By johninnc
Matthew 7:12-13: Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
From Wikipedia: “Give My Regards to Broadway” is a song written by George M. Cohan for his musical play Little Johnny Jones which debuted in 1904 in New York.
Cohan, playing the title character, sings this song as his friend is about to sail to America, looking for evidence aboard ship that will clear his name for allegedly throwing the English Derby He is sure he’ll become a star at Broadway, therefore signing off with: “Give my regards to Broadway.”
Cohan, of course, was making an innocuous reference to the street in New York with his song.
By contrast, Lordship Salvation (LS) gives its regards to the broad way that leads to destruction.
In Matthew 7:12-13, Jesus describes Himself as the way to eternal life. He is both the straight gate and the narrow way that leads to eternal life:
John 10:9: I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
John 14:6: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The wide gate and the broad way that lead to destruction include any other means by which one tries to justify himself, including the pernicious false gospel of Lordship Salvation (LS).
Acts 4:12: Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
LS is the unsupportable and unbiblical 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 establish, or provide evidence, that such faith has resulted in eternal life.
Proponents of LS teach that one receives eternal life by believing in Jesus as helper, instead of believing in Him as Savior. In other words, they see Jesus as necessary for eternal life, but not sufficient.
Some forms of LS are more subtle than others, and their variations are seemingly endless.
Following are some examples of false LS gospels:
Franklin Graham:
We have to repent of our sins in turn. A person cannot stay in adultery and be accepted by God. You’ll have to repent…
I’m a sinner. But I’ve been forgiven, and I’ve turned from my sins. For any person that’s willing to repent in turn, God will forgive him
My comment: Turning from sin is not required to receive the free gift of eternal life. The Bible describes eternal life as the gift of God (Romans 6:23). If turning from sin were required to receive eternal life, eternal life could not be called a gift.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association:
To receive Christ you need to do four things:
1. ADMIT your spiritual need. “I am a sinner.”
2. REPENT and be willing to turn from your sin.
3. BELIEVE that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross.
4. RECEIVE, through prayer, Jesus Christ into your heart and life.
My comment: One does not receive eternal life by being willing to turn from sin or asking Jesus into one’s heart.
19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon:
Another proof of the conquest of a soul for Christ will be found in a real change of life. If the man does not live differently from what he did before, both at home and abroad, his repentance needs to be repented of, and his conversion is a fiction.
My comment: If a changed life were required to have assurance of eternal life, then the word of God in the John 5:24 would be a lie.
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.
Chick Publications from their tract entitled “God’s Plan of Salvation”:
Trust Jesus Christ today! Here’s what you must do:
…Be willing to turn from sin (repent). Jesus said: “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5) ”And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:” (Acts 17:30)
My comments: This is not God’s plan of salvation. It is one of Satan’s counterfeits. Turning from sin is a work. Being willing to turn from sin is an IOU for a work.
The above individuals and publications point(ed) people to the broad way that leads to destruction.
Christians should not give people who teach false gospels any regard. They should not be given a pass, no matter what their motives may be. They should be marked and avoided. The only contexts in which they should be quoted is to contrast their BROAD WAY that leads to destruction with the Bible’s NARROW WAY that leads to life.
Don’t give your regards to the Broad Way.
If you would like to have additional information on how to receive eternal life, please click here: THE GOSPEL
Notes From A Retired Preacher 
Yep. Those are some of the LS pet passages, always misinterpreted and out of context.
John, seems they love Matthew 7, and some of these others, twisting them completely out of context:
…work out your salvation with fear and trembling – Phil 2:12
… demons believe and tremble – James 2:19
… examine yourself to see if you are in the faith – 2 Cor 13:5
…if you don’t pick up your cross, you’re not saved – Lk 14:27
Holly, Matthew 7 is one of the most butchered sections of scripture by the works salvationists. Its a good go-to passage to find out someone’s view of grace.
I tried to listen to another one, great hopes that they might be grace based. They went to Matt 7, then talked about the will of the Father, and made it about action bases works vs. this:
And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:39-40
Phil, I have seen it.
He invited people to say a prayer for salvation that included saying you were sorry for your sins, asking Jesus into your heart and being willing to trust Him as Savior and follow Him as Lord.
And then he says if you prayed that prayer, you were saved.
So, yes. That would lead most listeners to think all of those things were required for eternal life.
Have you seen Franklin Graham’s latest TV salvation invitation? It has appeared mostly on Fox News. He invites the person to trust Christ as ones Savior, but also invite him into ones heart, and be sorry for ones sins…. Is Graham saying all of the above are necessary to be saved? Graham did not mention just believe the gospel of ones salvation-which is actually the only requirement to be saved and have eternal life.
Jason, you’re right – we can give people the gospel wherever we are.
The pressure to be a missionary was the ecclesiastical equivalent of sending your kids off to fighting stupid wars. When I was a kid, the message was, God might call you to be a missionary, and he might not. But it slowly morphed into hearing voices. Then the Pentecostal Scramble for Africa happened. Like charity itself, evangelism begins at home.
Chas, yeah, it sounds like a good thing to have missed!
LS is all about pressure to perform.
Johninnc:
So many of the things i thought were “of the Lord” during much of my “evangelical” experience turned out to be blatantly NOT of the Lord. The pressure from so many teachers (such as Greg Laurie and Bill Bright) to go “witnessing” was relentless, and it led to despair for some of the not-so-bold among us. If I had been able to muster the nerve to do what some people said the Lord was “leading” me to do, I’d have been prowling the streets every night preaching a false “gospel”!
Kathy, I am glad that your confusion and doubts are gone.
Anything that causes despair is not of God.
Johninnc and chas – I, too, struggled with Pilgrim’s Progress. I knew in the deepest parts of my soul that I could NEVER live up to the standards in that terrible book. And as far as Lordship salvation – I knew that I could NEVER be saved, because I never thought I was “worthy” to be one of the “elect” (the elect according to the Calvinists).
I am so grateful and thankful that I found this site. My confusion and doubts are gone. Holly’s website has greatly helped me, too.
Chas, yes, as I recall, Bunyan was one of Spurgeon’s favorite authors.
Pilgrim’s Progress is a mess!
Since I finally sorted out what the real Gospel of grace is a few years ago, it has amazed me–looking back–how so much of what we might call “classic protestant Christianity” has turned out to be classic heresy. Seems that not only the “protestant” church, but the “evangelical” church never separated completely from the faith+works NON-gospel of the RCC.
Pilgrim’s Progress is one prime example. I saw it referenced by so many teachers and commentators, often recommended as a basic study, but I could never get into it. Something about it bothered me. Matthew Henry had the same effect, though I was corralled into studying his general commentary while in CCCM’s “bible” school. What a waste of three months.
Oh well. The air was clean in Twin Peaks.
Holly, you are absolutely correct, many of the mainline denominations have capitulated to the Gay agenda and given in to their demands of recognition and validation of their sinful behaviour. However there are still some churches who agree with the Bible (Romans 1:27-28) that homosexuality is sinful in God’s eyes but their gospel is ‘repent/turn from sin’ and believe in Jesus to be saved.
In other words, these homosexuals have to first give up their sexual tendencies and behaviour before they can trust in Jesus for salvation! Can the unregenerate/lost/ unsaved person without the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit and the Word of God to overcome temptation to sin, really give up all their sinful habits for good before coming to Christ for Salvation???
It is utter confusion in the churches today, you can’t trust any of them as the apostasy is clearly getting worse everyday.
Still waiting for the Lord to rapture us home soon!
Alice, I was a little confused about the ones who hadn’t ‘endorsed the gay pride parade’. I would hope no churches would endorse it, but the trouble is, often the ecumenical churches will endorse it, and the religious churches will condemn them for not ‘repenting from their sin’ (they should). But not in order to receive eternal life. But both groups get it wrong.
Alice, all people are sinners in need of a Savior.
Churches that are telling people that they have to turn from sin to have eternal life are not giving the gospel.
Here in Australia, they had the annual Gay ‘Pride’ parade with all the pomp and ceremony in Sydney last night displaying their utter contempt for the Word of God, but enthusiastically promoted by Mainstream Media, the politicians on both sides of the Government, the Law Enforcement and the general public just loved it!
Unfortunately most ‘Christian’ churches and organisations/ministries that haven’t endorsed the Gay Pride Parade keep telling us that unless these people ‘repent’ and turn from their sins of homosexuality/sodomy, they will go to hell!
Hobbs, yes, God’s free gift of eternal life is amazing.
The false messages have become so pervasive, that it is hard for many to see past them.
Yeah, it’s a free gift through faith. You hear from somewhere or other about what Christ did for the world, you believe it, and God gives you eternal life there and then for free! You don’t have to spend the rest of your life slaving to get it.
Incredible but true.
Amazing Grace!
So odd that most of Christendom can’t/won’t accept that.
Curtis, a lot of people can’t get their heads around eternal life being a free gift, bought and paid for by Christ Jesus.
a soul don’t know your going to heaven until you know can not go to Hell . I can not go to hell (the lake of fire) because I have no sin/sins to pay for.
because Jesus paid my sin debt passed present and future.
so does “repenting of sin” “turning from sin ” pay the sin debt required to escape the lake of fire?
does “repenting of sin” make a soul perfect ?
must be perfect to enter heaven
you Must Be Born again because Jesus said You Must be born again
you MUST
those statements baffles the proud religious minds as i witness to souls in my travels.
unless a soul see’s the new man born from above spiritually and old man born of flesh the scriptures are a mystery .
reject the one sin of unbelief and you will pay an eternal punishment for all sin . Jesus cant pay for unbelief of His sin payment
john 3:7
col 1:28
rev 21:27
Alice, it is hard to know how many people in churches have never heard or believed the gospel.
Those who have never believed in Christ alone as Savior will be left behind. I am hopeful that many will come to faith in Christ before that happens, and that anyone who doesn’t will after.
Thank you Johninnc for your faithful service to the Lord and keeping us continually instructed in the Gospel of Christ.
If 95% of the Churches in the world are teaching some form of LS, Calvinism or Arminianism, then they have a false gospel that can not save.
Unless these church-goers at some point in their lives have believed the True Gospel of Grace, but have now fallen into error of LS, I am assuming that these people while proclaiming themselves to be genuine ‘born-again’ Christians are NOT saved.
When the Lord Jesus comes to take His Church/Bride home to heaven in the Rapture (hopefully not too far away) these people would ALL be left behind!
On the other side of the Rapture, if they survive physically, they would be wondering why THEY didn’t get raptured along with the rest of us, perhaps then they will realise that they had been believing a false gospel of faith+works all their lives. May be then they will wake up and believe in Christ alone and the true Gospel.
Holly,thanks.
“Pilgrim’s Progress,” ugh!
Great article and much needed John.
So many seem to continue to insist the narrow way is their works. They are sliding through a rough path in which they work the whole way to make the right decisions in order to even be able to ‘enter in’ the strait gate (Pilgrim’s Progress).
Anyways, I marvel that they think they can somehow undo what they have done and make it equal perfection.
JohnWI, yeah, I think you’re making a good choice not being willing to compromise.
Amen John! That’s why we are having such a time finding a church to go to in our area. If the church or pastor doesn’t take a stand against calvinism or LS, then how do you know where the people attending the church stand. We have found that many of the people attending are usually believing the false gospel of Macarthurism or Piperism. Now, do we attend a church like that in hopes we can open the eyes of some to that heresy, and we have found the answer to be no. You can’t have fellowship with other members of the church if they are trusting in a wolf in sheep’s clothing. For now, my wife and I, are content with having church at home, listening to Pastor Cucuzza and Pastor Yankee.
Jason, nice!
Broadway’s favorite play is, “Wicked: the Life and Times of the Lordship Salvationist”.
Kirk, yeah, MacArthur is bad news. He is hardly the first, but he is very prominent today.
Thank you for this enlightening article.
I believe it would be accurate for me to state that John MacArthur’s book, “The Gospel According To Jesus” was the equivalent of the “Corona Virus “ of the New Evangelical movement; the poison Tip of one of Satan’s most successful Fiery darts of removing Faith alone + nothing from the free gift Gospel of Grace for our Salvation. KMS/LTM 2/24/2020
Ken M Schmidt
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The Blood, we are happy that the article gave you peace.
It is sad that much of professing Christendom may have never believed the gospel.
For those of us who are clear on the gospel, it is essential that we not undermine God’s good news by giving any credence to those who preach false gospels.
This article brought PEACE to my soul, thank you. This means that a whopping 97% of so-called “Christians” arent really saved at all…. YIKES
LD, blessings to you as well.
Amen! The true gospel is plain, simple, and can save. It’s sad to see how people who hold to Lordship salvation cannot see their contradicting statements when it comes to how one can get saved according to them. Blessings to you Johninnc and all brethren in Christ!