Gospel

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HENRY V. Act 4. Scene 1.

King Henry:

Gloucester, 'tis true that we are in great danger;
The greater therefore should our courage be.
Good morrow, brother Bedford. God Almighty!
There is some soul of goodness in things evil,
Would men observingly distil it out.
For our bad neighbour makes us early stirrers,
Which is both healthful and good husbandry:
Besides, they are our outward consciences,
And preachers to us all, admonishing
That we should dress us fairly for our end.
Thus may we gather honey from the weed,
And make a moral of the devil himself.

Wm. Shakespeare
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THE PROPHET EZEKIEL AND THE WIZARD OF OZ


“Turn! Turn! Why will you die?” (Ezk 33:11). “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” (Gal 5:1)

Observations and Comments On a “Lordship” Gospel of Salvation

Nowhere in the Bible are unsaved men called unto the Lordship of Jesus Christ for salvation. This is a non-supranatural evasion of a derivative rationalism that burdens the gospel with a frontloaded demand that someone's (anyone's?) subjective observation of a change of behavior in the new believer is a requirement of salvation. The frontloaded Lordship gospel is the same as "by your signature you agree to all the terms and conditions of this contract." This is not a gospel of the free grace of God. Grace is not the author of this contract, no matter the loud claims to the contrary, and salvation by grace through faith will not be "received upon delivery" of a Lordship gospel presentation.

Lordship is plain and pure legalism. The Bible is clear on the fact that the OT Jew was under the Mosaic Law because of their birth into the theocratic commonwealth of Israel. A gentile (non-Jew) prosylete conversion to Judaism required a circumcision by the hands of man. Which was NOT the prophetically promised supranatural circumcision and the writing of God's law upon the heart of a new believer by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The NT claim is that both the Jew and Gentile have been declared by God, above and beyond personal sin, to be classed together under the sin of unbelief in Jesus Christ. This includes everyone born by the "will of man."

The theology that follows the notion of the complete autonomy and ability of man’s will concludes that any person at any time and at any place may come to Christ as Lord is correct. But just here - at what may seem an unimportant, subtle emphasis - there is only an acceptance of the external ethic of sanctification when Lordship over behavior is the gospel ground of salvation.

The grand truth of positional and permanent legal justification - to be declared "not guilty" - because of the substitution made by the sinless Savior and "kinsman redeemer" is not only lept over, it is "scorned" in the teaching of Arminian seminarians. And just here, dear reader, is the crime against the gospel of God's saving grace. Saving grace is the good news of salvation. The fact of continuing sin and trouble in the world is not "good news" for a believer. A "bad news" gospel is the unadorned truth of a Lordship presentation.

A Lordship salvation is conceived and preached to rest solely upon the desire of the individual to claim it, to keep it, or to cast it away as a self-appointed lord over Christ. As one might break a contract between equals or return a gift after it has been opened. Just here is another subtle turn of mind in the Lordship gospel. The Arminian does not conceive of the gift of salvation as recieved and opened at the time of saving belief; rather, there is only the conditional promise of a gift that may only be opened after death. Accordingly, Arminian teaching and concepts of salvation with a life shared in the presence of Christ must logically begin and end with death.

Arminian salvation is a bet that the house will win. Why? Because it rests soley upon the greatest weakness of men, not their strength. The ability to overcome sin is thought to rest in the power of the one who was strong enough to claim Christ as Lord. A very seemingly tall order, don't you think? Only the truly strong and serious would accept salvation, right?

My point is - Christ is not "given" the power of continued salvation. He is only the Lord of a "Great Example" in a "bad news" gospel. The Apostle Paul told believers to imitate him, not Christ. Unfortunately, Paul was beat, jailed, and slandered almost every time he opened his mouth.

"Be ye holy, as I am holy" is the standard misinterpretation made by that old rascal Pelagius, so many centuries ago. "Be ye holy" is the same mirror of law that the Mosaic Law and the Ten Commandments are. May I sensibly clean and shave my face "with" the mirror? The Law tells me that my face is dirty and needs cleaning. Can I properly clean it without the mirror? No. But I need soap, also. I need to be washed clean by Jesus once and for all time. After, then and only then - whether I believe it or not - I do not need to be cleaned all over as Peter demanded. I don't need a mirror anymore. I can see my own dirty feet and the dirty feet of other believers. Because I have the "law of Christ" written in my heart. Therefore, based on my own circumstance, the problem I see with the unsaved is not dirty feet or a lack of a mirror - soap is what they need.

After salvation, other believers may help me keep my feet clean. Christ said, "This is my (new) commandment: Love ye one [believer] another, as I have loved you." This is exactly what Christ so lovingly demonstrated with what became a very dirty dinner towel. He continues to use that same dinner towel to wash the feet of those who are clean once and for all time. Christ Jesus the Savior is both the "justifier" and "sanctifier" in the salvation of sinners.

Sinners may easily conform to an outward show of sanctification; but those with saving faith still do not have the ability to sanctify their own heart with behavior. Believers need a living Jesus. Only through obedience in love and gratitude, not fear, may a lonely, searching, and sinning heart be sanctified in the continuing "companionship," of Jesus.

The woman mentioned in the Bible who will be remembered forever - the one who washed the feet of Jesus - was "washed clean" by Jesus through her faith in Him. She was not saved because of her foot washing behavior. The continuuing truth is: believers may only be sanctified by Christ because they were once and for all time - justified "in Christ." The Lordship gospel and its associated theory of salvation - like sin - "misses the mark" of both justification and sanctification, to strike somewhere else.

Scripture very plainly teaches that the one who overcomes is the one who believes in Jesus for salvation. But, don't take my word, read the first three chapters of Revelation and 1 John where "overcoming" is defined as faith in Christ. A false salvation, surely and certainly, may or may not be kept by the individual. However, beyond doubt, if Christ plays no part in the loss then He did not participate in the gain of salvation. In all His creation, who may claim victory over Christ?

A Lordship theme makes use of methods designed to move the audience to action. And, accordingly, the conversion of thousands of new Christians are claimed by very profitable organizations. The result of stressing free will creates a philosophy, a lovable wisdom, that serves to place “members” under the control of an organization instead of “believers” under the grace of God. An honest question for the truly serious to consider is: Today in all the world of unimaginable amounts of money spent requesting money, the money that is given, and the money that is spent by religion - out of thousands upon thousands who are claimed to have been converted by these marketing and leadership wizards, how many of these converts to church or cult are told up front, “the Lordship being solicited from you today is insufficient to save you tomorrow?”

Lordship salvation is a contract with an "asterick" clause in the fine print. No matter the size of a church, world wide or storefront, if that church teaches a false gospel of Christ "plus" a self-maintained salvation, it is only a visible church and, not part of the born from above Body of Christ. Which makes of that church, by definition: a Vatican City, a Pyramid scheme, a Ponzi scam - tax deferred or not.

Into this grab bag of religious humanist theology, which is the dominant force within so-called Orthodox Protestantism today, should go: Jewish replacement theology; the teaching of one master covenant for the whole Bible (a One Covenant or Federal view of God's covenants; the Arminian "Governmental or Rectoral" atonement theory; the Lordship gospel and parolee salvation; repeat-after-me prayers for salvation; alter calls; "all" physcho-babble Christian advice talk shows and "best sellers

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