Comfort and his “repent of your sins” heresy as a condition for salvation is damning people to hell. Nowhere does the Bible say that repenting from sin is required for salvation. Turning from sin is a WORK. What’s more, none of us can stop sinning. He that says he has no sin is a liar and the truth is not in him. (1 John 1:8)
When the jailer asks Paul and Silas in Acts 16 “What must I do to be saved”, they answered, “Believe on The Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Believe. Note that repent of sins, stop sinning, turning from sin is NOT part of the gospel. Faith or trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross is what is required for justification before God. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. (Romans 4).If one is trusting in works to save him, the he must repent from that false gospel, those dead works as Hebrews 1:6 calls them, and have faith toward God.(Repent/repentance — metanoeo/metanoia — means to change ones mind, reconsider, rethink. i.e. Ray Comfort needs to repent.
AFTER one is saved, then it pleases God for us to keep his commandments. But it is not a condition for being saved or for remaining saved (as if one can lose his salvation). Once we have received the gift of eternal life, it is ours forever, eternally (that is why it’s called eternal life.)
Perhaps you’re not familiar with Ray Comfort’s words ....
“... once and for all and the moment you trust in him [Jesus Christ] you are completely justified and made right with God, you are made perfect by God’s grace. That has nothing to do with living a good life, pleasing God because you can’t because you a lying, thieving, adulterer at heart. The only thing you can do is repent and trust in him. The minute you do, in a heartbeat God justifies you. Cleanses you of your sin and you are born again. God gives you a new heart with a new set of desires and you know you are going to escape death and damnation.”
As for me, I just quote Romans 10:9, 10 ...
9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Who should I believe ... you ... or the Lord Jesus Christ?
Luke 13:3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
I think I'm gonna go with the Lord Jesus on this one.
Perhaps you should reconsider your position.
Yeah, I specifically remember Jesus saying “believe in me but you can keep sinning”...
Wait, no I don’t.
44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Perhaps a root word study of the original text would be warranted. “Believe” is a whole lot deeper and significant than you suggest.
This can be confusing. You are right that faith alone saves us. (sola fide) However, as James attests, faith never comes alone. True faith is always accompanied by works.
But it is wrong to preach works. You can get people to do “good” works through guilt, peer pressure etc... preachers are good at this. True good works come from overflowing gratitude at our salvation. That is why preachers/pastors need to preach Jesus. As Paul said, “We preach Christ and him crucified.”
Blessings to you.