Just today I received an email from a dear new reader, Doug. He describes himself as a believer in Jesus Christ but is afraid that he may not be showing enough good works to prove it to himself (or maybe to God). Whether he is aware of it or not, he is describing the terrible legacy and symptoms of the Lordship “Salvation” teachers.

I know Doug will appreciate our readers’ and contributors’ help and comments in order to give him the assurance he so desires from our wonderful Savior. Your comments and help will be welcome. I have emphasized in bold what I believe are some very important points in Doug’s note.

Doug, we certainly want to help you with the assurance God offers so prominently in His Word.

Some of our wonderful friends/readers either know of others who have struggled with these same questions and emotions or have themselves been through the same torture.

~~ Doug’s Note ~~

I have been having some trouble concerning salvation and wanted to know if you could help me?

I think my feelings are getting too involved with my salvation, ie. I feellike I need to do something to be good enough to be saved. I know this is not what God says about eternal life but what this does is causes me to doubt if I have truly trusted Christ alone for salvation.

I believe the only way to be saved is to have faith in Christ alone and want to be sure I have put my faith in Christ alone for my salvation.

One thing I focus heavily on is my fear of being cast in to hell. An eternity in hell scares me to death and that’s why I am wanting to be sure I have my faith only in Christ. I guess the thought of adding works to grace scares me because then there is no more grace.

I think I’ve transferred all of my trust to Christ alone for salvation but get scared I haven’t because of the thoughts that come in to my mind sometimes about turning my life around or not doing that otherwise you’re not going to be saved etc… I know I should not do certain things but not in order to be saved. But the question makes me doubt my motives and I know God knows my heart better then I do.

Doug, we appreciate you and will pray for you. We are sure some of our dedicated readers will have great words of consolation for you from God’s Word.

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What a glorious time in Heaven for Ray Stanford today.. at age 95, taken instantly from this corrupt earth of pain and problems to the presence of our Savior he so loved. He will be meeting with hundreds if not thousands who are there because of his faithfulness and clarity in sharing the Gospel of salvation by Grace through personal faith in Jesus Christ alone.

I thank the Lord often, remembering that Ray presented the Gospel of salvation in Christ clearly enough for me, a former atheist to trust Christ as my Savior. It was December 15th, 1964 at a Florida Bible College (FBC) Christmas Concert at the old Grove Community Church in Miami, FL. I am eternally grateful to Ray, who founded and was President of FBC.

Ray was a dear friend. Now at almost 83, and relatively soon, I will  join him and the throngs rejoicing and praising our Savior. On this web site and via private emails, I regularly hear from folks all over the country who regret not having had the opportunity of attending FBC or having the privilege of sitting under Ray’s Bible teaching. He had the God given gift of a master soul-winner, evangelist  and teacher — which he used at every opportunity.

He will be missed by those who knew him and loved him and by those who were directly or indirectly under the influence of his Bible teaching. For those of us who have made the decision to trust Christ alone as our Savior, this separation is but temporary and we will sooner or later join him and our Brothers and Sisters in Christ in Heaven. And I pray we are all also looking up anxiously awaiting the coming Rapture. ^^^

Please be praying for all of Ray’s family as they reminisce and celebrate the life and graduation to Heaven of a faithful soul-winner and teacher. Please be praying that the Gospel and an invitation to trust Christ will be clearly explained at the services — for souls to be saved for our Savior.

For those who may wish to attend, the viewing will be Wednesday 5/23/2012 in the evening from 6 to 8pm. at the Shannon Maloney Funeral Home, 4084 Halifax Drive, Port Orange, Fl (near Daytona Beach)

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Occasionally we are asked why we concentrate on exposing the awful and un-Biblical  theory called, Lordship Salvation [LS] or, as I prefer to call it, Lordship Probation. This false message is advancing at lightning speed through too many modern churches today.

Simply put, Lordship Probation (“salvation??”) demands the impossible from an individual who may sincerely be searching for God’s Amazing Free Gift of salvation. Our number one goal is to make the clarity and simplicity of God’s plan of salvation easy to understand and believe.

Our secondary goal is to expose the lies of false Bible teaching — whoever they are and wherever they be, especially the devious tragedy of Calvinism and Lordship “salvation.”

Before we go into detail, I would say that our number one reason for contending against LS is that it contradicts all of God’s Biblical teaching about His salvation by Grace alone through Faith alone in Christ alone by His Word. LS adds and demands good works for one to procure their version of salvation and then they add even more works for keeping one’s salvation. Tragedy!!

We have quoted many LS proponents in previous articles. I will mention some newer ones here to illustrate my point that LS is a growing menace. If you have some LS proponents to expose here, please do so in your comments.

We are thrilled to get to know some of our readers who have wonderfully come out from under the horrible yoke of LS into the Freedom that IS IN Jesus Christ through God’s Grace. You are welcome to comment upon your experience with LS or Calvinism.

Some LS/Calvinist names of disrepute are: Francis Chan, Paul Washer, John MacArthur, John Piper, RC Sproul, Rick Warren, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, Arthur W. Pink, George Whitefield, John Knox, Martin Luther, AW Tozer (from Charlie Bing),  etc.  (and we could name more and more).

Pearl, one of our long-time contributors and commenters found that Dave Ramsey (Practical Financial guru) and one of his “Team” members, Jon Acuff  (who recommends Francis Chan) fit into the same camp as those mentioned above. That is a shame because Ramsey and his folks have a great common sense method of helping rescue a family from financial burden. But, in the back reaches of the Ramsey domain, they preach a false doctrine to babes in Christ and the unsaved. So, as we do with others who preach a false message, we cannot recommend them. Please use extreme discernment if you use their services.

Some time back I questioned Dave Hunt at Berean Call Ministries about his recommendation of quotes from Calvinist Gresham Machen. Ed McMahon (Hunt’s assistant) answered me by justifying Machen and many other questionable LS and Calvinists. He declared that their quotes could apply to us today. (I prefer God’s Word that applies to us today!!)

It is nonsense to recommend a teacher, who preaches lies, in order to “enlighten” believers in any area. I recently received a newsletter from Berean Call. At one time they were a great resource against Calvinism. This newsletter article warned against believers getting involved with the politics of today. The article, “Influencing The Culture” was a wholehearted endorsement of an excerpt from one of John (Calvinist guru of Lordship Probation) MacArthur’s articles. No doubt Berean Call would justify such an endorsement in the exact same manner as they defended their endorsement of Machen and other Calvinists. One of Ed’s statements in his note to me reads, “Further, some of the resources we offer or have offered are authored by Calvinists such as C.H. Spurgeon, John MacArthur, Jay Adams (addressing psychology), Mike Gendron (former Catholic), and William Webster.”

This philosophy seems contradictory to Biblical Doctrine and a far cry from Dave Hunt’s excellent book exposing Calvinism, “What Love Is This?”

We believe none of these mentioned have any redeeming qualities worth recommending for study, even though they may occasionally speak or write “a truth.” The lies they propagate otherwise spoil the entire true issue of God’s Grace. As God’s Word says, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Galatians 5:9

The rules and dictates of Lordship Salvation and Calvinism or any other false teaching will never cure carnal Christianity — Their teaching only offers confusion.

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It could be beneficial to post some of these questions so the inquirers can receive a more thorough response.  Also, the answers can bring edification to other readers as well.

Here’s a sample question from a man named Stanley:

“God bless you for your good tract; nevertheless, where is BAPTISM in the plan of Salvation?  You have said nothing about Baptism.”   

Please beware — if you have been sold on the idea that you want a Bible for your kids — or yourself that is “easier to read,” BE VERY CAREFUL. Thomas Nelson Publishers has gone down into the depths, publishing a new “Bible” called The Voice which, from the following report, decimates portions of God’s Word by omitting the words, “Jesus Christ.”

Excerpts from Christian Post Article:

A new translation of the Bible into English does not contain the name “Jesus Christ” nor the word “angel.” It also prefers the word “emissary” over “apostle.”

The Voice, a Bible (sic) that replaces “Jesus Christ” with terms like “Jesus the Anointed One,” had its complete edition released by Thomas Nelson Publishing last month.

Frank Couch, Thomas Nelson’s lead editor on the project, told The Christian Post that the purpose of The Voice was to make the Gospel message easier to understand for modern audiences.

“The Voice has not claimed to be more accurate than any other translation, rather it is more easily understood than any other translation,” said Couch.

“When translators are limiting themselves to conveying the complete essence of a word from the Hebrew or the Greek with one English word they have difficulty bringing in the nuances held in the original language.”

Because other translations have more literal renderings, Couch believed they are “why it has been necessary for commentators and preachers to spend so much time explaining what the words in the original language mean before the lay reader can understand fully a text of Scripture.”

So now we are to trust Nelson Publishers to interpret God’s Word for us?? I think not. There are already too many perversions of God’s Word on the market now.

Just beware. God’s Word tells us:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

How could anyone (except one who knows not the Bible) publish and market a “Bible” that eliminates the Name of Jesus Christ. We are to rightly divide [correctly dissect] the Word of Truth, not delve into a poor paraphrase of what some book salesman thinks is “easier to read.”

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Dr. Tom Cucuzza tipped me off to the following interesting link from John MacArthur’s (JMac) Grace To You web site.

I’ll quote a couple of passages in which someone in JMac’s camp tries to “correct” JMac’s Lordship error.

The error was inadvertently introduced into the [original] manuscript in the late stages of the editorial process, when (in order to simplify the book) four chapters were deleted from the original manuscript and one of the remaining chapters was severely abridged. John MacArthur approved the abridgments.

…..Unfortunately, that [later] change was not submitted to John for approval. We believe the error was an oversight, and not anyone’s deliberate attempt to tamper with the book’s theology. The result, however, severely muddled the message of the book.

A revision was sent to the publisher for future editions of the book. In all subsequent printings, here is how the opening paragraph of chapter six reads (revisions are in bold):

Over the years, analysts have studied what things went wrong leading up to the tragedy of April 1912.  Several facts have been chronicled which detail why this event occurred.  The following piece summarizes some of these findings:

Source:  http://www.39online.com/kiah-20120413,0,4594381.photo

1.  Substandard Rivets in Bow and Stern, containing iron and a high content of slag, which becomes brittle at very cold temperatures.

2.  Ship Steaming Too Fast in spite of repeated telegraphed messages from other ships about iceberg ice in the area.

3.  Lack of Binoculars:  some of the lookouts were not furnished with proper optical equipment.

4.  Repeated Ice Warnings disregarded by Capt. Smith.

5.  Unusually High Tides may have brought excessive icebergs into shipping lanes.

6.  Last Minute Manuever of Ship Failed, causing more damage that would have probably occurred in a strike with the bow.

7.  Watertight Bulkheads were not sealed at the top.

8.  Insufficient Number of Lifeboats:  Only enough to accommodate about 1/3 of the passengers and crew.

9.  Lifeboats Not Filled to Capacity:  some were launched half full.

10. The British Steamer “Californian” saw flares and could have steamed toward them, but failed to do so, some think because the wrong color flares were used, ones which would normally be used for celebrations, not for S.O.S. signaling. 

11. [added to article]  Rope Too Short:  It has been reported that rope used to drop buckets down to collect water temperature readings was too short to reach the water’s surface.  Crew members, instead, substituted water from onboard the ship to render the readings. 

“Titanic” Warnings About the Gospel:

The Gospel of Salvation is so straightforward, so clear in the Bible in many places, including 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 (the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus); Acts 16:30-31 (“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved . . .”); Ephesians 2:8-9 (We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, not by works); John 3:16-18 (Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.)

Why do so many people refuse to go God’s way, trusting in his Son, Christ Jesus, for salvation, and not in their own “good” works?

How similar are unbelievers today to passengers on the Titanic?

1.  Both were (are) sailing toward disaster at breakneck speeds.

2.  In the frenzy of the night, many failed to board the Titanic lifeboats which could have rescued them from death; in the hustle and bustle of life, many or most people fail to avail themselves of God’s gift of Eternal Life in His Son, Jesus Christ, who can save them from eternal destruction.

3. Up until the moment of the crash, people on the Titanic were going about their normal routines (business as usual):  crew members were observing their daily duties; passengers were laughing, dancing and dining; both were (are) oblivious to the imminent dangers that lay (lie) ahead.

4. Even after the Titanic struck the iceberg, for the first couple of hours many were in denial that they faced any danger whatsoever— “This ship is unsinkable,” some claimed.  How many people in our day live in similar blind denial:  “There’s no hell,” many declare.  “If there is a heaven, either we’re all going there or we ain’t,” others might retort.  On that sad early morning of April 15, 2012, dozens and dozens of scoffers faced reality head-on.  How many millions, in our generation, will, tragically and avoidably, come face to face with the legitimacy of death and an eternity in torment (Luke 16)?

5.  Some of the passengers on the Titanic, who failed to board the lifeboats which could have rescued them, sought, instead, to save themselves by strapping on life preservers and jumping into the ocean.  If the impact of the fall did not kill them, the frigid water would have finished them off in minutes [this observation is for the purpose of illustration only; obviously, in the frenectic scene of the night, many were not given the opportunity to board the lifeboats].  How many unbelievers, today, steadfastly refuse to accept God’s plan of salvation? (there is only ONE WAY, by grace alone through faith alone in his Son Christ Jesus alone).  They would rather go their own way, seek their own path, add to God’s plan, or devise their own plan, while attempting to please God through their own works.  Refusal to go God’s way will certainly lead to destruction.

As Resurrection weekend approaches let us analyze the terrible lie and denial by those who teach Lordship “Salvation.” Do their false teachings deny the Resurrection and Christ’s very words?

God’s salvation requires no more than believing the Gospel and then believing in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation. Therefore we conclude that the Lordship “salvation, faith, probation” (LS) folks cannot sincerely believe Christ’s last statement on the cross, “It is finished…” John 19:30b

They must deny the death, burial and resurrection as being Christ’s all sufficient sacrifice for sin for every person in the world, past, present and future. The Lord God sealed His Promise of Christ’s words, “It is finished”  when He raised Jesus Christ from the grave three days later. The Resurrection is proof. LS folks therefore deny His Gospel of Salvation by Grace through their teaching. They demonstrate their misery not knowing that JOY that comes with God’s assurance.

Here is such a denial, according to the guru of Lordship “salvation” :

“Salvation isn’t the result of an intellectual exercise. It comes from a life lived in obedience and service to Christ as revealed in the Scripture; it’s the fruit of actions, not intentions. There’s no room for passive spectators: words without actions are empty and futile…The life we live, not the words we speak, determines our eternal destiny“ (John MacArthur, Hard to Believe, p. 93).

Heresy !!! Thus says JMac as he proudly denies the sufficiency of God’s Grace alone, our faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, to save all who believe in Him. He is claiming null and void Christ’s last words on the cross, “It is finished.”  (“Finished” is the Greek word Teleo meaning complete, executed, concluded, discharged (a debt) :- accomplished, make an end).

“And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain [useless, empty)]” 1 Corinthians 15:14

You may have “heard” the Gospel and you may have “come to the knowledge of Christ” or “know” the Gospel but you alone must, at some time, make the decision to believe in Jesus Christ, that He died and was resurrected as your substitute, in your place, for your sins, that He is your Savior. Then, He freely GIVES you the Gift of eternal Life (forever)..
Study John 3:16-18 “.. He that believeth is NOT condemned…”

Christ died, that’s history, Christ died for ME, that’s Salvation.

Christ IS RISEN and coming again!!!

But what if, after Jesus was crucified, dead and buried, He had not been resurrected from the grave? There would be no salvation.. There would be no proof that Jesus is indeed God in the flesh. That is Satan’s message. We see such a lie touted by “liberal” theologians from the time shortly after Jesus was put to death by the Roman court.

Matthew 28:1-8

• “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers [guards] did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead; and, behold, He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring His disciples word.”

Luke 24:6-7

“He is not here, but is risen: remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

“GREAT JOY” is an understatement!! Imagine yourself being there with them. Imagine their circumstances, the Person they trusted, worshiped and followed had just been humiliated, crucified was dead and buried. They visit the tomb expecting to complete their mourning. Then they see the tomb empty and hear the words, “He is not here: for He is risen.” HE IS RISEN! Just imagine the JOY!

The following has been called “The Gospel in a Nutshell”:

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.1 Corinthians 15: 3-6

Witness after witness after witness is certainly additional evidence of His resurrection.

Salvation by God’s Grace is understanding and believing that we are imperfect; that God calls this sin and that our sin requires a death penalty. But God with love beyond infinity, loved us so much that He sent His Perfect Son, Jesus Christ, to make that death penalty for the whole world. He came to the Jew first and then the Gentile so that all who would believe or trust in Jesus would have everlasting life in Heaven with Him. Jesus, He fulfilled the law and paid the death penalty we humans owe. He did that and arose from the grave just as He promised. Now the responsibility is upon us. Do we trust Jesus alone as our Savior, our complete and all sufficient Savior, apart from depending upon our good works, our promises, our commitment to serve or a life lived in obedience? If we do trust Jesus alone as our Savior, God’s Word says we HAVE everlasting life, guaranteed.

• John 3:16-18
  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Dear friend, at this time of year when we remember the death, burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, perhaps you do not know for sure you possess eternal life in Christ. If you are not sure, please believe Him and trust or rely upon Jesus alone as your Savior to deliver you to Heaven; to give you eternal life. It is not thorough an organization, behavior, church or your good works, but simply Jesus alone. I pray you will make this one time decision as it is the most important one you will ever make during your entire life on this earth.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope [guarantee] by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,“ 1 Peter 1:3

HE IS RISEN — GREAT JOY!!!

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“Blessed Are the Poor

And what about the poor? Jesus is crystal clear about the necessity of reaching the poor. Yet many hellfire preachers are overfed and overpaid, living in luxury while doing nothing for the majority of Christians who live on less than two dollars a day. [2] Contrast that with Jesus, who in His longest sermon about judgment made helping the poor a vital criterion.

Put simply, failing to help the poor could damn you to hell.

I know, I know, everyone wants to qualify this. We want to add all sorts of footnotes to fix Jesus’ shaky theology in Matthew 25—justification is by faith, not by works; you don’t really have to help literal poor people, etc. [3]On the flipside, some want to keep the stuff about helping the poor but take hell out of the picture. Sometimes, people even take Jesus out of the picture—fighting poverty, they believe, is an inherent virtue whether or not it’s rooted in the gospel.  Let’s keep the teeth of both truths. There’s a literal hell, and helping the poor is essential. Not only did Jesus teach both of these truths, He saw them as necessary and interrelated.”

Is Francis Chan right; is what he describes the Biblical plan of salvation, or is he teaching a false gospel of faith PLUS WORKS?

We welcome your comments. 

Most folks don’t necessarily think of Rick Warren as a big supporter of Lordship Salvation — but we have written and documented it here and here.

Think about this idea I propose that Warren may be at the forefront of a world wide ecumenical movement that attempts to incorporate Warren’s idea of New Age Mysticism and Evangelicalism in his humanistic world-wide “PEACE” movement. He is now reaching out to Muslims, not to win them to Jesus Christ but to explore the similarities between their god and the God of the Bible. That is called Chrislam.  An article in the 2009 Orange County Register (CA) shows Warren in full fellowship speaking to 8,000 Muslims at INSA, the Islamic Society of North America’s annual convention in Washington D.C. (Side note, reports are that Warren did not share the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.. Picture below.)

Sami M. Angawi, left, talks with Evangelical pastor Rick Warren, right, at the Islamic Society of North America�s 46th annual convention in Washington, July 4, 2009. Evangelical megachurch pastor Rick Warren says America’s largest Islamic organization showed courage when it invited him to speak at its annual convention. Luis M. Alvarez, (OCR)

There is NO similarity between Islam and the Christianity proclaimed in God’s Word, the Bible. Rick Warren is severely misguided, deluded or intentionally giving in to Islam thus aiding the Muslim push for an international Muslim Caliphate (rulership).

This quote below is from a Muslim “ecumenical” web site [submission.nu] — is an attempt to marginalize the cruelty of Islam by comparing it to Christianity and is an effort to merge the two. The word Islam means “Submission.” In the excerpt below, is an effort to make Islam acceptable to “Christian religions.” They carefully substitute the word “God” in place of their god Allah.

The time has come to purify and consolidate all the messages delivered by God’s prophets into one message, and to proclaim that henceforth, there is only one religion acceptable to God, [Allah] “Submission”  [Islam] (3:19, 85). “Submission” [Islam] is the religion whereby we recognize God’s [Allah's] absolute authority, and reach an unshakeable conviction that God [Allah] ALONE possesses all power; no other entity possesses any power that is independent of Him [Allah]. The natural result of such a realization is to devote our lives and our worship absolutely to God [Allah] ALONE. This is the First Commandment in all the scriptures, including the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Final Testament. [Quran] [Brackets my emphasis]

How many of these dictates sound like the rules set by men for Lordship “salvation” (LS) and/or how many are the basis of LS, Calvinism? Without total submission to Allah the god of Islam, there is no hope for the adherents of Islam (or anyone else they say). And then, there is no eternal hope for adherents of Lordship “salvation” without total submission to the Lordship of Christ (contrary to God’s Word). It is odd how similar these two philosophies seem to be.

And further, to put it in a more personal perspective, why are we as American Christian citizens spending millions of our US tax dollars to save Muslim mosques in the middle east? Watch this short video from Atlanta news. WSBTV Atlanta

Islam does not desire coexistence with Rick Warren or any other religion — they want total Submission – Islam. Wonder what Rick Warren is thinking with his PEACE plan reaching out to Muslims, who ultimately want him to submit to Islam — either now or later? Can he have it both ways with Chrislam?

Do you see this coming to a church near you?

Is this push softening Americans to accept Muslim Shariah Law into our own courts? It is happening today – Shariah Law Cases by State. << Go here and find cases in your own state’s courts.

True Faith — From God’s Word. << Click