By Jack Weaver and our fellow Administrator, John
We will borrow some ideas from a Conservative friend’s web site. He applied the thought to politics, but we see some parallels between the politically naïve and the theologically naïve. In both cases, otherwise intelligent people seem to park their brains at the door and believe astonishingly stupid propositions. For lack of a better term, we will call it “willful naiveté.”
In politics, willful naiveté can be seen in people who hold advanced degrees in economics that have convinced themselves that 1+1 = 3, because it fits their political narrative. In the theological realm, there are scores of prominent “educated” theologians who are teaching their theological narrative, the lie of Lordship “salvation”, to vulnerable non-believers and believers alike.
Lordship “salvation” (LS) is the unsupportable belief that the PERFORMANCE of good works, the PROMISE of good works, or the EVIDENCE of good works MUST accompany faith in Christ in order to make that faith result in eternal life.
LS arrived on the scene just after the start of the church. It was first manifested in false teachers who claimed one must be circumcised – in addition to trusting in Christ as Savior – in order to have eternal life.
Acts 15:1: “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”
LS has shown up in various forms ever since, and has dominated popular Christendom through the centuries. And, the raging wave of LS continues to invade and overtake our Grace Faith communities.
We see stunning examples of “willful naiveté” in those who advocate LS. The Bible has more than 150 verses that state that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. See article linked for more information: Believers Justification << Link
However, this overwhelming biblical evidence does not daunt LS advocates. Instead, they lean on their own understanding of certain biblical “proof texts”, always taken out of context to support their false teaching. Or worse, their misinterpretation of scripture leads them to believe there are biblical “paradoxes”. For example, many LS advocates say things like “salvation is free, but it will cost you everything.” This is non-biblical nonsense. The fact of the matter is that there are no paradoxes in God’s Word.
LS destroys everything it touches. It impedes the advance of the gospel, thereby keeping lost people lost; for believers who are bewitched by LS, it undermines their faith and assurance, it robs them of the power to live the Christian life, and it keeps them from a sound spiritual understanding of scripture.
LS has only two potentially “attractive” features that both appeal to the flesh. First, it appeals to man’s pride. One may internalize feelings of having contributed to (or merited) his salvation in some way. He may feel like he has somehow “purified” himself. There are side benefits, including a sense of comfort in “group think” and a sense of belonging in the ecumenical mainstream. Second, it appeals to the tribal need for an external, common enemy. So, LS advocates make bogeymen out of proponents of salvation by Grace through faith in Christ alone. Accordingly, they malign believers, using all sorts of pejorative language. Lordship “salvation” is very much a separate “religion,” a cult in the worst sense of those words.
LS advocates will continue to be deceived and to deceive others until the Millennium. They have successfully “converted” many into a works-based religion, false salvation and probation — which result in no salvation at all. By selling books, designing seductive web sites, producing slick YouTube videos, by infiltrating and taking over churches, religious schools, Bible colleges and seminaries, LSers have raised yet another generation of “Christians” who will continue to refuse, or fall from, God’s true Grace. They abhor the freedom and individual liberty we are to have in Christ Jesus as is so clearly delineated in God’s Word, the Bible. (John 3:16-17, Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:5)
Is their deception a willful naiveté or deliberate?
Our suggestion: We waste our time using secular logic on these folks, so let us use God’s Powerful Word!!! (Hebrews 4:12) Scripture says, “Let us reason together.” However, we often find LS advocates very unreceptive to either reason or scriptural proof. They find it virtually impossible to accept Biblical, contextual “reason.” We must continue to “earnestly contend for the Faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3) and do it Biblically. That is the goal of our ministry here at ExPreacherMan.com which, by God’s Grace, we will continue! We thank the Lord for our many friends who support this ministry by commenting here in support of God’s Biblical Grace.
Please click here >> Wiki-Index of False Teachers for our compilation of a partial index of false teachers.
The Truth of FREE Eternal Life << Click
Notes From A Retired Preacher 