okay for a Christian to use bad language?

ELENA: No.

RAY: I heard you use a bad word.

ELENA: I know. I’m quick to lose my temper sometimes.

RAY: You weren’t losing your temper. You were just talking.

ELENA: It was because me and my boyfriend… we’ve had a rough morning already.

RAY: I’m going to be very personal with you. Are you having sex with your boyfriend?

ELENA: Uh, yes.

RAY: What do you think God thinks of that?

ELENA: He probably doesn’t think that it’s the best thing.

RAY: Remember, the Scriptures say, “Fornicators will not inherit the kingdom of God” [1 Corinthians 6:9–10, author’s paraphrase]. Elena, I want to see you in heaven, so I’m going to give you a little test. Do you think you’re a good person?

ELENA: Yes.

I asked this question based on what Jesus did: “Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God’” (Mark 10:17–18).

Arguably, the number one reason most people don’t see the need for the Savior is that they think they are morally good. This is based on their lack of understanding of God’s righteousness. Elena had a similar response. And so did Abram.

RAY [TO ABRAM]: How many lies have you told in your life?

ABRAM: A lot.

RAY: A lot? So, what do you call someone who tells lies?

ABRAM: A bad person.

RAY: No, they’re called a liar.

Perhaps you are cringing a little as I speak such strong words to Abram and Elena. So, let me address that concern by saying that I am very careful to watch my tone. I deliberately cultivate a good bedside manner, never speaking with a harsh tone although my words are serious. A doctor often needs to say heavy things to his patient. Perhaps the doctor tells the patient that he is overweight and needs to change his lifestyle or his diet will kill him. The doctor can either say these things with a harsh tone or cultivate his words with a genuine concern. That’s what I strive to do. Please know that my words issue from a deep concern for these people. If they are not awakened to their terrible danger, they won’t flee from God’s wrath. Think of the tone you would have for someone who remains in bed in a burning house. It would be mingled with love, a deep concern, and a tremendous urgency.

Also, keep in mind that not all gifts are material. We can give someone love. We can give them joy. What I’m seeking to do is give an immaterial gift that this world wouldn’t even consider a gift. They would consider it a curse rather than a blessing. But it certainly is a gift—one that leads to something infinitely greater. I am wanting to instill “the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10), to cause someone to truly fear God. I want them to tremble at the very thought of offending him because, hopefully, this will lead to a godly sorrow, which produces repentance, which leads to eternal life.

When the Corinthians were given to sin, the apostle Paul gave them some very strong rebukes. But then he said, “For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:8–10).

While the world may not always see the purpose of our words, this shouldn’t stop us from speaking. Proverbs 28:23 says, “He who rebukes a man will find more favor afterward than he who flatters with the tongue.” I speak with a gentle tone so that my listeners will understand that my goal is to show them the hope found only in Jesus, not to criticize or judge them.

RAY: Now, do you still think you’re a good person?

ABRAM: Not really.

RAY: When did you last look at a woman with lust? Because Jesus said when…

ABRAM: Everyone has. Everyone has because, like, everyone’s not perfect.

RAY: Jesus said, “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” [Matthew 5:28]. Did you know that?

ABRAM: Yes.

RAY: So, you’ve looked at women with lust?

ABRAM: Yes.

RAY: Have you ever stolen something in your life?

ABRAM: I’ve not stolen.

RAY: Never stolen.

ABRAM: Maybe stolen a pencil but not something that serious.

RAY: The value of that which you steal is irrelevant. If you open my wallet and just take out one dollar, you’re guilty of theft as much as if you took out a hundred dollars.

ABRAM: Yes.

RAY: So, that which you steal is irrelevant. God doesn’t say, “Oh, he’s stolen, but it’s not of value, so he’s not a thief.” No, if you steal one thing, you’re a thief in God’s eyes. So, we’re trying to get rid of your self-righteousness. Do you know what self-righteousness is?

ABRAM: No.

RAY: It’s someone who thinks they’re a good person when they’re not; and none of us are good.

RAY [TO ELENA]: Have you ever used God’s name in vain?

ELENA: I try not to.

RAY: OMG?

ELENA: So yes, I may have sinned. Yes, I may have lied. Yes, I may have, you know, taken the Lord’s name in vain or fornicated with my boyfriend, but that doesn’t make me not a good person.

Can you see the battle going on here? Elena trusted in the conviction that she was a good person. She was clinging to a parachute that was filled with holes and refused to let it go. I needed to convince her that she wasn’t the good person she believed she was. She, therefore, needed more of God’s law. Same with Abram.

RAY: Have you ever used God’s name in vain?

ABRAM: Oh yes.

RAY: Would you use your mother’s name as a cuss word.

ABRAM: No.

RAY: Instead of using [a swear word], you’d use her name in its place?

ABRAM: No.

RAY: Now tell me, why wouldn’t you do that?

ABRAM: Because she’s my mom.

Analogies can be so powerful in that they can show the lost another perspective. Mine aren’t copyrighted. Please use them if you think they can help your witness.

RAY: What does that mean…you respect her?

ABRAM: Yes.

RAY: But you don’t respect God. The Bible says his name is holy, and you’ve used his name in place of that [swear] word to express disgust. Abram, that’s so serious it’s called blasphemy, punishable by death in the Old Testament. Have you ever hated somebody?

ABRAM: Yes, I would say that.

RAY: The Bible says, “He who hates his brother is a murderer” [1 John 3:15, author’s paraphrase]. So, I’m just going to give you a quick summation of this little court case. This is for you to judge yourself. I’m not judging you. You’ve told me you’re a lying, thieving, blasphemous adulterer at heart, and you have to face God on judgment day. If he judges you by the Ten Commandments (we’ve looked at four), are you going to be innocent or guilty?

ABRAM: I’ll be guilty.

RAY: Heaven or hell?

ABRAM: Hell.

RAY: Now, does that concern you?

ABRAM: Yes.

RAY: So, what can you do to be saved? How can you be made right with God?

ABRAM: Repent.

RAY: And what else?

ABRAM: Follow his laws.

RAY: Well, you’ve forgotten something very important. Do you know what it is?

ABRAM: Believe that he died on the cross for us.

RAY: Repent and trust in Jesus. You’ve got to trust in him. [TO ELENA] It’s very important to realize that there’s such a thing as a false conversion, and Jesus warned that many on the day of judgment will say, “Lord, Lord, we did many wonderful things in your name” [Matthew 7:22, author’s paraphrase]. He’ll say, “Depart from me, you worker of lawlessness; I never knew you” [Matthew 7:23, author’s paraphrase]. I don’t want you to be in that category of people. I want you to…

ELENA: You want to warn Christians, right?

RAY: Yes, even the hypocrite, those who are sinning willfully and not bringing forth fruits that should accompany salvation. Now, tell me, what did God do for guilty sinners to save us from hell?

ELENA: He died on the cross.

RAY: I hope today you’ll think about what Jesus did on the cross for you and that you’ll make sure your heart is free from sin, and you won’t willfully sin, and you’ll have the things that accompany salvation. Where you spend eternity is so important, and I want to see you in heaven. Okay? So you’re going to think about what we talked about?

ELENA: Yes, and I’m working on it. I could be upset about some of the things that you’re asking me, or offended, or feel some type of way, but you know, what you’re saying is the truth to remind me to walk like Christ.

My conversation with Elena left me encouraged. Now, let’s turn back to Abram to see how he responded to the gospel message.

RAY [TO ABRAM]: Let me just give you a quick gospel presentation so you understand actually what happened on that cross. You and I broke God’s law, the Ten Commandments, and Jesus paid the fine. Do you remember his last words? He said just before he dismissed his spirit…He said three very profound words, do you remember what they were? He said, “It is finished” [John 19:30]. He was saying that the debt’s been paid. We broke God’s law; Jesus paid the fine.

If you’re in court, someone can pay your spending fines—and the judge will let you go even though you’re guilty. God can let us go. He can let us live forever, forgive our sins, all because Jesus paid the fine in his life’s blood. He can pardon us, grant us everlasting life as a free gift because Jesus suffered and died and rose again on the third day. And all you have to do to find everlasting life is repent and trust alone in Jesus. Don’t trust your goodness; don’t say, “I’m a good person,” because you’re not. Trust alone in Jesus. Is this making sense?

ABRAM: Yes, sir.

RAY: So, when are you going to repent and trust in Jesus?

ABRAM: Now.

RAY: Right now?

ABRAM: Yes, sir.

RAY: Can I pray with you?

ABRAM: You can.

RAY: Father, I pray for Abram. Thank you for his open, honest heart today. I pray he’ll see his sin in its true light. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. Do you have a Bible at home?

ABRAM: Yes.

RAY: Can I give you a gift? [Hands Abram the Gospel of John]

ABRAM: Sure.

I almost always ask those to whom I share the gospel if they have a Bible, and even if they have one, I give them a copy of the Gospel of John. Some people ask if I then follow up and continue to disciple those I’ve spoken with. My answer is that I can’t, and I shouldn’t. As a married man, I can’t ask young ladies for their contact information so that I can follow up with them. Instead, I commit people like Elena and Abram into the hands of a faithful Creator, knowing that he who has begun a good work in them will complete it if he so sees fit.

CHAPTER 2

MORE THAN JESUS LOVES YOU

If there’s one thing that will hinder us in the task of evangelism, it’s a fear of failure. But we should never fear failure because, more often than not, it is the avenue to success. And success for the Christian is faithfulness. It’s not necessarily to reap a harvest. Rather, it’s to faithfully plant the seed. Sometimes we get to reap, but more often we are sowing in tears (see Psalm 126:5). Sharing the gospel is often a depressing and thankless task, but our confidence is in the fact that God is faithful. It is his work.

Weep though we do at the hardness of some soil, God has given us his law to break up the ground. It is the plow we use to make way for the seed of the gospel. The commandments break up the hard soil of self-righteousness and prepare the heart for the grace of God in Christ because they are the best tool to reveal the sin that separates us from God. Therefore, our trust is in the Lord and in the tool he’s provided. That makes this task much easier. Confidence in God is the shoehorn of evangelism. We often struggle to put on a shoe, but a shoehorn is designed to make it easier. Trusting in the Lord takes the struggle out of evangelism.

Anissa was perhaps in her twenties, innocent-looking, with a seemingly permanent smile on her face. The man with her was almost the opposite. He was very quiet, to the point of making me wonder if he was going to be contentious. I was wrong in that summation. He turned out to be very open.

RAY: Has anyone ever said to you, “Jesus loves you”?

ANISSA: Yes.

RAY: What did you think of that?

ANISSA: I thought it was nice that they told me that.

RAY: How do you know Jesus loves you?

ANISSA: Because my grandma told me before.

RAY [TO MAN]: Have you ever been told, “Jesus loves you”?

MAN: Yes.

RAY: What did you think…was it nice?

My use of the word nice is sanctified sarcasm. This is because our message to the world should be that they are in terrible danger. To tell them about the depths of our sin and the necessity of Jesus’ crucifixion in a way that they conclude is “nice” is to betray our commission and do the ultimate disservice.

MAN: Yes, it was nice.

RAY: Anissa, did your grandma tell you anything else about the love of Christ? Why does Jesus love you, and how do you know he loves you?

ANISSA: No, she never really got into details. She just told me that Jesus loves me.

RAY: And that made you feel good?

ANISSA: Yes.

RAY: I’m going to show you how much Jesus loves you, but I’m going to do it in a very unusual way. Can you handle that? Can you be honest with me?

I make a habit of asking the person to whom I’m speaking if they can be honest with me. This is because the good-soil hearer in the parable of the sower is the one who has an honest and good heart. “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15 KJV).

In other words, they come clean about their sins. That was my hope with Anissa and the man with her.

ANISSA: Yes, I think I can handle it.

RAY: Do you think you’re a good person?

ANISSA: Yes.

RAY [TO MAN]: What about you?

MAN: I think I’m a good person.

RAY: I’m going to challenge both of you on that. There’s a reason for that. The Bible says, “Every man will proclaim his own goodness” [Proverbs 20:6, author’s paraphrase]. We all think we’re good people because we make the mistake of judging ourselves by our own moral standard, not by God’s. Do you know what God’s moral standard is?

ANISSA: No.

RAY [TO MAN]: Do you?

MAN: Just follow the Ten Commandments?

It is common for sinners to think that they have kept the commandments. This is because they have never looked down the barrels of those ten great cannons. Our job is to bring sinners into the open, aim the cannons at them, and then, one by one, light each fuse. While this may sound harsh, we are preparing sinners for what is to come on judgment day so that they take the opportunity they have now to turn from their sin and repent. It is the law that will judge them, so our hope is that they will see judgment as a fearful thing.

For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law. (Romans 2:12)

So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. (James 2:12)

How do we know that these Scriptures are speaking of the Ten Commandments when they say we will be judged by the law? Here is the context:

You yourself are…an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? (Romans 2:19–22)

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. (James 2:10–12)

Our understanding of the nature of God and of the terrible fate of the ungodly will dictate the passion with which we speak. The Bible says that it’s a fearful thing to “fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). If we “fall” into the hands of the enemy or if we “fall” into the hands of the law, the connotation is that we’re in big trouble. And sinners are in big trouble with God. Death is just the first installment. It is evidence that God is angry at sinners. I would far rather fall onto the face of the sun than fall into the hands of the living God. That knowledge dictates my passion. But he isn’t just angry at sinners. The Bible says his wrath abides on them (see John 3:36). Who would ever believe that about God? It’s a very hard pill to swallow.

Yet all around us are God-created laws that show us the dangers of violating those laws. Fall just twenty feet onto concrete, and gravity will kill you. Merely touch a current of raw electricity for a few seconds, and it will almost certainly kill you. One lesson is to be careful when you climb and to stay away from raw electricity. An even greater lesson is that God’s standard of morality is infinitely higher than ours. We may think we are good people, but in our hearts and by our actions, we have violated God’s law. And if we violate the law of our holy, just Creator, it will kill us. The cold reality of our impending death should convince us that God is deadly serious about sin.

But thankfully, the law is also designed to dawn light on our sin, like the rising sun enlightens the early morning, which allows us to see our sin and repent before it’s too late.

RAY: Yes. How are you doing with the Ten Commandments? Are you following them? Are you breaking them? Keeping them?

MAN: I feel like I’m doing all right.

RAY [TO ANISSA]: Are you familiar with the Ten Commandments?

ANISSA: Yes.

RAY: Do you think you’ve kept them or broken them?

ANISSA: For the most part, yes, I think I’m doing a pretty decent job. I’m not perfect, like he said.

RAY: Which ones have you broken?

ANISSA: Oh, let me think about it.

RAY: I can speed up your process. How many lies have you told in your life?

ANISSA: Probably a lot.

RAY: So that’s the ninth. [TO MAN] Have you lied?

MAN: Yes.

RAY: So, you’re a liar?

MAN: Yes.

Why personalize the sin? Because it is calling sinners out on their sin. It’s not a fib, a mistake, or a white lie, and those who lie are liars. It is a turning of the mirror to the sinner and moving it close to his or her face. This will be of great benefit because “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21, emphasis added). People won’t call if they don’t see their danger, and they won’t see their danger if they don’t see and own their sin.

RAY [TO ANISSA]: And what about you?

ANISSA: Yes.

RAY: You still think you’re a good person?

ANISSA: Yes.

RAY: Have you ever stolen something in your whole life, even if it’s small?

ANISSA: Yes.

RAY: What do you call someone who steals?

ANISSA: A stealer?

RAY: No, they’re from Pittsburgh. A thief.

ANISSA: A thief.

RAY: So what are you?

ANISSA: A thief.

RAY: No, you’re a lying thief. Do you still think you’re a good person?

ANISSA: Yes.

Anissa was like a terminally ill patient who insisted that she was well. If she doesn’t see her disease, she will never desire the cure. She needs to know that the law is wrathful. It’s coming after her with terrible vengeance and will punish her for her sin. That thought is far from our mind if we think that we are morally good people. Look at what happened when God came in peace and gave his law to Israel: