"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." - 2 Corinthians 11:3-4
This passage clearly proofs how unbiblical Lordship Salvation is. Sadly most people overlook it. I can understand why Lordship Salvation (based on John Calvin's Perseverance of the Saints, which is often missunderstood to be equal to Eternal Security) was created. Too many Christians fell too deep into carnality and walked away from God. I can understand that. Still, it gives no right to distort the good news!
"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." - The Apostle Paul in Galatians 1:6-10
Let's look at some Propostents of Lordship Salvation.
Ray Comfort
Ray Comfort is a nice Kiwi (New Zealander) and a zealous speaker (with a nice accent). He would be a great preacher, if he wasn't so wrong on the Gospel.
“The Bible says if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. So stop living for yourself. Turn from your sins, and come to Jesus.” SOURCE: http://youtu.be/TCSUKIhjevo?t=4m27s
Yes, true, we are a new creature! But... where does it say we must stop living for ourselves to get saved? Was salvation still a gift then? I do not think so. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8)
Paul Washer
“How dare we, all these stupid evangelists walking around telling men after they've made some little prayer that they need to write their name in the back of their Bible, and put the date and if the Devil ever comes to them, they need to show him that. That is Roman superstition, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. You see we've turned the gospel into a flu-shot.”
SOURCE: Evangelist Paul Washer Sermonette; YouTube sermon titled, “Paul Washer - Listen To This!!!” (7:05 time)
Sorry, but salvation is NOT a process. We know how the thief on the cross got saved.
"And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:42-32)
If you say salvation is a process, then you refute Jesus' words from John 3:3: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Steven Lawson
“Am I following Jesus Christ? And that's how we come into the kingdom, is by becoming a follower of Christ. ... What He is calling for here is absolute, radical, allegiance to Christ; and it involves my own self denial, and that's why the whole crowd never buys in, because it calls for my own death!” SOURCE: Dr. Steve Lawson; sermon: It Will Cost You Everything; https://youtu.be/VxnCD-yffWo?t=40m36s
What did the Apostle Paul say?
"Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Romans 4:4-5)
And what did Jesus say?
"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." (Acts 2:41)
According to Dr. Lawson, those people were all false converts.
Fritz Chery (biblereasons.com)
Fritz is a nice young man only a couple years older than me. He has written some great articles. However, he's deeply wrong on the Gospel:
"If you’re not willing to deny yourself you can’t be a Christian. You must love Christ more than your mom, dad, and you must love him more than your own life. You must be willing to die for Christ. It is either you are slaves to sin or you are a slave to Christ. Accepting Christ will cost you an easy life.
You must deny yourself and take up the cross daily. You must trust in the Lord in the hardest situations. You must discipline yourself and say no to the world. Your life must be all about Christ.
Even if you are persecuted, have failures, you feel lonely, etc. You must continue to follow Christ. Most people who call themselves Christians will one day hear depart from me I never knew you and they will burn in all hell for all eternity.
If you love your life, love your sins, love the world, and don’t want to change you cannot be his disciple. God will not listen to the excuses that some people make such as God knows my heart.
Someone that wants to keep his life and still lives a continuous lifestyle of sin is not a Christian. That person is not a new creation and is just another false convert. You can’t even breath apart from him, it’s not about your best life now. The Christian life is hard.
You will go through trials, but the trials are building you in Christ. Your life is not for you it’s always been for Christ. He died for you even though you didn’t deserve it. Everything that you have is for Christ. All the good comes from him and the bad from you.
It’s not about my will anymore it’s about your will. You must humble yourself. If you have pride you’re going to try to justify sin and think you know what is best. You must fully rely on God.
There will be growth in your walk of faith. God will work in you to make you into the image of Christ. Through your battle with sin you will know all you have is Christ. You will see how bad of a sinner you are and how much Christ loved you he willfully came down and suffered the wrath of God in your place."
http://biblereasons.com/dying-to-self/
As we see, mixing salvation and discipleship.
"And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." - John 6:35
"And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:27
One word makes the difference.
Also, he uses Galatians 5:25 in the NLT:
"Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives."
But the KJV translated it that way:
"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
Yes, two points: living in the spirit (being saved) and walking in the spirit (being in fellowship with the Lord and growing in Grace)
And about the Christian life being difficult: Matthew 11:28-30 says otherrwise.
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
I am not saying Satan won't attack us. Of course not! But the truth is: the more we look at Christ, the less will we have to worry. No, I am not teaching anything close to the satanic Prosperity Gospel! I am just saying Legalism is not the way. If you want a good evangelical book, I can recommend "Grace Walk" by Steve McVey.
Watch this excellent sermon by brother Dietmar Scherf:
I personally would say that Christians living in carnality are usually not secure about their salvation. They feel very unworthy. I also used to struggle with assurance of my salvation for weeks, months,.
We also must understand the dispensation of Grace did not start until Christ died on the cross (Hebrews 9:16). And Jesus back then only preached to Jews, not to Gentiles. The sermon on the mount NEVER was about salvation! Matthew 5:29-30 may be interesting:
"And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell."
I mean, if the Jews could have obeyed Jesus the way he expected, would he have had to die on the cross? I think not.
Look how Fritz explained the parable of the Young Rich Ruler (Matthew 19:16-22).
"There is something the rich man wanted more than Christ and he did not want to give it up. He loved his wealth and chose it over Christ. He was not willing to die to self."
http://biblereasons.com/how-to-become-a-christian/
The very same junk was also taught by John MacArthur:
“He is a classic illustration of someone who will not deny himself. He wanted to hold onto his own will. He wanted to hold onto his own pride. He wanted to hold onto his own money. He wanted to hold onto his own ambition, his own sovereignty if you will, in his own life. The competing issues are these, very simple...
The Gospel says, 'give your life to Christ and He rules' and if you're not willing to do that it's because you want to keep the rule of your own life. The rich young man wanted his own life for himself. He wanted to control his own life. He had his choice: sins, he had his choice, religion, and he wanted to hang onto control. It's that simple. Coming to Christ means you give up the control of your life, and you yield it to Christ. That's what kept him from salvation, he was unwilling to do that.”
SOURCE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA4Zv8o3NbI (4:31 in the video)
The young rich man said: "what good thing may I do, that I may have eternal life?"
If we can read the whole passage in context, we will find out that the young man was full of self righteousness and he wanted to earn his gift. Therefore Jesus, who knew his heart, did not show him how to get saved, but how helpless he was.
"1. Repent: Are you having a change of mind about sin and what Christ has done for you? Do you have a greater sense of your sinfulness and your need for a Savior?
2. Believe: Anybody can say something with their mouth, but you must believe with your heart and truly mean when you say, “Father I believe you brought Jesus to die on the cross for my sins and rose Him from the dead. Jesus will save me from Hell, He is the only way to Heaven nothing else can save me.” You must trust in the Lord, for example if you die and God asks you, “why should I let you into Heaven?” The answer is (Jesus). Jesus is the only way into Heaven. He is my only claim. He died on the cross for my sins. (Believe in your heart and know Jesus is the only way to Heaven). We all deserve death, but God’s grace is so amazing. Do you believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins, Christ was buried, and rose from the dead?
3. Surrender: Your life is for Him now."
http://biblereasons.com/how-to-become-a-christian/
Huh? Nowhere in the Bible are we taught to surrender to Christ for salvation. Rather do we find this: "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." (Acts 16:31)
Even though I think Fritz has realized his errors.
"This is a tough topic to speak on. Why you ask? There are many people who believe they’re saved, but they are not saved. On the other side of the coin there are many people who truly are saved but are struggling with the full assurance of their salvation.
There is a difference between assurance of salvation and evidence of salvation. The assurance of your salvation should only come from the perfect work of Christ on the cross. We can be confident in our salvation."
http://biblereasons.com/biblical-evidence-of-salvation/
That sounds more like the truth. Yet, I am not sure on which side he stands.
Conclusion
Satan's greatest trick is to make people get into the Christian life without ever being born again. Those false teachers are zealous speakers, but sadly they have a false Gospel. There are not two Gospels!
1. The Lordship Salvation teachers teach that you must make Jesus Lord of your life to go to heaven. Of course you won't find something like that in the King James Bible.
2. I however trust alone in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthinas 15:1-4). The changed life comes AFTER salvation, not WITH salvation. And the good works we do come from Christ living through us.
"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." (Acts 20:29-30)
Those heretics are leading people to hellfire! We must stand up for the Gospel. Acts 15:1 describes this perfectly: "And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." Of course the answer follows in Verse 24: "Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment".
We do not deserve salvation in any way. Jesus himself said on the cross: "It is finished!" (John 19:30)
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