“There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.” – Luke 13:28
I DO NOT MERELY “disagree” with the accursed false gospel of Lordship Salvation, though I assure you on the authority of the Bible that I disagree with it with as much vehemence as I can muster, and that I consider it the most subtle and despicable false gospel the world has ever known. But, in addition to the strong opposition I voice against this damnable heresy, I also unapologetically maintain a fervent degree of hatred for it.
Yes, I absolutely HATE Lordship Salvation. I HATE the accursed lie that you cannot simply believe on Jesus Christ to be saved, but that you must also make him the “Lord” of your life and commit the rest of your days to serving him. I HATE how this corruption of the gospel brings men so near to receiving the free gift of eternal life, only to trick them into damning themselves to hell forever by deceiving them into trusting their own good works, rather than the blood of a Savior who died for their sins and rose for their justification. I HATE how predominant this accursed false gospel has become, with missionaries of its vicious lies abounding both to foreign fields and domestic congregations, and weaponizing the advantages of the internet in casting their hellish heresies to the four corners of the globe.
Why do I hate it so? Because to teach Lordship Salvation is to give men a false plan of salvation that will take them to hell, while providing them a false peace founded upon the lie that they must lead an upright life in order to earn their salvation. Unsurprisingly, the adherents of this false gospel are among those self-righteous religious fools to whom Christ will declare, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23). For there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, as the sincere, deluded religious people who chose to trust their living the Christian life for salvation, rather than to trust what Christ did for them at Calvary, will be cast into hell.
That brings me to the very point of these pages: nobody can “earn” salvation, because salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it is a gift for the guilty. You see, dear reader, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). It is completely FREE of charge to you, though it was not free to Jesus, who paid the debt of your sins with his precious blood (1 Peter 2:18-19). As the saying goes, Jesus paid a debt he did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay.
To receive eternal life, you do not have to do, and you cannot do, anything but simply acknowledge you are a sinner (Romans 3:10) who is condemned to hell because of your sins (Ezekiel 18:20, Revelation 20:15) and cannot do anything to save yourself (Isaiah 64:6, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5). Then, you must simply believe that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16), died on Calvary’s cross to pay for your sins with his blood (Ephesians 1:7, Revelation 1:5), was buried, and bodily resurrected three days later unto your justification (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Romans 4:25). If you will simply make Jesus Christ your only hope for heaven by trusting him alone for salvation, you will immediately and irrevocably receive eternal life (John 6:47, 10:28).
Hark, dear reader! You CANNOT be saved by making Jesus your “Lord” and surrendering your life to him, or committing to cleaning up your ways, or dedicating the rest of your days to serving him. If you rely on any of these things to get you to heaven, instead of relying solely on Christ’s death, burial, and bodily resurrection, you WILL go to hell because you have rejected the simplicity that is in Christ in favor of your own goodness and works.
You see, the “lordship” of Christ which Lordship Salvation proponents speak of, is a matter of discipleship, and not sonship; a matter of salvation, and not service. To be saved, you do not receive Christ as your “lord”; you receive him as your Savior, because you do not need a lord to go to heaven, you need a Savior. “Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The lamb of God shed his blood to pay for your sins, because such vain things as your making him your “Lord” can never pay your sin debt, and he rose from the dead unto your justification, because nothing you can ever do can justify you before a holy and just God.
Discipleship and sonship are separate doctrines. Sonship is merely receiving Christ as your Savior (John 1:12); discipleship is taking up your cross and following Jesus, no matter what it costs you (Matthew 16:24). Salvation (sonship) does not cost you anything, because Jesus paid the price with his blood at Calvary. But service (discipleship) will cost you something, perhaps everything. You can be saved without being a disciple, and you can be damned while living the Christian life, because the good works implicit in following Christ have no bearing upon your salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5). Lordship Salvation people befog the issue by confusing the two, perverting the gospel and making it seem as if you cannot be saved unless you first submit yourself to Christ’s lordship and commit to following him no matter what it costs you.
But this is not true. As I have said before, so say I now again: how you live your life has absolutely NOTHING to do with your eternal destiny. You can be kind, and generous, and patient, and selfless, and loving, and helpful, and wonderful, yet you will go to hell for eternity if you have not trusted Jesus Christ alone – apart from all good works – for salvation. Contrariwise, you can be the vilest wretch known to man, who has never done anything good for anybody, but if you receive Christ as your Savior, you will go to heaven. Of course, you will not have any rewards, since you never did anything to serve God, but you will be saved, because you chose to rely solely on what Christ did for you at Calvary as your only hope for heaven. The only “work” you must do for salvation is to BELIEVE on Jesus Christ (John 6:28-29).
Consider again my text verse, Luke 13:28: “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.” This would not be said to a Hindu, who may never have even heard of the prophets. This would not be said to an atheist, who never even cared of the prophets. This would not be said to a barbarian, whose primitive savagery never incorporated the prophets.
But it would be said to one who knew all about the Bible, and expected to one day meet in heaven the men he had met in its pages, only to be shocked to learn he would instead be going to hell because he had never been truly saved. Oh, he had been religious, to be sure, and given his life to religious movements, good works, and pious causes. He had been baptized, and gone to church faithfully, and tithed, and gave to the poor, and told others about Jesus, and read his Bible, and memorized Scripture, and prayed fervently, and did his best to follow Christ as his “Lord”, but despite all of these wonderful works, he had never come to a point where he trusted Jesus as his SAVIOR. And because he was still unsaved, he, with weeping and gnashing of teeth, was cast into the Lake of Fire.
CONCLUSION
Dear reader, if you are among those who have believed this false gospel of “Lordship Salvation,” I beg you to trust Christ before it is too late. Do not let your affinity for whoever has told you this false plan of salvation prevent you from coming to Christ. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man (Psalm 118:8). If you have relied upon following Jesus as your “Lord” to be saved, you are yet in your sins; you are still among the wicked, and not among the just.
Do not think that your good works and lawful living will justify you before God. They will not save you! They cannot save you! The only thing which can save you from the flaming fire of hell, from the smoke of its torment, from the vengeance of its despair, is the blood of Jesus Christ, shed in full payment of your sins on Calvary’s cross, and sprinkled on the heavenly mercy seat upon Christ’s resurrection (Hebrews 9:12). Making Jesus the “lord of your life” will not wash away your sins. Ye must be born again (John 3:7). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
But to those who refuse to consider what Scriptures I have filled these pages with, and who will continue to teach this demonic lie of Lordship Salvation, I have for your consumption these sharp words of rebuke. How dare you heretics spread fourth your foul doctrines! How dare you men of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth, wrest the Scriptures unto your own destruction and the eternal damnation of countless others! How dare you woeful fools pervert the word of the Lord of hosts! Woe unto every last one of you who twist the Scriptures to match your baleful lies, who undermine and war against the simplicity that is in Christ, who disparage the truth and substitute wretched falsehoods and fictions for the Gospel!
You bring lost sheep near to the Shephard, then devour them as ravening wolves by demanding they must do anything but realize they are sinners and trust Christ alone for salvation. So continue, if you wish, in purveying these sordid lies, but know that before you false prophets in sheep’s clothing are cast into hell where you belong for rejecting Christ, you will stand before God Almighty and answer to him in his fury and wrath for having mislead and deceived innocent souls into the torments of hellfire. Woe unto you! Woe unto you! Woe unto you!