As you can see, I am completely against Lordship Salvation. Sadly, most popular preachers those days teach this.
“Real life begins by committing yourself completely to Jesus Christ.” SOURCE: Zondervan Publishers, 'The Purpose Driven Life,' by Rick Warren, ISBN: 0-310-21074-7
"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." (Acts 16:31)
I ask people, “Are you saved?” They say, “Don't worry about me preacher, I took care of that a long time ago.” You did what? “I took care of that a long time ago!” Oh, something like getting a flu-shot I suppose. “Yep, don't worry about me, I repented and I believed.” Only to tell them—Sir, the evidence that you truly repented unto salvation on that day is that you're still repenting today; and the evidence that you truly believed unto salvation on that day a long time ago, is you're still believing today and growing in both these graces. It's not a flu-shot. It's not something you get done! It's not something you take care of!
How do you know you're a new creature? Because you do the things new creatures do! (Paul Washer)
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)
I am sorry, but salvation IS a flu shot.
Yeah, even worse are the double talkers. OK, all Lordship Salvationists are double talkers who say it's grace that saves you, but as a saved man you also must have works - which is refuted by Romans 11:6.
David Cloud speaks against something he teaches himself
David Cloud from Way Of Life seams to be clear opponent of Lordship Salvation:
"What I am warning about here are churches that preach that repentance is turning from all sin and making Christ Lord of everything in one’s life and that if that has not happened one is not saved. And if you have doubts, you are probably not saved. Often they teach that there is no such thing as a “carnal Christian.” Such churches tend to witness a massive number of “re-professions.” I knew of a church in Singapore in the 1980s that preached this. One group of several missionaries from South Asia visited there and each one of them “got saved,” even though they had glowing testimonies for Christ before that. A couple of members of this church visited my wife when she was in a hospital in Bangkok in 1983 and tried to get her to get saved, even though she was wonderfully converted as a teenager in a godless home in Alaska and had the most wonderful testimony.
As for doubts about salvation, I have had doubts off and on. Doubts might indicate that you haven’t actually been saved, but this is not necessarily the case. During the first year after I was converted, I prayed to be saved several times because I was struggling with sin and was trying to break old worldly habits. I would doubt whether I was saved and would cry out to the Lord to save me. It was because I had not been grounded in the truth. I didn’t need someone to question my salvation; I needed someone to teach me about justification and sanctification and biblical holiness and blessed security in Christ!
To preach a “lordship salvation” that requires that sinners make Jesus Christ absolute Lord of every area of their lives in order to be saved is to confuse position and practice, justification and sanctification. This is similar to the error made by many Pentecostals and Charismatics who believe the child of God can lose his salvation. An excellent testimony about the danger of this false teaching is in the book “Holiness: The False and the True” by the late Harry A. Ironside (Loizeaux, P.O. Box 277, Neptune, NJ 07754). As a young preacher, Ironside was involved with the Salvation Army. He was taught that he could have an experience, a “second blessing,” whereby he could obtain perfect victory over his old nature. As all genuinely born again people do, he earnestly desired such an experience. He agonized over his sinfulness and spiritual imperfection. He diligently sought the “blessing,” praying, fasting, crying out, striving, believing. Finally he thought he had obtained “it.” He stood in the testimony meetings and joyfully told the people that he had “it,” that his struggles with sin were over. Of course it wasn’t long before he realized that he had been deceived and that the old man was still within him. At that point he became so discouraged and disheartened that he had to be hospitalized in a mental health facility. He determined to leave the Christian life and return to his old loves, since Christian living “didn’t work.” In the hospital, though, he met some saintly Christians who patiently taught him the truth of biblical sanctification, and through this ministry of the truth he became anchored in Christ and went on to have a long, fruitful preaching ministry." https://www.wayoflife.org/database/repentancerevisited.html
"We do not support any idea of “Lordship Salvation” that teaches that an individual must make Jesus Christ Lord of every area of his life before he can be saved. Salvation does not produce perfect obedience nor does it require perfect understanding of theology. A genuinely born again Christian can be carnal. The Bible plainly teaches this (1 Corinthians 3).
To require that a sinner make Jesus Christ Lord of every area of his life is an impossibility and would be the greatest form of works salvation ever devised. This false doctrine is taught by some independent Baptists, but we do not support it. It is a very dangerous doctrine that causes people to look inside themselves and to examine their experience rather than to look solely upon the Lord Jesus Christ and to trust solely upon His shed blood." https://www.wayoflife.org/database/repentance_lordship_salvation.html
Amen, I agree!
However, the next thing he says pretty backloads the Gospel:
"We believe and are sure that salvation changes a man’s life, and we preach this boldly. One of the Way of Life booklets is entitled “Does Salvation Make a Difference?” The answer is YES! If a person says he is saved but he has absolutely nothing to prove it, he is deceived (2 Corinthians 5:17). "
https://www.wayoflife.org/database/repentance_lordship_salvation.html
Let's see what 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
Well, yes, we have second nature. Out flesh completely remains.
"A sinner who can flippantly pray a sinner's prayer without being ready conjointly to follow Christ has not repented in a biblical fashion and is not saved. Those who accept such a thing and proclaim such people "saved" and include such people in their "salvation statistics" are not following the Bible and are creating endless confusion. Sinner's prayers divorced from a repentant faith are empty."
https://www.wayoflife.org/database/repentance_lordship_salvation.html
Without a doubt, this is still Lordship Salvation, the saint must still have the will to follow Christ and forsake sins.
"This is exactly what I believe about repentance, nothing more or less. It is not a change of life; it is a change of mind so radical that it results in a change of life."
https://www.wayoflife.org/database/repentancerevisited.html
Where is the difference?
It gets even worse. In one of his audio sermons against Calvinism Cloud told:
"I believe we have to be clear with people that there is going to be a turning here. God's the one that is going to change your life. God is the one that is going to give you power. But there's going to be a change, and if you're not ready for that, you cannot be saved. I believe that's what repentance is. Many soulwinning programs just seem to try to wanna slip the Gospel by the sinner before he knows what's happening, get him saved, and then try to disciple him somehow later on, when there's never, ever, been a surrender to God."
Cloud says, you cannot get saved unless you are willing to accept the change. With other words, you cannot come as you are. The Bible says otherwise.
"Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." (Jesus in Luke 18:17)
"And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." (John 5:40)
It's "will not", not "cannot".
"For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." (John 3:20)
Most people don't get saved because they don't realize that they themselves are the problem. Not because they have zero interest to do something for the Lord (even though that very much is the case too). That's the result if pastors don't preach against sins and say gay marriage, abortion and divorce were OK.
Cloud also critized Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) for saying repentance is simply a change of mind. Well, Hutson said the truth. The Greek word is "metanoeo", which means "to change one's mind" or "to think different".
Overall what Cloud writes is dangerous deception.
What does Dr. Charles Lawson teach?
Charles Lawson from Temple Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA is without a doubt a zealous speaker. He has some of the most extreme sermons ever, like this one:
This one first seems accurate, it's from 2014:
"Therefore he says, there is nothing, there is nothing, nothing that can seperate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. So what do I mean? There is no way it can be applying to an unsaved man. That application is for a believer! A born-again believer! Nothing can seperate you. Aren't you glad for that?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIPq1E-oouA&feature=youtu.be&t=25m29s
AMEN! True words!
However, check out this sermon which is from 2013:
"Once you get out of the will of God, start walking in ignorance and darkness as a Christian dear friend, then you're going toward death as a Christian. The way God keeps you from dying and from committing the sin unto death, is by having you in fellowship and communion, walking in the light, as He is in the light, constantly confessing that you need the blood of Christ to cleanse you, and by doing that you walk in communion with the Lord. Now what I just said to you is a powerful thing. Say, 'Why is it powerful preacher?' Because there's no place in there to slack off. There's nowhere in there to get saved and lay back and just float on into Heaven. There's no where in there for you to get saved and then live any way you please. There's no where in that text for you to say: 'Well I got saved 20 to 30 years ago, and you know, I mean—Once saved always saved—and I believe in eternal security, and God's not a liar, so I'm going to Heaven!' I may not get the rewards, and union and fellowship.' Folks, if you don't have communion and fellowship with the Lord, you're going downward. The only thing that can keep you from going downward, in that spiral downward, is to walk in the light, as He is in the light, and you have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses you from all sin. The cleansing is not a once and for all thing, it is a constant every day communion and fellowship with the Lord.
Now when you were born again your sins were washed away in the blood of Christ. That happened one time. You're only going to be born again one time! But you must have that constant application of the blood of Christ in order for you to walk in communion and fellowship. And if you don't walk in communion and fellowship with the Lord, Dear friend please listen to me, you're not going to go upward, you're going to go downward. I'm not saying you're losing your salvation, but you will certainly lose your life, if He cannot chasten you and get you back where you need to be in fellowship with the Lord."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDOeS0fNIJc&feature=youtu.be&t=20m57s
He says, if you get out of God's will, we will not lose our salvation, but our live? This pretty shows how equal Arminiansm and Calvinism are. In one sermon Pastor Lawson also admitted he's a two point Calvinist.
I think Charles Lawson got it right now. Even though I am not sure, Lawson rather talks about unpopular themes such as the Illuminati than about the Gospel.
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