The following statements come from various advocates of the Calvinistic position of Lordship salvation (the position that saving faith includes a vow of commitment, surrender, submission, and turning from sin to following Christ in obedience to His commands). This in direct opposition to the biblical "Faith alone in Christ Alone." I will give the name of the person to whom the quote is to be attributed so that you may be forewarned to beware of such teachers and authors.
Here's what the Lordship Salvationists declare:
"The only thing that makes you acceptable to God is a pattern of obedience to the Word of God that is the product of repentance and genuine faith in Jesus Christ and truly abandoning your life to obedience to His lordship." John MacArthur
"We are not born again if we aren't living differently than if we weren't. People who claim to be born again but don't change aren't saved. I think if you don't believe in Christ as your financial advisor, you aren't saved." John Piper
"Salvation for sinners cost God His own Son; it cost God’s Son His life, and it’ll cost you the same thing.” John MacArthur
"The astonishing idea is current in some circles today that we can enjoy the benefits of Christ's salvation without accepting the challenge of His sovereign lordship.Such an unbalanced notion is not to be found in the New Testament." James Montgomery Boice
"Evangelists say, it takes only 5 minutes [to become a Christian]. NO my friends, it will take your life." Paul Washer
"You cannot cling to sin and to the Savior at the same time." John MacArthur
"In our own presentation of Christ’s gospel, therefore, we need to lay a similar stress as Christ did on the cost of following Christ, and make sinners face it soberly before we urge them to respond to the message of free forgiveness.” J. I. Packer
"Faith is essential for salvation. But we must be absolutely clear on what we mean when we speak of “salvation by faith.” There are various kinds of belief or faith, and not all are linked to salvation. In the New Testament, faith means more than intellectual belief. It involves trust and commitment." The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
"I talked about the young man’s need to surrender his whole life, his future, his ambitions, his relationships, his possessions, and everything he was to God. Only if he was prepared to do this, my friend explained, could Christ begin to work effectively in his life." Anonymous
"One thing that marks the difference between a true believer and a false believer and that is a pattern of living, eager submissive obedience to the Word of God." John MacArthur
"Saving faith must be obedient faith." James White (This fellow has other problems as we'll see next week. Serious problems.)
"You need to believe that Jesus is God and that He died for your sins, committing your whole life to Him in sacrifice and serving Him as Lord." John MacArthur
"Submission to the will of God, to Christ’s lordship, and to the guiding of the Spirit is an essential, not an optional, part of saving faith" John MacArthur.
"These, then, are the essential elements of the gospel: the sin of all men, the death of Christ on the cross to pay for those sins, the resurrection of Christ to provide life everlasting for those who follow Him, and the offer of the free gift of salvation to all. gotquestions.org (Following Him is a discipleship truth, not a part of the gospel)
"Saving faith is a placing of oneself totally in submission
to the Lord Jesus Christ"John MacArthur
"If you have true faith that faith will immediately , necessarily and inherently produce the fruit of sanctification." R. C. Sproul
"Faith alone saves but the faith that saves is not alone." David Guzik (This statement is a logical fallacy.)
"To define saving faith apart from feeling slash emotions, slash affectations of glad dependence, fervent acclamation, pleased submission, centered resting, thrilled treasuring, eager reverence, heartfelt adoration, is futile." John Piper.
"Repentance is an old fashioned word which means to confess and forsake you sins because you don't want to be a hypocrite and say, 'I believe but I still lie and steal." Ray Comfort
"It's the doers who are saved. The gospel is a call to discipleship." John MacArthur
"There are two things you must do to be saved. You must repent. Turn from all sins, no more lying, no more lust, no more blasphemy and trust in Jesus. You shouldn't let foul words come out of your mouth" Ray Comfort ((He often proclaims these words with a bull horn to passersby.)
The fallout from lordship salvation has serious repercussions:
1. Works become part of the definition of faith. (but, Romans 3:28)
2. It robs the believer of his assurance of salvation. (How much submission, obedience are enough?)
3. It produces confusion.
4. It takes the focus off the finished work of Christ and puts the spotlight on the performance of the believer.
5. It is a "gospel" that has yet to save anyone. (The message of a lordship salvationist is not good news.)
6. Children cannot be saved. (But, Acts16:32)
7. It's multitude of requirements are impossible to attain, such as "turn from ALL your sin." Even the erroneous evangelist hasn't done that. (I Jn. 1:10 was written to believers.)
8. In reference to the demand of "commitment," how many times has a believer "committed," "had to commit again, then again and once more and once more? The thief on the cross didn't "commit," didn't make Christ his financial advisor, didn't
How Paul's answer to the question of "How to be saved," we read, "“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:31)
In the conversation with the woman at the well in John 4 about salvation, see if you can find a verse in which Jesus tells her to stop living with a man who was not her husband. Let me know when you find the verse.
I close with, "Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast [a]the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you [b]as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." That's it; faith alone.
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