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Colossians 2:16, 17, "Let no man
therefore judge you in meat, or in
drink, or in respect of an holyday, or
of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
which are a shadow of things to come;
but the body is of Christ." I
Corinthians 2:8, "Which none of the
princes of this world knew- for had they
known it, they would not have crucified
the Lord of glory."
Now exactly what is Lordship salvation?
It is a doctrine embraced by some who
say that one must receive Jesus Christ
as Saviour and Lord in order to be
saved. A careful took at this
doctrine will show that it is really
nothing more but salvation by works
rearing its ugly head. It adds to
salvation by faith and faith alone
something that man must do, and that is
make Jesus the Lord of his life.
Those who embrace this doctrine often do
so from good motives. They are
sick of sub-standard Christianity and
shallow Christian living. They
find others who agree with them, and as
they fellowship in their lamentation
caused by disappointment after examining
the lives of God's people, their
lamentation becomes doctrine. They
do not realize that they are adding
works to salvation. They adopt
spiritual clichés such as "if
Christ is not Lord of all, He will not
be Lord at all." Then they
will adopt other little clichés like,
"Don't pluck green fruit,"
"Easy believism," etc.
Their disappointment and oftentimes
disgust with the shallowness of many
Christians causes them to go so far in
their disdain that they teach heresy.
They love to talk about returning to New
Testament Christianity. Well, the
truth is, people have not changed since
the New Testament. They had
shallow Christians then even as we have
today. For example, look at I
Corinthians 3:14, "And I, brethren,
could not speak unto you as unto
spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as
unto babes in Christ. I have fed you
with milk, and not with meat: for
hitherto ye were not able to bear it,
neither yet now are ye able. For ye are
yet carnal: for whereas there is among
you envying, and strife, and divisions,
are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For
while one saith, I am of Paul; and
another, I am of Apollos; are ye not
carnal?" Here we have mention
of carnal Christians. Jesus was
certainly not Lord of their lives.
Yet they are called babes in Christ.
I Corinthians 5:1-5, "It is
reported commonly that there is
fornication among you, and such
fornication as is not so much as named
among the Gentiles, that one should have
his father's wife. And ye are
puffed up, and have not rather mourned,
that he that hath done this deed might
be taken away from among you. For
I verily, as absent in body, but present
in spirit, have judged already, as
though I were present, concerning him
that hath so done this deed. In
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when
ye are gathered together, and my spirit,
with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
to deliver such an one unto Satan for
the destruction of the flesh, that the
spirit may be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus." Here is a member
of the church, and the Lord said of him
that his spirit would be saved in the
day of judgment. What a tragic
testimony! He, like Ananias and
Sapphira and others, had committed the
sin unto death. Certainly Christ
was not the Lord of his life.
Galatians 4:8-11, "Howbeit then,
when ye knew not God, ye did service
unto them which by nature are no gods.
But now, after that ye have known God,
or rather are known of God, how turn ye
again to the weak and beggarly elements,
whereunto ye desire again to be in
bondage? Ye observe days, and months,
and times, and years. I am afraid of
you, lest I have bestowed upon you
labour in vain." Once again
we have some weak Christians whose lives
were not characterized by the Lordship
of Christ.
2nd Thessalonians 3:6,14,15-- "Now
we command you, brethren, in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw
yourselves from every brother that
walketh disorderly, and not after the
tradition which he received of us. And
if any man obey not our word by this
epistle, note that man, and have no
company with him, that he may be
ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy,
but admonish him as a brother."
Was Jesus the Lord of Lot's life when he
was in Sodom? Of course not, yet
God called him "just."
This does not mean he was just in his
behavior, but he was just in his
standing before God because he was a
believer. Was Jesus the Lord of David's
life when he sinned? Was Jesus the
Lord of Peter's life when he denied the
Lord, denied the faith and denied the
church? Was Jesus the Lord of
Abraham's life when he fled to Egypt
because of a lack of faith? Was
Jesus the Lord of Moses' life when he
lost his ticket to the Holy Land because
of his sin of smiting the rock twice?
Was Jesus the Lord of Jacob's life when
he was in Haran all those years?
Now certainly there is a doctrine called
the Lordship of Christ, and the Bible is
full of warnings, pleadings and
exhortations for God's children to yield
to Lordship. Romans 12:1, "I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service." Romans
6-12, 13, "Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body, that ye
should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Neither yield ye your members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:
but yield yourselves unto God, as those
that are alive from the dead, and your
members as instruments of righteousness
unto God." Galatians 5:16,
"This I say then, Walk in the
Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the
lust of the flesh." Galatians
6:10-17, "As we have therefore
opportunity, let us do good unto all
men, especially unto them who are of the
household of faith. Ye see how large a
letter I have written unto you with mine
own hand. As many as desire to make a
fair shew in the flesh, they constrain,
you to be circumcised; only lest they
should suffer persecution for the cross
of Christ. For neither they themselves
who are circumcised keep the law; but
desire to have you circumcised, that
they may glory in your flesh. But God
forbid that I should glory, save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom
the world is crucified unto me, and I
unto the world. For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth any thing,
nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
And as many as walk according to this
rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and
upon the Israel of God. From henceforth
let no man trouble me: for I bear in my
body the marks of the Lord Jesus."
The admonition to the unsaved is that
they accept Christ as Saviour. The
admonition to those who have accepted
Christ as Saviour is to accept Him as
Lord.
Now here are some observations about
Lordship salvation.
1. In the final analysis, it is
salvation by works, which is in direct
contrast to the teaching of the
Scriptures. Titus 3:5,
"Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His
mercy He saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost." Romans 3:28,
"Therefore we conclude that a man
is justified by faith without the deeds
of the law." Romans 4:2, "For
if Abraham were justified by works, he
hath whereof to glory; but not before
God." Ephesians 2:8, 9,
"For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God: not of works, lest any
man should boast." Romans
4-5, "But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on Him that justifieth the
ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness."
2. If one must accept Christ as Lord
of his life in order to be saved, it
would of necessity remove growth in
grace. If one has yielded his
life to Christ as Lord at salvation,
there would be no babes in Christ, but
the simple truth is that there are babes
in Christ. I Corinthians 3: 1, "And
1, brethren, could not speak unto you as
unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even
as unto babes in Christ." I
Peter 2:2, "As new born babes,
desire the sincere milk of the Word,
that ye may grow thereby."
3. Lordship salvation necessitates
the doctrine of losing one's salvation.
If one must make Jesus his Lord in order
to be saved, then when he backslides to
the position to where Jesus is no longer
his Lord, consistency would drive us to
believe that he is no longer saved.
This would make us doubt the salvation
of Peter when he denied the Lord, the
salvation of Barnabas when he had
contention with Paul, the salvation of
Jonah when he left the will of God, etc.
4. Lordship salvation makes no
provision for the carnal Christian. None
of us takes pleasure in the carnality of
a Christian, but the fact remains that
there is such a person taught in the
Bible. In I Corinthians 3:1 we
have the carnal Christian and the
spiritual Christian. "And I,
brethren, could not speak unto you as
unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even
as babes in Christ." The
world is divided between saved and lost.
The saved are divided between carnal and
spiritual. I do not delight that
there carnal Christians, but I must
accept the fact that they exist.
5. Lordship salvation removes grace
and would nullify the plainest verses in
the Bible concerning salvation.
John 3:15, "That whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but
have eternal life." John 3:16,
"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."
John 3:36, "He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life: and he
that believeth not the Son shall not see
life; but the wrath of God abideth on
him." 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." John 1: 11,
12, "He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not. But as many
as received Him, to them gave He power
to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name."
Ephesians 2:8, 9, "For by grace are
ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: not
of works, lest any man should
boast." All of these verses
plainly tell us salvation is by
believing; that is, by faith in the
finished work of Calvary.
6. Salvation is receiving, not
giving. John 1: 12, "But
as many as received Him, to them gave He
power to become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on His name." In
salvation it is God Who does the giving,
not man. Man does the receiving. God
gives His Son. John 3:16,
"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."
God gives eternal life. John
10:28, "And I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand." God gives us all
things. Romans 8:32, "He that
spared not His own Son, but delivered
Him up for us all, how shall He not with
Him also freely give us all
things?" To be a believer,
one accepts what God has given. To
be a disciple, one gives.
Salvation comes from the sacrifice of
Christ. Discipleship comes from
the sacrifice of self. Salvation
depends on God's faithfulness.
Discipleship depends on my faithfulness.
Hence, salvation cannot be lost.
Discipleship can be lost.
Occasionally someone will say, "You
can be saved if you will give your heart
to Jesus." Now I think that
people who use this statement are
sincere, and many have been saved in
response to their appeal, but
technically one is saved, not because he
gives his heart to Jesus; one is saved
because he receives Jesus and His gift
of eternal life.
7. Lordship salvation would make
salvation a trade or a deal or maybe
even a bribe. It would take
away the simple reception of Christ for
eternal life and would become God giving
us something if we give Him something.
God would say to us, "You give Me
something; I'll give you something.
We will trade, and you will be
saved." Salvation is not my
giving God something and God giving me
something; salvation is God giving me
something and my receiving it. Romans
6:23 "For the wages of sin is
death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our
Lord."
In order to understand the Lordship of
Christ, let us notice the following:
1. The unsaved man is IN the flesh
and sin is IN him.
2. He receives Christ. Christ
comes IN him. Colossians 1:27, "To
whom God would make known what is the
riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles; which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory."
3. When Christ enters, the old man does
not leave. Though Christ is in him,
so is the old nature. Romans
7:15-17, "For that which I do I
allow not: for what I would, that do I
not; but what I hate, that do I. If then
I do that which I would not, I consent
unto the law that it is good. Now then
it is no more I that do it, but sin that
dwelleth in me." There is the
new man and there is the old man in the
believer. Romans 7:22, 23,
"For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man: but I see another
law in my members, warring against the
law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in
my members."
4. The new man needs new environment. Hence,
he is IN Christ. 2nd Corinthians 5:17,
"Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are
become new." Ephesians 2:6,
"And hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus." The
term "in Christ" or its
equivalent is mentioned over 130 times
in the New Testament.
5. Now that I am IN Christ, many
things are made available to me. Ephesians
1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ."
I Corinthians 3:21, "Therefore let
no man glory in men. For all
things are your's." Romans
8:32, "He that spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall He not with Him also freely
give us all things?"
6. Though these things are available
to me, they are not forced upon me,
though I live where they are.
Notice that I am already in Christ, and
now that I am in Him, these things are
available to me, but I must choose to
have them. One of these things is
fellowship with God. Ephesians
2:13, "But now in Christ Jesus ye
who sometimes were far off are made nigh
by the blood of Christ."
Another is a spiritual walk. I
John 2:6, "He that saith he abideth
in Him ought himself also so to walk,
even as He walked." Another
is His approval. Romans 16:10,
"Salute Apelles approved in Christ.
Salute them which are of Aristobulus'
household." Another is
spiritual growth. Colossians 2:7,
"Rooted and built up in Him, and
stablished in the faith, as ye have been
taught, abounding therein with
thanksgiving." Another is spiritual
maturity Colossians 1:28, "Whom we
preach, warning every man, and teaching
every man in all--wisdom; that we may
present every man perfect in Christ
Jesus." Another is
sanctification. I Corinthians 1:2,
"Unto the church of God which is at
Corinth, to them that are sanctified in
Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with
all that in every place call upon the
name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both
their's and our's."
All of these things are available to the
believer. All are at his disposal,
whereas none were before he came in
Christ. When he became a new
creature and entered into Christ, these
and many other things were made
available to him. Now to whatever extent
man avails himself of these things that
are at his disposal, Christ is his Lord.
Naturally, the baby Christian does not
avail himself of all the things that are
his any more than the babe in the house
avails himself to the washing machine or
the family car. However, as we
avail ourselves more and more of the
things that Christ has made for us, we
grow in grace and Jesus becomes more the
Lord of our lives.
Perhaps the greatest Christian who ever
lived was the Apostle Paul. In
speaking of himself he said, "0
wretched man that I am." He
called himself "the chief of
sinners." He said the things
that he would do, he did not, and the
things he would not do, he did.
Probably Jesus was Lord of more of
Paul's life than any other person who
ever lived, but Paul himself said he had
not yet apprehended.
In conclusion, notice the vanity and
pride involved in one testifying to his
salvation who believes in Lordship
salvation. He is saying, "I
have made Jesus my Lord."
That means that Jesus controls his life
and he is totally yielded. My,
what a statement for a person to make
about himself! On the other hand,
notice the humility in the person's
testimony who says, "I am saved
because I received Christ as my Saviour."
He is talking about a salvation that he
did not merit. He did nothing to
receive it except receive it. It
was a gift. Whereas, if we bad to
give something to God to get something
in return, he and God made a trade and
his salvation is earned.
Dr.
Jack Hyles
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