Monthly Archives: September 2014

By johninnc

Romans 1:16: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

It’s time to stop pretending that Lordship Salvation (LS) is part of the Christian faith.  

LS is the unsupportable belief that the PERFORMANCE of works, the PROMISE of works, or the EVIDENCE of works must accompany faith in Christ in order to establish, or provide evidence, that such faith has resulted in eternal life.

LS is, at its core, salvation by works – salvation by faith in Christ plus adherence to some arbitrary set of rules.

LS is a false gospel. No one has EVER received eternal life by believing a false gospel. Therefore, no one has ever received eternal life by believing in LS.

Following are some of the more common false LS beliefs that are masquerading as tenets of the Christian faith:

Lottery System – the Calvinist belief that whether one spends eternity in Heaven or in Hell is just based on the luck of the draw.

Let’s See, or Later Salvation – another part of the Calvinist family of heresies, also known as “perseverance of the Saints.” Under this errant belief, a “true believer” is someone who endures in faith and good works until the end of his life. If one fails to do this, it proves he was never saved to begin with.

Less Sin – this one centers on the direction of the believer’s life. If he sins less than he used to, then he is headed in the right direction and must be saved. If not, the converse is true.

Lesser Sins – the belief that some sins are worse than others – usually in the form of “somebody else’s sins are worse than mine.”

Lower Standards – at the heart of this error is belief that behavior, feelings, or good intentions have anything whatsoever to do with getting into Heaven. This replaces God’s perfect Law with an inferior man-made law that the adherent to this heresy believes is good enough.

Lampoon Saints – the practice of pointing people away from the salvation available EXCLUSIVELY by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone by ridiculing the concept. This includes use of pejorative terms like “easy believism”, “greasy grace”, and “sloppy agape.”

Does LS stand for anything that I would advocate? Yes! Let’s Stop!

Let’s stop pretending that we are “on the same page” with Lordship “salvationists”!

In his sermon entitled “Understanding the Two Natures, Pt 1, pastor Tom Cucuzza of Northland Bible Baptist Church made the following appeal:

Let’s stop making excuses for people who use these phrases. It is wrong and they need to stop it. Don’t say: “well they said that, but, you know, they say a lot of good things.” No, let me tell you something. If they say these things, they are giving a false plan of salvation. Here’s some of the things you’ll hear:

(Note: the following are selected excerpts)

“If you’re really saved, you will hate the things you once loved, and love the things that you once hated.”

“If you haven’t forsaken all of your sin, you were never really saved to begin with. You had a head belief, not a heart belief.”

“If you haven’t repented of all of your sin, you are not saved yet. You have to really quote/unquote mean business with God and repent of all your sins.”

“If you’re still desiring the things of the world, you are probably not saved.”

“You can’t go to heaven if you’re hanging onto the world.”

“If Christ is not Lord of all, He’s not Lord at all.

“If you are practicing sin, you are not saved.”

“If you’ve grown cold towards the Lord, you were probably never truly saved to begin with.”

“If you do not endure and persevere as a Christian to the end of your life, you were never a real Christian to begin with, because all true Christians endure to the end.”

The stark reality is that there is NO SUCH THING as Lordship Salvation.  There are lots of Lordship “salvationists”.  But, there is no such thing as having been saved by believing Lordship “salvation”.

If you are not sure of heaven, and would like to be, please click on the following link: Let’s Start

By johninnc

John 5:24: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

The Bible teaches that anyone who believes in Jesus as Savior receives, at the moment of belief, eternal life that can never be lost or forfeited.

The Bible teaches that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The Bible does not teach that there is any evidence of salvation, other than whether one has trusted in Christ alone for eternal life.

Lordship “salvation”, on the other hand, involves the endless search for evidence of salvation – even while explaining away the proof of salvation.

Let’s first review what Lordship “salvation” (LS) is:

LS is the unsupportable belief that the PERFORMANCE of works, the PROMISE of works, or the EVIDENCE of works must accompany faith in Christ in order to establish, or provide evidence, that such faith has resulted in eternal life.

Now, let’s evaluate three examples in which the Bible says someone believes, and yet LSers will deny that the people in question have  eternal life.

Soil number 2 in the parable of the Sower

Luke 8:13: They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

The Bible CLEARLY and unambiguously says these people believed. As such, they have passed from death unto life (John 5:24).

This is is not good enough for the unflinching LSer. No. The lack of perseverance of people represented by soil number 2 convinces the LSer that such people were never saved.

Consider the following quote from J.D. Greear, pastor of the multi-campus Summit Church in Raleigh, North Carolina:

They remain in the church for a period of time. But, they do not endure when the sun of persecution comes out and will not in the end be saved. 

Believers who do not confess Christ

John 12:42:  Nevertheless among the chief rulers many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:

The Bible says these people believed. What other evidence should we need?

But, that’s not good enough for the intrepid LSers.  For example, another huge North Carolina church – Calvary Church in Charlotte – has something contradictory to what the Bible says.

Calvary says that one  must confess Christ in order to be saved.  From their “Articles of Faith”:

We believe that all who receive by faith alone, Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and who confess Him before their fellow men, are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God. 

Demas

Philemon 1:24: Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers. 

2 Timothy 4:10: For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

Paul describes Demas as a fellow laborer, but later says Demas has forsaken him for the world. Demas is a Christian who did not persevere.  According to the Bible, anyone who believes in Christ has eternal life that can never be lost or forfeited – no matter what happens in their life down the road.

What would the Southern Baptist Convention – a group of 50,000 cooperating churches – have to say? Following is an excerpt from”The Baptist Faith and Message”:

All true believers endure to the end. 

What does “endure to the end” even mean? Did Demas “endure to the end”? Was Demas a “true believer”?

Jack Weaver sums it up this way:

LSers insist on evidence by works to scare their followers – by promising them a false sense of security based on the evangelist’s idea of a sufficient (but indeterminate and never defined or enumerated) quality and quantity of works as proof to the evangelist or his cohorts. 

In other words, LSers are so hung up on works providing evidence of salvation that they will deny irrefutable PROOF from scripture that someone is saved.

 Does your church teach that you should look for evidence of salvation (other than whom one is trusting to get to heaven) and deny, or explain away, proof from the Bible that someone was saved?

If you don’t know, find out.  And, if the answer is yes, get out.

For what God’s Word says about how to receive eternal life, click here:  The Real Story