I'm Afraid Lordship Salvation is Frequently Misunderstood for Works Salvation

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I remembered the time I thought lordship salvation equals works salvation when it isn't. J. Vernon McGee warned about lordship salvation while he actually taught it. CARM.org also got it wrong on lordship salvation in its article "What is lordship salvation?". Some people think they're against lordship salvation even when they agree to its distinctions. I thought of myself as an opponent of lordship salvation until early 2011. I was stuck in the controversy until I decided to read John F. MacArthur's article "An Introduction to Lordship Salvation" which placed me on the acid test. Something about it just struck me when I thought about the distinctions which I would agree on. 

The distinctions as written by MacArthur are as follows:

First, Scripture teaches that the gospel calls sinners to faith joined in oneness with repentance (Acts 2:38; 17:30; 20:21; 2 Peter 3:9). Repentance is a turning from sin (Acts 3:19; Luke 24:47) that consists not of a human work but of a divinely bestowed grace (Acts 11:18; 2 Timothy 2:25). It is a change of heart, but genuine repentance will effect a change of behavior as well (Luke 3:8; Acts 26:18-20). In contrast, easy-believism teaches that repentance is simply a synonym for faith and that no turning from sin is required for salvation. 

Second, Scripture teaches that salvation is all God's work. Those who believe are saved utterly apart from any effort on their own (Titus 3:5). Even faith is a gift of God, not a work of man (Ephesians 2:1-5, 8). Real faith therefore cannot be defective or short-lived but endures forever (Philippians 1:6; cf. Hebrews 11). In contrast, easy-believism teaches that faith might not last and that a true Christian can completely cease believing. 

Third, Scripture teaches that the object of faith is Christ Himself, not a creed or a promise (John 3:16). Faith therefore involves personal commitment to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:15). In other words, all true believers follow Jesus (John 10:27-28). In contrast, easy-believism teaches that saving faith is simply being convinced or giving credence to the truth of the gospel and does not include a personal commitment to the person of Christ. 

Fourth, Scripture teaches that real faith inevitably produces a changed life (2 Corinthians 5:17). Salvation includes a transformation of the inner person (Galatians 2:20). The nature of the Christian is new and different (Romans 6:6). The unbroken pattern of sin and enmity with God will not continue when a person is born again (1 John 3:9-10). Those with genuine faith follow Christ (John 10:27), love their brothers (1 John 3:14), obey God's commandments (1 John 2:3; John 15:14), do the will of God (Matthew 12:50), abide in God's Word (John 8:31), keep God's Word (John 17:6), do good works (Ephesians 2:10), and continue in the faith (Colossians 1:21-23; Hebrews 3:14). In contrast, easy-believism teaches that although some spiritual fruit is inevitable, that fruit might not be visible to others and Christians can even lapse into a state of permanent spiritual barrenness. 

Fifth, Scripture teaches that God's gift of eternal life includes all that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3; Romans 8:32), not just a ticket to heaven. In contrast, according to easy-believism, only the judicial aspects of salvation (e.g., justification, adoption, and positional sanctification) are guaranteed for believers in this life; practical sanctification and growth in grace require a post-conversion act of dedication. 

Sixth, Scripture teaches that Jesus is Lord of all, and the faith He demands involves unconditional surrender (Romans 6:17-18; 10:9-10). In other words, Christ does not bestow eternal life on those whose hearts remain set against Him (James 4:6). Surrender to Jesus' lordship is not an addendum to the biblical terms of  salvation; the summons to submission is at the heart of the gospel invitation throughout Scripture. In contrast, easy-believism teaches that submission to Christ's supreme authority is not germane to the saving transaction. 

Seventh, Scripture teaches that those who truly believe will love Christ (1 Peter 1:8-9; Romans 8:28-30; 1 Corinthians 16:22). They will therefore long to obey Him (John 14:15, 23). In contrast, easy-believism teaches that Christians may fall into a state of lifelong carnality. 

Eighth, Scripture teaches that behavior is an important test of faith. Obedience is evidence that one's faith is real (1 John 2:3). On the other hand, the person who remains utterly unwilling to obey Christ does not evidence true faith (1 John 2:4). In contrast, easy-believism teaches that disobedience and prolonged sin are no reason to doubt the reality of one's faith. 

Ninth, Scripture teaches that genuine believers may stumble and fall, but they will persevere in the faith (1 Corinthians 1:8). Those who later turn completely away from the Lord show that they were never truly born again (1 John 2:19). In contrast, easy-believism teaches that a true believer may utterly forsake Christ and come to the point of not believing.

After a careful reading of what was above - I realized that David J. Stewart suffers from several inconsistencies. Stewart says at one point that a Christian can live like the rest of the world then ends up saying that a Christian can't in another. The double talk of Stewart's page Jesus-is-Savior can drive anyone into confusion when you start reading more of the page which I didn't. I was thinking about the contrasts that MacArthur placed and I agree with them completely. Yes, I would have no reason to believe that Christians can have Jesus as Savior but not Lord or that a person can be saved without a change. I don't believe I'm sinless, I'm still struggling, but to believe in a Christ that doesn't change His followers is to believe in a Jesus that's not of the Gospel. MacArthur's two books "The Gospel According to Jesus" and "Hard to Believe: The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus" are recommended readings as it explains that not everyone who claims to be eternally secure is eternally secure.

Got Questions' article "What is lordship salvation?" also has me agreeing on what it has to say:

Lordship salvation teaches that a true profession of faith will be backed up by evidence of faith. If a person is truly following the Lord, then he or she will obey the Lord’s instructions. A person who is living in willful, unrepentant sin has obviously not chosen to follow Christ, because Christ calls us out of sin and into righteousness. Indeed, the Bible clearly teaches that faith in Christ will result in a changed life (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:22–23; James 2:14–26). 

Lordship salvation is not a salvation-by-works doctrine. Advocates of lordship salvation are careful to say that salvation is by grace alone, that believers are saved before their faith ever produces any good works, and that Christians can and do sin. However, true salvation will inevitably lead to a changed life. The saved will be dedicated to their Savior. A true Christian will not feel comfortable living in unconfessed, unforsaken sin.

So, reading the doctrine made me agree on the following things:

  1. Surrendering to Christ is not the same as works salvation. Surrender means giving up towards Christ. To surrender one's life to Christ means to realize that you're no longer able to save yourself and let Him become the lord of your life by accepting Him as your Savior. To get saved means to simply give up to Him without a fight. Works salvation is not giving up without a fight.
  2. Repentance of sin doesn't mean works salvation. Repent in Greek means metanoneia. My first understanding of repentance was to be sorry for your sins. Unless a person is sorry for their sins then they can never truly savingly believe. You can think of how the call to repent of your sins is taught in Luke 24:47. I wonder why easy believists just don't get it? To repent of your sin is to acknowledge you've sinned. Only people willing to turn from sin can see their need for the Savior. People who love to sin are bound to reject the Savior.
  3. I can agree that nobody is truly 100% perfect after salvation. However, something is really wrong when you believe that you can be saved and never change. Rapist Christian? Pornographer Christian? Christian living in sin without remorse? Such is not taught in the Bible. Instead, 1st Corinthians 6:11 says that such were some of them and that they were rescued and redeemed from their sinful lifestyles. Reading Acts and seeing people accepting Jesus as their Savior started to hate sin all the more. 
  4. The idea of reverting to unbelief and still saved is nowhere in the Bible. 1st John 2:19 describes such people as apostates and not saved, to begin with. How can anybody be living in sin and claim to be saved? Only false converts of Antinomianism are bound to really believe in such a foolish doctrine. True converts, slow as they may be, can't live like the rest of the world. Lot was foolish enough to enter Sodom but he didn't revel in its sins (2 Peter 2:7).
So, we end up erroneously lumping lordship salvation with conditional security. Did MacArthur, Ray Comfort, Paul Washer, and the like say you can lose your salvation? On the contrary, they said true salvation is kept and preserved. The Bible speaks that true salvation produces good works (Matthew 7:14-20) and that true grace brings forth good works (Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 2:11-14). Conditional security is dangerous then so is Antinomianism. In my case, I'd say I believe in lordship salvation and want to clear out any misunderstanding or how the term also gets muddled on every now and then with the wrong definition. 

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