“The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?” – Jeremiah 8:9
THEY HAVE REJECTED the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them? What wisdom is in the “great men of God” who demand sinners submit to Christ’s Lordship and vow to amend their ways as a prerequisite to salvation? What wisdom is in the “great preachers”, of our age and ages past, who scoff at the biblical truth that simply receiving Christ as Savior is all that is necessary to go to heaven? What wisdom is in the “wise men” who insist that how a man lives will determine where he spends eternity?
The prophet Jeremiah did well to wonder so. God has promised to save them that believe (1 Corinthians 1:21), and make them his children who believe on his name (John 1:12, Galatians 3:26), yet how many are the false teachers who corrupt the gospel by demanding men first surrender their lives to Jesus, follow him as their “Lord”, turn from their sins, and perform many other works to make themselves worthy enough to receive the gift of grace! What an absurdity is this, to suppose such sinful, frail, mortal creatures as we, with our deceitful hearts and our filthy rags of self-righteousness, could ever make ourselves “worthy” of salvation, could ever make ourselves righteous before the righteous Judge, could ever justify ourselves before him that is just.
I ask the advocates of this damnable heresy, have ye not read that no man shall be justified by the deeds of the law (Galatians 2:16)? Have ye not read that salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8), and therefore cannot also be of works (Romans 11:6)? Have ye not read that the redeemed are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation (1 Peter 1:5), and not by their lifestyle, or discipleship, or anything else?
“Oh, I have read those verses,” you assure me. “Certainly, salvation is by grace through faith, but you can only be saved if you also make Jesus your ‘Lord’ and commit to following him faithfully.” Well, then, let me inquire, what “faith” is this, which lodges itself, not in the blood of a Savior slain for your sins and risen unto your justification, but in the paltry efforts of human reformation? A “faith” in your faith, and your diligence in serving God, is no “faith” at all; it is merely salvation by works, repackaged with the ornament of counterfeit “grace” dangled in front to bait the gullible into depending upon their own goodness to get to heaven. And of these deluded souls, it may well be said, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3).
The accursed lie of “Lordship Salvation” may be underpinned only by duplicities and lies of the most abominable nature, but they surely are among the most insidious sophistries in existence. Whatever illogical appeals and unbiblical philosophies are deployed to obscure the truth and propound this wretched fiction that faith in Christ is not sufficient to save a man, are insidiously alluring. Perhaps, they will even persuade the naïve child of God that he really must surrender all to Jesus and try to turn from his sins in order to have eternal life, as they have already persuaded the hordes of unsaved religious people who mistakenly think how they live their lives will determine where they spend eternity.
My object now is to address several of the counterarguments Lordship Salvationists unleash when their falsehoods are challenged; by the power of the Holy Spirit, my aim is to refute these detestable lies by throwing the light of Scripture upon their hellish darkness. I do this, not only so those set for the defense of the gospel may be better equipped to reprove these unfruitful works of darkness, lest they too be deceived, but also so those ensnared within the Lordship Salvation cult may be freed from their burdens through the blood of Christ’s cross.
COUNTERARGUMENT #1: BUT MY PASTOR TEACHES THIS, AND HE’S A WISE MAN
“My pastor is smart,” you say. “He has a doctorate of divinity from an eminent Bible college, and he’s been preaching for many years. He really knows his stuff. If Lordship Salvation wasn’t true, he wouldn’t preach it.”
Merely having a Bible college degree does not mean a man is wise. It means that he has completed his courses sufficiently to obtain a college degree. Neither does preaching for many years and “really knowing his stuff” guarantee sound doctrine. My text verse, Jeremiah 8:9, asks what wisdom is in the men who reject the word of the Lord? If your pastor teaches Lordship Salvation, he has rejected the word of the Lord, and is therefore not a “wise man” in the sight of the Almighty. He is a fool, and an accursed fool at that (Galatians 1:8-9). He may have the most eloquent address, the most tender expressions, the most unfailing sincerity, but if he preaches Lordship Salvation, he preaches a false gospel. A man may be wiser than Solomon, yet if he says you must make trust Jesus as your Savior and make him your “Lord” to go to heaven, he is wrong. No quantity of human wisdom can make false doctrine true, and no amount of unbelief can make the faith of God without effect (Romans 3:3).
If you depend on your following Jesus as the “Lord of your life” to be saved, you will die in your sins and have no rest day nor night from the flaming fires of hell, for those who trust their own righteousness will perish (Ezekiel 33:13). It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man, dear reader. Please do not make the mistake of choosing your pastor’s plan of salvation, over God’s plan of salvation. The expression, “Because my pastor told me so” will not work when you stand before your Sovereign, yet in your sins because you rejected redemption through the blood of his Son by trying to redeem yourself through good works and self-reformation.
COUNTERARGUMENT #2: BUT SO MANY PASTORS TEACH THIS, SO IT MUST BE RIGHT
“Wait a minute,” you remonstrate. “Every pastor I’ve ever known teaches Lordship Salvation. Besides, all of the great, famous preachers like John MacArthur and Ray Comfort and Paul Washer teach that it’s not enough just to believe on Christ to be saved. Are you telling me they’re all wrong?”
Yes, that is precisely what I am telling you. Anyone who says that it is not sufficient to trust Christ as your Savior, but that you also must make him your “Lord”, and turn away from your sins, and surrender your life to serving him, is WRONG. How do I know they are wrong? Because they contradict the word of God, and anything, or anyone, that contradicts the word of God is WRONG. It does not matter how popular they are. It does not matter how big a church they pastor. It does not matter how many people buy their books and listen to their sermons and speak well of their ministries. It does not matter if they are “right” on other doctrines. It does not matter if they are kind and genuine and well-meaning. If they teach something contrary to the word of God, THEY ARE WRONG.
You make a grave mistake in assuming a thing’s popularity is proof of its veracity. As the saying goes, a lie is a lie, even if everyone believes it, and the truth is the truth, even if no one believes it. The number of people who teach or believe a thing has no bearing on whether or not that thing is true. If anything, because falsehoods and lies are popular in this wicked world, the popularity of something is often a good indication that thing is false. The truth is always unpopular, and always hated by many, including the vast majority of religious people. After all, there are over two billion professing Christians in the world, but how many of them are actual believers, and not merely unsaved religious people who have trusted some variation of their own goodness to save them?
Over one billion Catholics are trusting the Catholic Church’s damnable prisonhouse of religion to save them. Does this make the lie of sacramental salvation true? Nearly two billion Muslims are trusting their piety and obedience of the false god “Allah” to save them. Does this make the odious Koran true? More than one billion Hindus believe there are millions of gods. Does this make the devilish deceptions of Hinduism true?
No, dear reader, the popularity of a doctrine must never be taken as proof that doctrine is true; often and often, it is proof that doctrine is false. After all, the majority is often wrong. A majority of the people thought Jesus was a heretic and fervently supported his execution (Matthew 27:25). A majority of the people rejected Christ to praise the goddess Diana (Acts 19:28). A majority of the people believed that bloodletting was beneficial. I could furnish this article with many more examples, but I trust this is sufficient to convey my point. Following a majority is a foolish and dangerous thing. “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgement:” (Exodus 23:2).
Jesus told us that few people are truly saved (Matthew 7:14), but many people will think they are going to heaven, only to be sorely disappointed (Luke 13:24). Therefore, it makes perfect sense that hellbound heretics and damnable deceivers like MacArthur, Comfort, and Washer are so popular and beloved by the religious world. False prophets have always been beloved (Luke 6:26), because lies, and not truth, appeal to the masses. Oh, to be sure, most religious people will claim to want “the truth”, and lament its unpopularity, but what “truth” are they talking about? They have rejected the TRUTH that faith in Christ is all that is necessary for salvation. They have rejected the TRUTH that all of the modern Bible perversions are disgusting corruptions of the Scriptures. They have rejected the TRUTH that God hates ecumenicism and other abominable movements which revolve around disobeying his word.
They are not actually talking about “the truth”, but about lies they feel comfortable with, about lies they believe, like Lordship Salvation. But these are still lies, and they will take those who foolishly believe them to hell. “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:12).
COUNTERARGUMENT #3: LORDSHIP SALVATION MAKES SENSE
“But this ‘just believe and you’ll be saved’ stuff doesn’t sit well with me,” you protest. “Shouldn’t you have to give up something to get something? This easy believism makes it sound like salvation is completely free to you, and I don’t agree with that. Lordship Salvation makes much more sense to me.”
This “just believe and you’ll be saved” – true as it is – may not make sense to you. To be honest, it does not make sense to me, why a righteous God would send his only begotten Son to die for the sins of a wicked world who hates him and sins against him incessantly. It does not make sense why Jesus Christ would become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, and submit to be despised and rejected by the men for whom he suffered so he could ransom them from the hellfire and vengeance they deserve. But we must not limit the truths of God’s word simply because our feeble minds are too frail to comprehend their magnitude. What the Bible says is so, whether it makes sense to us, or not.
The salvation God offers to mankind is a FREE GIFT. Must I repeat myself? Salvation is a FREE GIFT – free, in that it costs you nothing, though the cost for he who gave himself for us was large indeed; gift, in that you can have it simply by receiving it. The Father of lights does not demand you “give up something to get something”, because salvation is NOT an exchange as accursed false prophets like John MacArthur teach, it is a FREE GIFT. He does not demand you first surrender your life to him, and make him the “Lord of your life”, and turn from your sins, in order to be saved, because salvation is not a reward, it is a FREE GIFT. Whether you, as a mortal man, agree with the living words of the living God, or not, does not make them false; it simply makes you a fool for rejecting the gift of God to futilely attempt to work your way to heaven.
If you read Romans 5:15-18 in the King James Bible, you will find salvation referred to as either a “gift” or a “free gift” six times in those four verses alone. If you read Titus 3:5 in the King James Bible, you will find that men are not saved by the works of righteousness which they have done, but, according to God’s mercy, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. If you read 1 Corinthians 1:21 in the King James Bible, you will find that God has promised to “save them that believe.” These are but three of many scriptural proofs demonstrating the matchless maxim that salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it is a gift for the guilty.
The philosophy that you should have to give up something to get something – in this case, that you should have to give up your sins in order to receive eternal life – springs from humanistic hypocrisy and false religion, not from the word of God. When a man resorts to human understanding to “help” him understand the Bible, he will fail time and again, because such doctrines as grace exceed the faculties of the human mind. Blessed be God, he does not command us to understand grace to be saved, but only to receive it, by receiving his Son as Savior.
So, whether you agree with it or not, acknowledging one’s guilt of sin before God and believing the gospel as his only hope for heaven is how a man is saved. Whether it “sits well” with you or not, Revelation 22:17 still says, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” The false gospel of “Lordship Salvation” may “make sense” when fit into the frame of flawed human reasoning, but that does not make it biblical, or right, or true. It contradicts the plainest teachings of scripture, and anything at odds with the holy writ is wrong, regardless of how much “sense” it makes.
COUNTERARGUMENT #4: IF HE’S NOT “LORD” OF ALL, HE’S NOT “LORD” AT ALL
“Your easy believeism doesn’t cut it,” you snort. “If Jesus isn’t ‘Lord of all’, then he’s not ‘Lord at all’.”
I trust anyone with even the vaguest familiarity with the cult of Lordship Salvation has encountered this hackneyed myth of a slogan once, if not many times. It supposes that if you have not surrendered your all to Christ’s Lordship, then he is not your Lord and therefore you are not saved. Their favorite verse to cite as “proof” of this falsehood is Romans 10:9, preferably from a modern Bible version like the hellish “New International Version” which Lordship Salvationists seem to particularly adore.
To begin, I will compare Romans 10:9 from the King James Bible with Romans 10:9 from the damnable NIV.
Romans 10:9 (King James Bible): “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Romans 10:9 (New International Perversion): “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Even stripped of its contextual baggage, I struggle to see how this one verse “proves” Lordship Salvation is true. Given the obscurity of Romans 10:9, it seems dangerous to base so crucial a doctrine as salvation upon just one ambiguous verse. As the late Curtis Hutson observed, “A good rule when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one.” Why should we be so confident that Romans 10:9, obscure as it is, teaches Lordship Salvation, in light of the scores of lucid passages (John 3:16, Romans 4:4-5, Galatians 2:16, Galatians 3:24, Ephesians 2:8-9, Philippians 3:9, Titus 3:5) which make it crystal clear that salvation is only by faith in Jesus Christ, apart from all good works?
Of course, as you likely noticed above, there is a great difference in what Romans 10:9 teaches depending upon which Bible you consult. The NIV, like all other modern perversions, blatantly teaches Lordship Salvation. Does this “prove” that doctrine of devils is true? I should also tell you that Philippians 2:6 in the NIV is perverted to teach that Jesus is not equal with God. Does this “prove” that Jesus has no deity? In human courtrooms, the admission of corrupt, conflicting, and contradictory evidence is objected to, and understandably so. Why then should obviously corrupt “evidence” like the NIV be hearkened unto? What is said by that garbage text should not be even considered, because the source itself is corrupt and doctrinally unsound a thousand times over. If you seek proof of what I say, I recommend you to peruse my articles in the “Forever Settled in Heaven” section of my website.
If Lordship Salvation is true, why is the only “proof” of it a highly obscure verse which cannot even be interpreted to teach the doctrine Lordship Salvationists purport it teaches, without first being butchered beyond recognition? I can find verse after verse testifying of salvation being a free gift through faith in Christ’s blood, but the “evidence” of Lordship Salvation is minimal, and even that “evidence” is corrupted and unreliable.
But this is only one problem with this mantra of “not Lord at all, not Lord of all.” Christ’s Lordship has nothing to do with salvation. The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14), not “the Lord” of the world. Jesus came as your substitute, your propitiation, your lamb. He was wounded for your transgressions. He was bruised for your iniquities. He was made to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree. He suffered so, because we could never make ourselves just, or righteous, or holy by our own labors. He paid for our sins with his blood, because we could never pay for them with our works.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth (Romans 1:16), yet the definition of the gospel provided by 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 offers no mention of submitting to Christ’s Lordship and surrendering your life to following him. All of the beautiful invitations throughout the holy scriptures which call for the sinner to receive Christ say nothing of also making him “the Lord of your life”. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” – no Lordship here. “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” – no Lordship here. “Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live” – no Lordship here. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” – no Lordship here.
As I mentioned above, scripture after scripture talks about salvation as a FREE GIFT. I trust you know what a gift is, dear reader. I trust you know that a “gift” which depends upon your future behavior is no “gift” at all. Eternal life is not a kind of probation, where your life must be watched to make sure you hold out faithful until the end so you can be saved. It is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, which you receive simply by receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior, apart from making him your “Lord”, apart from turning from your sins, apart from committing to serve him, apart from vowing to amend your ways.
Consider when the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” What was their response? Did they tell him, “Make Jesus the “Lord of your life” and trust him as your Savior?” Did they tell him, “Feel sorry for your sins and try to turn from them?” Did they tell him, “Invite Jesus into your heart and start a relationship with him?” Did they tell him, “Count the cost and follow Christ?” NO! A thousand times, no! They told him to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” (Acts 16:31).
Of course, it could be claimed that the words, “Lord Jesus Christ” means you must also make Jesus the “Lord of your life” to be saved, but that requires a leap of logic at which even the most agile gymnast would balk. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, dear reader, and thou shalt be saved. You do not need to make Jesus “the Lord of your life” to be saved; you simply need to believe on him.
But a refutation of this wretched slogan would not be complete without referencing the foul falsehood that those who live in open sin, or struggle with sin, or are not living as consecrated and holy a life as fellow sinners think they should, are not actually saved because Christ isn’t really “Lord of all.” The self-righteous hypocrisy and Pharisaical arrogance implicit in beliefs as these speak volumes to the wicked hearts of those who hold them. Whether a religious snob cares to admit it, or not, he is just as vile and rotten a sinner as those he condemns for sinning in different ways than he does. Even the best of Christians struggle with sin (Romans 7:14-25), because even the best of Christians retain the old sinful nature they inherited from Adam. Although being saved gives a man a new nature in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17), it does not take away his old nature, and he will still be susceptible to temptations. He will still sin all the time, because he is still a sinner. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit, and not the absence of visible sin, which is the only proof that a man is saved (1 John 3:24).
Only a fool would think that one must live a sinless life to be saved, and only a hypocrite of the most detestable order would presume his sins are not as bad as others’ sins. Committing sin cannot cause a man to lose salvation, because he cannot lose something he did not earn in the first place. Every man who is saved is perfectly righteous and without sin in the eyes of God, not because that man has any righteousness or goodness of his own to boast of (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:10), but because the blood of Jesus Christ has washed away all of his sins – past, present, future – and the righteousness of Jesus Christ has been imputed on his behalf. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12). And when believers sin, God’s grace much more abounds (Romans 5:20).
Because certain which trust in themselves that they are righteous, and despise others, think that they are saved by following Jesus and living a good life, and that their own righteousness is good enough to merit salvation, they scorn those who openly struggle with sin as sons of perdition who have never tasted the water of life. This is abomination and abhorred of the Lord. Woe unto the wicked who, while being unsaved themselves, because their self-righteous hypocrisy has convinced them they are good enough to get to heaven by their own works and holiness, will look down and reproach other sinners as being far worse and undeserving than them! I wonder what will pass through the minds of these despicable hypocrites, as they are cast into flaming fire, and they see the self-righteousness which they thought was so pure, is but filthy rags in God’s sight?
Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords whether you declare him such, or not (1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 19:16). Care must be taken to keep separate the doctrine of his Lordship (discipleship) and the doctrine of his Saviorship (sonship). There will be many people in hell who never trusted Jesus as their Savior because false prophets deceived them into making a commitment to Christ and turning from their sins, rather than simply receiving the free gift of eternal life. Conversely, there will be many people in heaven who never served God, but were saved “so as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15) because they placed their faith in what Christ did for them, and not in what they could do, or had done, or would do for him. Whether Jesus is your “Lord of all”, or not, you will go to hell unless you place all of your faith in his gospel.
COUNTERARGUMENT #5: WHAT ABOUT DOING THE WILL OF THE FATHER IN MATTHEW 7:21?
“But Matthew 7:21 says only those who do the will of the Father will go to heaven,” the Lordship Salvationist says. “That means you have to serve God to be saved.”
Here is Matthew 7:21-23 from the King James Bible:
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (22) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
I have written on the dreadful scene described above, and echoed in such passages as Matthew 25:11-12, because it practically gives the address of Lordship Salvationists and fellow gospel perverts. In fact, I believe this passage was written primarily to those self-righteous workers of iniquity who, though perhaps sincere and well-intentioned, not only kept themselves from being saved by trusting living the Christian life to save them, but also kept from being saved the hapless fools and deceived souls who believed their lies.
Sadly, I can envision the poor fools who listened to religious con men like Ken Ham, or false prophet pretty boys like Joel Osteen, or accursed deceivers like Ray Comfort, weeping and gnashing their teeth as they are cast into everlasting fire. Having been conned into trusting their lifestyle and following Jesus as their “Lord”, they will naturally refer to Christ as “Lord” when providing “proof” of why they should be allowed to enter the kingdom of heaven. Disclosing their self-righteous nature, they will demonstrate they believed salvation was a reward for the righteous, instead of a gift for the guilty, by listing all of the wonderful works they did in Jesus’ name and for his kingdom. They thought their works would have saved them! Oh, but how wrong they were. Indeed, there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Incredibly, unsaved religious people are so ignorant that their own condemnation is spelled out before them in these verses, that they will attempt to use them as “proof” that more than believing the gospel is necessary to go to heaven. They will claim that “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” means doing good works, and that, without these works, nobody can be saved. But that is not what the phrase means, as Jesus elaborates in John 6:40:
“And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
As a last-ditch effort to bolster their false doctrine, the most pertinacious Lordship Salvationist might desperately cite John 6:28 as “evidence” works are a part of salvation. Let us also view verse 29 for context:
“Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? (29) Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
Salvation is without works – without performing good works, without forgoing bad works, without pledging to do good works in the future. This is not a matter of opinion; it is the decree of Almighty God. Therefore, if you choose to persist in preaching your damnable heresies, and seducing many into accompanying you to hell, I say unto you, “Woe unto him that striveth with his maker!” (Isaiah 45:9).
CONCLUSION
What I have presented above is but a sampling of the evidence which disproves “Lordship Salvation” in all its foul forms as unbiblical and false. Because it is “another gospel” (Galatians 1:6-9), it is incapable of producing the new birth without which no man can see the kingdom of God. Rather than setting men free, as the truth of the gospel does, it binds them with heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, demanding they surrender their lives to the yoke of Christ’s Lordship and endure faithfully to the end in order to receive eternal life. This is not the easy yoke, the light burden of which Immanuel speaks (Matthew 11:28-30). Jesus promised to give rest to those who came unto him, not fear and uncertainty over the state of their souls. To teach Lordship Salvation is not only to pervert the gospel by changing the truth of God into a lie; it is to perform false advertising of the most fatal kind, in promoting salvation “by grace through faith”, while simultaneously pressuring the sinner to give up his sins or risk damnation.
So, I ask you, my reader, what plan of salvation will you choose? Will you choose the unbiblical doubletalk of damnable heretics like John MacArthur and Ray Comfort, which demands you to change your life and reform your habits as part of salvation? Or will you choose the gospel of Jesus Christ, which requires you only to acknowledge you are a sinner incapable of saving yourself from your just condemnation in hell, and believe the gospel as your only hope for heaven? I exhort you to choose wisely, for your eternal destination depends entirely on which one you choose. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.