There are a lot of Theological positions that Christians can disagree on. I've studied them all in Bible college, and I've rubbed shoulders with believers of almost every one of these positions while doing ministry. I have been blessed and enriched by Christian people who come at things from different angles than I always have. I have been challenged and sharpened. As I said, there are a lot of different things believers can take a position on. As far as I'm concerned, though, there is only one major theological issue that I consider vitally important to come to an agreement on, and that is this: What is involved in our salvation?
Those of us who believe the Bible know that salvation comes through faith in Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection. But what is our part? This is an area of great division. It is an area my husband and I have been studying for the last few years. There are two major positions. These are Lordship salvation, and Free Grace (which the Lordship Salvation crowd refer to as easy believism). I'm going to examine both of these positions and suggest an unavoidable conclusion.
Lordship Salvation is, as the name suggests making Christ Lord of every area of one's life. It is surrender and submission. A well-known proponent of this position is John MacArthur, who pastors Grace Community Church in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. MacArthur is currently a modern-day hero in California, where he has stood up to the governor's demands that churches not meet. For his courage, John MacArthur is facing threats and legal action, as well as garnering a great deal of support and respect from believers all over the nation. His courage and conviction are clearly admirable. Lets look at what is involved in Lordship Salvation, which he and so many others are teaching.
A common alter call song in churches for decades has been the hymn, I Surrender All. Published in 1896, this song urges people to forsake all for the sake of Christ. Likewise, a popular praise chorus from when I was growing up, Spirit Song, by John Wimber, urges people to "Let Him have the things that hold you, and His Spirit like a dove, will descend upon your life and make you whole." The second verse in the song says to, "give Him all your tears and sadness, give him all your years of pain, and you'll enter into life in Jesus' name." Is this kind of surrender biblical? Is it right to surrender it all to Him, losing our lives to find them? Yes. the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:7, But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted loss for the sake of Christ. Other scriptures also indicate a call to surrender. Jesus said in Luke 9:23, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. Jesus adds in Mark 8:35, For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. Several times in the gospels, people came to Jesus, and He challenged them with areas of their lives that weren't truly surrendered, such as the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-27). These passages illustrate the reality of what is involved in discipleship. Romans 10:9 itself says, That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. This verse, which I have often heard in invitations, seems indicative of Lordship salvation, if we must confess Him as Lord in addition to belief in His death and resurrection. Additionally, John 14:15 says, If you love Me, keep My commandments. This seems to show that true love for the Lord involves obedience.
On the other hand, Free Grace promotes that salvation is a distinct and separate experience from discipleship. Salvation, this position argues, is by grace through faith. Once a person is saved, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, they are able to grow and follow Christ, surrendering more and more of themselves to Him. To this belief, that surrender comes after salvation, not before, not simultaneously. After. A proponent of this view was the late Zane C. Hodges, who authored the book Absolutely Free. Other well-known proponents of Free Grace Theology include J. Vernon McGee, Charles Stanley and Chuck Swindoll. While proponents of Lordship Salvation refer to this view as Easy Believism, this isn't the term preferred by those who follow it. They would simply refer to it as Free Grace Theology.
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| J. Vernon McGee is one of my favorite proponents of Free Grace theology |
An alter call hymn more in line with this position would be Just As I Am, published in 1835. Unlike I Surrender All, this song talks about coming to Christ just as you are, no strings attached. The condition for salvation given in the song is "that thy blood was shed for me." A more modern song with the same message is the Crystal Lewis invitation song, Come Just as You Are. This song has been used at at Harvest Crusades, where evangelist Greg Laurie urges people to come as they are to a saving faith in Christ.
The Free Grace position would argue that the scriptures which promote surrender are referring to discipleship after salvation. These surrender scriptures are vital for living a successful Christian life, but not for salvation itself. Scriptural arguments in favor of Free Grace include Ephesians 2:8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast. There you have it. Salvation is by grace through faith, not of our own doing. Surrendering all would be our own doing, so this verse seems to rule out total surrender as as condition for salvation. In John 6:28, Jesus is asked, What shall we do, that we should work the works of God? and He answered in verse 29, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent. The only work is to believe in Jesus. When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, Jesus plainly told him, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3). Later on, Jesus explains what this means: whoever believes in Him will have eternal life (John 3:15), that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16b), He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe is judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18). Jesus is talking about having salvation, not about living out the Christian life, and He keeps emphasizing belief in Him. In going back to Romans 10:9, which says we must confess Jesus as Lord, we need to look at what that is saying. Jesus is the Lord. He is God. Part of saving faith is recognizing He is who He claimed to be. This, again, is about belief, not trying to give everything up for the gospel. Any passage that talks explicitly about salvation talks about faith in Jesus Christ, not about giving everything up for Him.
In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son. This young man demanded his father give him his inheritance. Once he had it, he left, living a sinful and wasteful lifestyle. His sin caught up to him when his money was spent, he was broke, a famine had hit, and he was starving. He decided to go back to his father, but in recognizing his sin, he decided to offer to be a servant, knowing he was no longer worthy to be a son. When he reached his father, his father ran and hugged him, and didn't even give him a chance to offer to become a servant. The father rejoiced that his son had come home, and celebrated. This is indicative of free grace. He didn't even give the son the opportunity to surrender himself as a servant, and certainly didn't expect it of him. He didn't tell his son, "Well, you didn't act in a way that proves you're my son, so I'm not sure about you now. Maybe you're not really my son. I'm starting to doubt it. I need to see more surrender before I take you back." No! This father loved and forgave his sin, without his son doing anything besides coming back. That's salvation. That is free grace.
In John 4, Jesus talked to the woman at the well. This is an amazing story, but I want to focus on the end of it. Jesus asked the woman to go get her husband in verse 16, to which the woman replies that she has no husband. Jesus answers, You have correctly said, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you have now is not your husband. The woman immediately changes the subject, obviously shocked and embarrassed to have her immoral lifestyle brought up by Jesus, a stranger to her. But she was also amazed. She knew there was something to this. She was being drawn to salvation. In verse 25, the woman mentions the Messiah, to which Jesus replies in verse 26, I who speak to you am He. At that moment, the woman believed. She got up and ran and told everyone in town (who had previously refused to associate with her) about Jesus. They all came to hear Him, and many believed. This woman's faith is evident in the fact that she told her neighbors. Yet there is no evidence that she was cleaning up her life. We don't know what the rest of her life looked like. Jesus didn't tell her she needed to clean up her act before she could believe. He pointed out her sin, and told her who He was. This is what is needed for salvation.
First Corinthians 3 talks about how, with our Christian lives, we earn rewards in Heaven. Some believers, while they are saved, will lose all their rewards, because they didn't live for the Lord. Verse 15 says, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. This scripture is so clear that there will be people in Heaven who have nothing to show for their lives on earth--no rewards--but they are saved. Clearly, these believers didn't surrender all areas of their lives. They didn't let the Lord change them. They didn't obey the Lord's calling on them. But they believed in Christ for salvation, and He forgave their sins. This is what brings eternal life. These people are heartbreaking in a way, because God has so much more for them. But they have victory where it counts, because the only real victory is Christ's victory, and they have taken that on by faith.
I have heard some in the Lordship salvation camp say, "There is no such thing as a carnal Christian. You're either sold out to Christ, or you're not saved." This is so untrue. The passage I just shared from First Corinthians 3 would reveal that there are many carnal Christians! I mean, haven't any of these people making this fallacious claim been to a church potluck or business meeting? You don't have to look very far to see carnal Christians. Sometimes, we don't have to look further than the mirror. We shouldn't be carnal. We don't have to be carnal. But sometimes we are.
I have examined people's lives before, and wondered if they were really saved. I have struggled with assurance of salvation (particularly as a teenager), because my life didn't always match up to my faith. But that's why we need God! As I've grown, and seen God work in my life and the lives of others, I have realized that we can't know someone else's heart condition. If someone claiming to be a Christian isn't acting like one, acknowledge the fact that what they're doing is wrong, maybe even bring it to their attention if it is appropriate to do so, but don't doubt they're saved just because they're carnal. In my mind, the only reason to doubt someone else's salvation is if they claim to believe in Christ, but then claim something unbiblical, such as, "I believe in Jesus, but I kind of think Buddha is true too. I think all religions are right." Clearly, one can't believe that and be saved, because it is incompatible with biblical teaching. But if someone says they believe in Christ, and just aren't up to the right standard, that doesn't mean they're not saved. They may be weak. They may need you!
As you can tell by now, I am on the side of free grace. I think the idea of Lordship Salvation can seem appealing at times, because we know how God wants us to live. Also, our pride gets in the way. We are doing well in our lives, and we see people really not living for the Lord, and we compare them to ourselves. That is arrogance, but we can all fall into it. I think an even more foundational reason, though, is because we truly don't understand or grasp the grace of God. We can't understand it. John Newton was right when he called it "Amazing Grace." It is amazing. It is beyond our comprehension. But it's our reality. He saves us. He loves us. He wants us! That's why He told stories about the prodigal son, or the lost sheep. I don't want to be too hard on believers who subscribe to Lordship salvation. I respect many of them a lot. I simply disagree on this point. They call my position "Easy Believism," or "Cheap Grace." My husband said it best when he responded to this, "It'd better be cheap! I don't have anything to offer!"
I mentioned a few songs in this post, and I'll close with another, published in 1865. I believe this song clearly illustrates how free salvation is, and yet what we owe the Lord once we are saved:
Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stainHe washed it white as snow
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