Lordship Salvation Refuted

LORDSHIP SALVATION is a false doctrine that says a sinner MUST surrender one's life to Christ and forsake a sinful lifestyle to be saved. In sharp contrast, the Holy Bible, God's inspired Word, teaches that a sinner's faith in Christ alone is sufficient for salvation. We are not saved by trying, but by trusting. Eternal life is a free gift, freely received by faith alone in Christ. I am a strong OPPONENT of Lordship Salvation. In fact, I hate the Satanic lie of Lordship Salvation, but I love everybody. Lordship Salvation is a religious decoy, not the Gospel of free grace, which hinders people from entering into the Kingdom of God. By the way, when I speak of Lordship Salvationists and Calvinists, they are one and the same effectively. 

Religious people make eternal life a real task, something for which we must work and toil. The truth is that Eternal Life is NOT a process! It is NOT a matter of “doing,” it IS a matter of understanding Who Jesus Christ is, What He has done and Why He has done it for you. Who is Jesus?—The Christ! What Has He done?—Christ died for our sins! Why has He done it for us?—because we would go to Hell as guilty sinners if it weren't for His payment on the cross! Once you grasp these truths, then you will hopefully see the wisdom of deciding to trust Jesus Christ for what He promised—Eternal Life with Him in Heaven.

A popular website which endorses Lordship Salvation states the following heresy...

If Jesus Christ is not the Lord and Master of your life, He is NOT your Saviour. ALL opponents of this doctrine DENY the Lord Jesus Christ and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness by saying saved people may live just like the world. Many of today's "soulwinner's" believe, and preach, that submitting to Jesus as Lord is optional. They say Jesus will be your Saviour while Satan is your Lord. That is not what the Bible says. Only the devil would want you to believe that. The blood of Jesus is so POWERFUL that it will give you a new mind. Read Romans with clear eyeballs and see for yourself.

SOURCE: Lordship Salvation

I would like to make several comments, examining the above individual statements one by one, in the light of God's Word. The inspired Word of God is our spiritual Weapon, our Sword, by which we can easily defeat the two-headed monster of Lordship Salvation:

ACCUSATION #1: “If Jesus Christ is not the Lord and Master of your life, He is NOT your Saviour.”

MY RESPONSE: You can't support that statement with the Scripture! Lordship Salvationists interpret the word Lord to mean “Master,” i.e., to surrender to Christ's will. However, the Biblical word for Lord is quite different, which is always the Greek word KURIOS, meaning “Supreme in Authority.” Hence, to believe on Christ is to trust THE LORD. Every lost sinner who comes to Jesus Christ for salvation is coming the LORD, i.e., to God Almighty, for salvation. You don't make Jesus Lord, He is Lord! For Lordship Salvationists to make a distinction, and create an entirely new doctrine, which requires a person to make Christ the Master of his life to be saved—is damnable heresy!

Please consider that the Gospel of John is God's Gospel tract. John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” We find the word “BELIEVE” mentioned 85 times in the Gospel of John, but no mention is made of making Jesus one's “Lord” to be saved. Thus, we plainly see that salvation comes solely by faith in Christ. What saith the Scripture? Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”

Matthew 21:32, “For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.” Please notice that the Bible doesn't call them former publicans and harlots. Jesus said the religious crowd was going to Hell, but the tax-cheats and harlots were going to Heaven. That is because you don't get saved by turning from your sins, you get saved only by BELIEVING the Gospel.

ACCUSATION #2: ALL opponents of this doctrine DENY the Lord Jesus Christ and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness by saying saved people may live just like the world.

MY RESPONSE: That is a horrible lie! Did Abraham deny the Lord, when he simply “believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness” in Genesis 15:6? Not at all? Romans 4:5 plainly states that we are saved WITHOUT WORKS. Abraham was justified solely by faith concerning his salvation. When James speaks of Abraham's faith being justified by works, he was speaking about the incident in Genesis 22 when Abraham offered up Isaac. This was 7 chapters LATER, after Abraham was saved in Genesis 15:6. James speaks of the FRUIT of Abraham's faith in James 2:21; BUT Paul speaks of the ROOT of Abraham's faith in Romans 4:3-5. Lordship Salvationists confuse the ROOT of Christian faith with the FRUIT (i.e., evidence) of that faith. To accuse all “opponents” of Lordship Salvation of condoning worldliness and sinful living is unfair. Nothing could be further from the truth. We free grace Gospel proponents do not believe that at all. The Bible does not give anyone God's permission to live in intentional sin (Romans 3:31; 6:15).

The Bible teaches that if a person is genuinely saved that there should be some evidence (i.e., the “works” spoken of in James 2:18). However, this has nothing to do with salvation itself. Also, you CANNOT mandate such changes for salvation, otherwise you've corrupted the Gospel. Please do not misunderstand—you cannot tell how much fuel is in a car's gas tank by the sound of the horn; and you cannot determine if a person is saved by viewing their lifestyle. James speaks of works seen in the eyes of men, not God. True, a saved person should bring forth works of righteousness in their life, which are evidence of the indwelling Holy Spirit; HOWEVER, just because such works are not readily visible for others to see doesn't mean they are not saved. A Christian SHOULD live for Christ; not MUST (that is works); not WILL (that would be Calvinism). 

Following Jesus Christ is a matter of DISCIPLESHIP and not SALVATION. Eternal life is a free gift (Romans 5:15; 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-10). Our churches are filled with morally upright people who are still hellbound in their sins and unbelief. Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born-again. Living a consecrated life is not a part of saving-faith. Please read the beautiful words of Dr. John R. Rice exposing the heresy of Lordship Salvation.

The argument is concerning salvation itself. Lordship Salvationists (i.e., Calvinists) are woefully ignorant of the Bible. At some point in the past they got upset seeing professed “Christians” living in willful sin, so they countered the issue by fabricating the heresy of Lordship Salvation; thus, forcing people to forsake their sinful habits in order to be saved. The problem is that God never said that! Lordship Salvation is a counterfeit Gospel. You cannot force a sinner to forsake his sins, by adding a changed life as a requiring for salvation. This is NOT to say that a man can believe on Christ without realizing he is a GUILTY SINNER (Romans 3:19); however, there is a vast difference between realizing one's guilt as a sinner, versus actually forsaking sinful behavior itself. Please read what Dr. Harry Ironside had to say about BIBLICAL REPENTANCE. Dr. Ironside is 100% correct in his definition of repentance...

“Repentance is the recognition of my sinnership—the owning before God that I am as vile as He has declared me to be in His holy Word.” —Except Ye Repent, by Dr. Harry Ironside, chapter 3

Carefully notice that Biblical repentance is NOT forsaking the act of sin, which is impossible for anyone, nor is it a desire to forsake sinful bad habits. For anyone to say that a person MUST be willing to forsake sinful behavior to be saved is a lie; eternal life is a gift, which you simply freely take. 

So to clarify. I am an opponent (enemy) of the Lordship Salvation heresy. I do NOT think a believer may live like the world without consequences; not at all. However, just because believers struggle with sin doesn't mean they're not saved. The apostle Paul struggled with sin (Romans 7:14-25). As believers we are commanded to walk in the Spirit, but carefully notice the Words of Galatians 5:25, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” It is abundantly clear from this Scripture passage that it is possible to LIVE in Christ's Spirit (i.e., to be saved), and yet fail to WALK in Christ's Spirit (i.e., live for the Lord). 

Do some genuine believers live like the world? Yes, of course, but Hebrews 12:8 tells us the big difference between a worldly heathen and a worldly believer, “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” No believer can live in sin and go without God's chastisement. God is not an absent parent! The Bible plainly warns in Hebrews 12:8 that God will CHASTISE and SCOURGE His disobedient children. The Holy Spirit will convict a backslider, and that is an important word—“backslider” (Proverb 14:14). Lordship Salvationists DON'T allow for a Christian to backslide. As far as they're concerned, a backslidden believer is no believer at all, and that's not Biblical. The Word of God gives us numerous references to patriarchal saints who backslid into horrible sin (such as king David who commit adultery and then murder, in an attempt to cover his sins).

ACCUSATION #3: Many of today's “soulwinners” believe, and preach, that submitting to Jesus as Lord is optional. They say Jesus will be your Saviour while Satan is your Lord. 

That is not what the Bible says. Only the devil would want you to believe that LIE! 

MY RESPONSE: Again, this flawed mentality leaves absolutely no allowance for a believer to be immature or backslide. The author of the preceding quote keeps alleging that Satan is the Lord of anyone who doesn't commit their life to Christ at the time of salvation, which is extreme and ridiculous to say. 1st Peter 2:2 speaks of growing in the milk of the Word. A new believer must be taught and mentored if they are to live for the Lord. Like it or not, there is an ongoing raging battle in EVERY believer between the sinful flesh and the Spirit of God (Romans 7:14-25; James 4:1). Even the Apostle Paul said in Romans 7:19, “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” Now why would the Apostle Paul DO EVIL if Jesus were his Lord? Hmmm? This Scripture alone proves the ignorance and hypocrisy of the proponents of the Lordship Salvation heresy. 

You don't make Jesus LORD, He is Lord! The very moment that you receive Jesus as your personal Savior, He automatically became your Lord (Master). Calvinists are guilty of front-loading the Gospel, requiring of a new convert what is only possible for a mature Christian. Would you expect a baby to run a marathon? Of course not, yet that is exactly what Lordship Salvation proponents demand of a person to be saved. By front-loading the Gospel, they are preaching “ANOTHER GOSPEL” (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4; Galatians 1:6-9) which cannot produce the new birth. Lordship Salvation is religion, not the new birth! 

John 1:12-13, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Nothing is sad of making Jesus “LORD.” You cannot show me anywhere in the Bible where it says to receive Jesus as one's Lord to be saved. What the Bible does teach is that we must receive Jesus as our personal Savior. 1st Timothy 4:10, “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.”

We read in 2nd Timothy 4:10 that Demas forsook Paul, having loved this present world. Yet, we learn in Philemon 1:24 that just a few years earlier Demas had been a fellow-labourer with the Apostle Paul in his ministry. What happened? Clearly, Demas was saved but backslidden into the world. We are at war today in the churches over the Gospel. I challenge you dear reader to avoid the dangerous habit of getting your theology from preachers. Instead, you need to get your theology from the inspired Word of God. 

To the natural man, Lordship Salvation sounds good, and makes perfect sense. I mean, it is sensible that a person who claims to be saved should live a righteous life. It is logical to conclude that someone living in willful sin has never been saved at all. The big problem is that the Bible contradicts this religious type of mindset. Cain sincerely tried to please God by his own efforts, offering the best crops his fields could produce, which God rejected (Genesis 4:3-5). The most dangerous form of deception is the HALF-TRUTH, because the half that is true can be defended with incontestable logic. Calvinists claim that salvation is the free gift of God, that it cannot be earned or merited; yet they say if your life hasn't changed you are not saved. That is not the Gospel. 

Calvinists love to run to 1st John 3:8-9, “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” Taken by itself, a person could easily conclude that someone cannot be saved and continue living a willful lifestyle of homosexuality, stealing or adultery; but the emphasis of John's Epistle is not on good works, it is on the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 1st John 3:24, “And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”

I was saved at age 13, when a Baptist preacher said from his pulpit, that anyone who doesn't have the Holy Spirit convicting them about sin is not saved. I knew right away that I wasn't saved. For the first time in my life I felt the conviction of God's Holy Spirit in my sinful soul. From my pew, the best I knew how, I cried out to a risen Savior to save me (and He thankfully did, as Jesus promised in John 6:37b, “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” I didn't even think to receive Jesus as my Lord. The preacher didn't mention anything about it, and I'm so glad that he didn't, because it would have confused me. 

The idea of turning away from my sins never came into my mind. But in the weeks to follow, I had a new hunger to read my King James Bible, and I heard the still small voice of God in my soul, telling me not to sin anymore. You see, I didn't ask or make Jesus my Lord, He automatically became my Lord when I received Him as my Savior. I still did bad things sometimes, and if it weren't for my strict Christian father, I am confident that I would have ended up dead or in prison as a typical teenager in Chicago. Living a holy life has far more to do with circumstances than it does with being saved. If you are not where you are supposed to be, and you are not doing what you should be doing, you will sin, and that can quickly lead to evil (hurting other people). We see this with King David. If David had been where he was supposed to be, instead of staying home (2nd Samuel 11:1), he never would have commit adultery and murder! Think about that! 

ACCUSATION #4: The blood of Jesus is so POWERFUL that it will give you a new mind. Read Romans with clear eyeballs and see for yourself.

MY RESPONSE:  The Apostle Paul states in Romans 7:24-25, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” Proponents of Lordship Salvation are woefully blinded to the fact that every believer still has to contend with the carnal flesh. Oftentimes, as seen repeatedly from Genesis to Revelation, God's children falter. Does not Proverb 24:16 declare, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief”? Christians do falter in their faith at times. At best the Christian life is a roller-coaster. 

It was John the Baptist, whom Jesus called the greatest born amongst women (Matthew 11:11), who told his disciples to go ask Jesus the question: “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3). John became so discouraged in prison that he questioned if Jesus were truly the Messiah. What do you think the Lordship Salvation hypocrites would have said about John the Baptist? Lordship Salvationists are the hypocritical religious Pharisees of our time. They point fingers at anyone living in willful sin, accusing them of being unsaved. That is not the Gospel. 

The apostle Paul rebuked the church at Galatia for beginning in the FAITH, but then trying to perfect their faith with WORKS. Galatians 3:3, “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Calvinists foolishly claim that salvation is by FAITH alone, but then say a person is not saved who isn't DOING THE WORKS OF THE LAW! Effectively, that is exactly what John Calvin (1509-1564) and his millions of unsaved religious followers teach today.