Theology Terms Tuesday – Lordship Salvation
Lordship salvation is the position that receiving Christ involves a turning in the heart from sin and, as a part of faith, a submissive commitment to obey Jesus Christ as Lord. It also maintains that progressive sanctification and perseverance must necessarily follow conversion. Those who hold to the doctrine of perseverance of the saints see this not only as a requirement, but an assured certainty according to the sustaining grace of Christ.
The doctrine of lordship salvation has implications for evangelism, assurance, and the pursuit of holiness. The grace of God in salvation not only forgives, but transforms, and a lack of obedience or transformation in a person’s life is warrant to doubt that they have been born again. The grounds for assurance include not only the objective promises of God (like John 3:16), but also the internal testimony of the Spirit (Romans 8:16) and holiness the Spirit produces in our lives (1 John 2:3-4,19).
The non-lordship salvation position is popularly known by critics as “easy believism”, and by adherents as “free grace”. However, proponents of Lordship salvation frown upon this usage of the term “free grace”, as the free grace spoken of the Bible both justifies the sinner and transforms the heart unto obedience.
You put the distinction very well.
How many times haven’t you heard the following kind of vituperation? This one is from a fellow Jew.
According to G-d, an unreprentant sinner will be brought to account, and justice, by G-d. But you say that since Jesus died for your sins, G-d is going to look the other way if you decide to cheat on your wife or commit a murder. That program of belief invites a standard of immoral conduct that is anathema to the direction G-d provided us in His Torah. For instance, as we’ve discussed together, the majority of the Nazi butchers were Christians who “accepted Jesus in their hearts as their lord and savior”, and whom Christianity thus deems positioned for everlasting tranquility in heaven, while the Nazis’ innocent Jewish victims, including 1.5 million children, will eternally burn in hell because G-d prefers the company of butchers over anyone who would dare offend Him by refusing to bow to an idol named Jesus.
http://onedaringjew.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/amish-goes-heimish-were-here-in-israel-to-say-were-sorry/
Hi Brian, me again. Just a little suggestion. Maybe it would be a good idea to quote the scriptures and not just the references. As you know, our words are not as sharp, and for sure not as double-edged, as scripture.
Raphael