The False Gospel of Lordship Salvation
If salvation is somewhat by works it is altogether by works.
The False Gospel of Lordship Salvation
Galatians 1:6-7
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
The Gospel is the “Good News” that Jesus Christ has made eternal life attainable for mankind through His vicarious death, burial, and resurrection. The essence of the Gospel and the reason it is truly “good news” is found in it’s simplicity, as stated so beautifully in the most famous verse in scripture.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in himshould not perish, but have everlasting life.
Biblical salvation is given to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone for forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Forgiveness and eternal life cannot be earned or purchased but can be freely received by putting all of our faith in Christ alone! It is the gift of God and can only be received as such.
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.
The Bible teaches clearly that Jesus is the Door, and any man that tries to enter another way will be treated as a thief. Biblical salvation is clear- it is by grace (unmerited acceptance) through faith in the finished work of Christ alone.
Paul warned us that other so called gospels would be preached, and we see many today. So called gospels pretend that faith in Christ is not enough to save us when the Bible says that it is the only thing that God will accept.
One particular false gospel that has crept into even Bible- believing churches at times, is the false gospel often called “Lordship Salvation”. “Lordship Salvation” teaches that you must do more than simply believe on Jesus to get saved. It teaches that you must give up your sin in exchange for eternal life. It implies that God will accept your faith in Christ only if you are willing to turn from your sin.
Of course, none of the proponents of Lordship salvation can explain what particular sins are worth exchanging for our eternal soul, nor can they tell you what percentage of sin you have to be willing to give up. As a matter of fact, they often admit that no one stops sinning at salvation but somehow still think that giving up a particular sin in their life makes them worthy of Christ saving them.
Sometimes they even ask someone who is seeking to be saved “Is there anything that you are not willing to give up for Jesus to save you?” This clearly reveals that they do not understand true salvation for Jesus Himself said plainly “...what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” The sinner does not do the giving at salvation, the Savior does. Nothing we could give up would make us worthy of forgiveness of sins and eternal life! It is an insult to Jesus’ incredible payment on Calvary to pretend that my willingness to give up some sin in my life (whatever that means) would help cover the cost of my soul. It is an insult to the holiness of God to pretend that His gift could be purchased with my willingness to stop some of my sinning.
Truly, Lordship Salvation is a false gospel!
It is a false Gospel because it puts its faith in man and not Christ.
If my willingness to stop sinning is what ultimately saves me, then I am the hero of my own salvation. I was willing to stop sinning so God found me worthy of saving. Those that were unwilling to stop sinning, God refused to save when they asked Him because they were unworthy.
This kind of salvation is not about the grace and mercy of Almighty God. Instead, it is about my worthiness of being saved by my willingness to begin doing good. This way of salvation is foreign to the Scriptures.
Romans 3:20-27
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is theknowledge of sin.
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and theprophets;
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe:for there is no difference:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousnessfor the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him whichbelieveth in Jesus.
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Bible salvation is God justifying freely (at no cost to them) those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! It is Christ’s righteousness, imputed to us freely at salvation, that makes us justified in the sight of God. In biblical salvation, there is nothing for a man to boast about. Biblical salvation brings praise only to God for His mercy and grace!
It is a false Gospel because no one is trusting in their sin to save them.
Those who espouse Lordship Salvation often use the word “repent” to add works to biblical salvation. Repent means to “think differently” about something or to “change your mind”. The Lordship Salvation crowd extrapolates this to mean that you must turn from your sin to put your faith in Christ when it comes to salvation. Biblical salvation, however teaches that we must repent of whatever we are trusting in to save us and, put all of our faith in Christ alone.
Acts 3:14-19
But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, thefaith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ shouldsuffer, he hath so fulfilled.
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
The opposite of believing completely on Jesus (and therefore what must be turned from in order to turn to Christ) is believing that something other than, or in addition to, Jesus, saves us. Of course, no one is trusting in their sin to save them. Ironically, the Bible teaches that we have to repent (change our mind) of our good works in order to cry out to God for salvation! The repentance required for salvation in the Bible is a realization that nothing but Jesus and Him alone can save us!
Luke 18:10-14
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote
upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth
himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
There are really only two religions in the world. The religion where man’s goodness saves him and true Christianity where man realizes that his goodness can never save him and that only faith in Christ can. When you understand this, you can see clearly that, in Lordship Salvation, man’s goodness (his willingness to turn from his sin) is what saves him. The Bible teaches that to trust in our goodness is to condemn ourselves to Hell for eternity.
It is a false Gospel because turning from some sin would not be enough.
If, when someone says that you must “repent of your sins” to be saved, they mean that you must realize that your good works are not capable of expunging your sins. then this is consistent with biblical salvation. It would also be consistent with biblical salvation to say that you must realize your sins justly deserve eternal punishment in Hell. However, if when someone says that you must “repent of your sins” they mean that you must stop sinning or at least stop some major sin in order to be saved, then this is “works salvation”, and a false gospel.
If turning from our sins saves us then some immediate questions must be answered. Which sins must be turned from to be saved? To what extent do I have to turn from these sins in order to be saved? What if I fall back into these sins later on?
Some advocates of Lordship salvation try to escape the obvious problems these questions reveal by saying you only have to be “willing to turn” from your sins in order to be saved. This is an ineffective escape hatch since, if I am willing and God is able, then I will turn from my sin. If I claim that I am willing but still do not immediately turn from my sin, then I am claiming that God is not able. The biblical reality is that a believer does not have to sin. The only reason we, as believers, still sin, is because we are not willing to stop!
So again, what sins must be turned from and to what extent? Much like “works salvation” proponents, Lordship salvation proponents cannot answer these foundational questions. Or maybe, they are just avoiding the obvious biblical answer.
James 2:10 &11
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet ifthou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
Biblically, if turning from sin would save us, we would have to turn from all sin, all the time. After all, if I turn from drunkeness but not from pride, I am still equally condemned. Lordship salvation is just another form of works salvation (like most false gospels) and suffers from the same fatal flaw. Which is this- if it were true, nobody could attain it.
Ironically, this is reinforced by one of the main passages Lordship salvation advocates often try to use as a proof text.
2Corinthians 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.
Strangely, the misguided Lordship salvation proponent uses this verse to say that “something had to change when you got saved”, concerning your behavior and sin. It seems to escape them completely that this verse doesn’t say “something” became new, it says “all things” became new. If you want to apply this verse to earthly behavior (a misapplication for sure) then you would have to demand that all sinful behavior had to immediately cease at salvation. Sadly, in their attempt to condemn the other guy who hasn’t changed, in their estimation, as much as them, they also condemn themselves. After all, what Christian would be so arrogant as to say that all their sinful behavior on this earth ceased the moment they got saved? This takes us right back to Galatians-
Galatians 2:16- 18
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christthe minister of sin? God forbid.
For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
If you are trying to be justified by your own righteousness instead of faith in Christ, then you will always fall short. My friend, if you think that you got saved, in part, by “turning from your sin”, then you need to be truly “born again” by faith in Christ alone. For those who have been truly saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, let’s not be duped into thinking that this false gospel of Lordship salvation is the biblical Gospel of our salvation.
