Lordship Salvation: Responding to Got Questions

Today I'm going to respond to a video on what is Lordship Salvation. I wanted to take some time and explain that this is not just a dissecting of Lordship Salvation, but I wanted you to hear from a very popular video. uh but got questions and he systematically kinda walks through it and I wanna more explain the confusion behind Lordship Salvation. They say a lot of things that are correct.

And then there's a lot that's just confusing where we're mixing the law and the gospel. So today is a good example of looking at an explanation of what Lordship salvation, what is good, what is confusing, and what I would say we need to absolutely finish. Stay tuned. Before we jump in today's episode, though, let's take a moment and reflect and look to Christ.

There's a subtle shift that happens in the heart. It sounds spiritual at first. If I submit enough, if I obey consistently, if I surrender fully, then I'll finally know I am saved. But notice what just happened. Assurance quietly moved from Christ's finished work to your present performance. Submission is good. Obedience matters. Holiness is real, but submission is the fruit of salvation, not the foundation of it.

If you look to your submission to prove your salvation, you will either become proud or terrified. Proud when you think you are doing well. Terrified when you see how inconsistent you are. The enemy loves this trap. He does not always tempt you into rebellion. Sometimes he tempts you into introspection. He pushes you to measure, analyze, and inspect your surrender your surrender until your eyes are no longer on Christ. But on yourself.

But the gospel never says submit so that you may be saved. It says believe the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Submission flows from faith. It does not create it. When you trust Christ, the Spirit unites you to Him. From that union flows repentance. And from that union flows obedience. And from that union flows submission. You do not submit in order to know you are saved. You trust Christ, and because you are saved, you begin to submit.

Your assurance is not grounded in how fully you have surrendered today. Your assurance is grounded in how fully Christ obeyed in your place. how completely he paid for your sins, and how firmly he holds you now. Look to Christ. He submitted perfectly where you failed. He obeyed completely where you waver.

He was faithful unto death, so that your salvation would never depend on the strength of your submission, but on the strength of his. And from that safety and from that unshakable union, real submission begins to grow. Most Christians that I meet, they're not reading their Bibles because they're not interested in it or in Jesus. It's frustrating. It's confusing. We often get lost.

I myself have felt that for many years. The Bible according to Jesus was written to help people understand the point of the Bible, which we're not hiding. It's about Jesus. How to understand the Old Testament law and the covenants and the promises and the prophecies. Hopefully this is helpful for you and will encourage you to read your Bible more. You can grab a copy of this new book at theocast.org.

Thanks for joining us again at Theocast. I'm your host, John Moffitt, the pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee. And the point of Theocast is to pull the clutter off the gospel and help people find the joy and purpose in their life in the kingdom because of who Christ is for them. And uh I'm glad you're here. If this is your first time listening.

You can go to theocast.org to learn more about all of our different podcasts and books in merch that's available there. We have a community that is growing and uh there's some new classes that are in there. So you go learn about all of that at theocast.org. And today's episode, I'm gonna go ahead and just jump into it. I'm gonna be reviewing a video. It's a couple years old. But it's a subject that I feel like I can't stop talking about just because I think it takes time.

to unravel and really think through the implications. And it's subtle and there's a mixture, there's a constant mixture of the law and the gospel discipleship. And what I would say is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. And the what is the difference between discipleship and the work of the Spirit?

And then at times when I hear reformed even Calvinistic people talk about the gospel, it's like they lose the supernatural nature of the the Bible altogether. It's like we don't even really believe that God requires the spirit's work in one sentence, and then in the next sentence, it's completely there.

And so we contradict ourselves constantly because we want to sound biblical. And I'm not here to pick on people as if they're purposely being deceitful. I don't think that is the case. But it is important that we get these subjects. um clear because it it affects the way you live, how you treat others, your relationship with God, the amount of emails and messages that I have received over the last 10 years.

Is I, you know, if I I probably should just take an entire episode and just read those so you under so you believe me. If there are so many people who have been affected by this concept of what we're gonna talk about today, lordship salvation, or I would say putting the law back into the gospel and it brings zero hope because it's based upon your performance.

Um, that's what we're gonna talk about today. And I'm gonna use uh a video that has, you know, fifty-seven thousand views on it, it's five years old, but it's a good example of the outworking and flow of Lordship salvation and in and it flows into preaching. Um so what I'm gonna do is I I I haven't I've I skimmed through the video and I didn't wanna spend too much time on it because I wanted to just kind of give you my raw response to what is good, what do I agree with, what I don't agree with.

Um, I don't know this brother. He's put out a lot of good work. This is Got Questions Ministry. Millions of subscribers. And he's put out a lot of good work on uh m a lot of things on the Bible. So this isn't me just, you know, putting down his ministry. But I was doing some research and I came across this video and I thought, man, it would just be good to respond to this video.

Um, being that it has so many views, it's it's five years old and so it's it's been around and I think it's a good representation of what modern day Lordship Salvation looks like. And we've done episodes in the past. We'll put them in the description below. I've done um a couple of videos on like me leaving Lordship Salvation. Justin and I have done some episodes on it.

But today I wanted to do a response video. So that's what this is. This is me uh responding to this particular brother as it relates to his video. So let me pull this up on my screen.

The doctrine of Lordship Salvation teaches that submitting to Christ as Lord goes hand in hand with trusting in Christ as Savior. Lordship salvation is the opposite of what is sometimes called easy believism, or the teaching that salvation comes through an acknowledgement of a certain set of facts. John MacArthur, whose book The Gospel According to Jesus, lays out the case for Lordship Salvation, summarizes the teaching this way.

The gospel call to faith presupposes that sinners must repent of their sin and yield to Christ's authority. In other words, a sinner who refuses to repent is not saved, for he cannot cling to his sin and the Savior at the same time. And a sinner who rejects Christ's authority in his life does not have saving faith, for true faith encompasses a surrender to God.

Thus, the gospel requires more than making an intellectual decision or mouthing a prayer. The gospel message is a call to discipleship. The sheep will follow their shepherd in submissive obedience. Okay, so let's start here. What we have is, and then we've talked about this before, but what we have here is. A contrast he says between easy believism and lordship salvation as this basically there are two options.

And the the one option is, as he says, mouthing a prayer or some kind of um assent not to knowledge. But there's no change of life and we'll he'll get into that a little bit. And then The opposite would be and there's a lot that's being said here. And this is where at times in John's book and in h even in this video, we we are mixing um The order of salvation, of what's happening. There is what's called the fruit of the gospel, which would be repentance and obedience.

And then there is what is causes regeneration, which is the Holy Spirit's work through the means of the gospel. And then there's the evidences of this, which would be our faith. So At times, what we're doing is we're taking the fruit of the gospel and we're making it a requirement upon the believer to actually have salvation.

And so I'm gonna go through and show a couple of times where I agree like what he's saying is correct. And then at times we're remixing it, like we're we're moving the chain of redemption, which is in Romans chapter eight, we're messing with the chain of redemption. Uh, but I I would not say that there there's only two options. There's Lordship Salvation or Easy Believism, because that's what ends up happening, is this, well, if you do not hold to Lord Salv Lordship Salvation, then you hold to

Um easy believism. And that's where I would put my hand up and say, no, I don't, those are you there, there isn't just two options. Okay. There isn't just uh uh uh intellectual ascent, there is saying the prayer, raising your hand, or then there is, and he says this, the call of the gospel is discipleship.

Um, no. The call of the d gospel is not discipleship because If the good news is discipleship, then I am required to participate in this. uh transformation that is happening. And I am not called to participate because then that would be a work. And I know he doesn't believe that, but there are times when we say and I and I know what he means. And this is why there are times it's I think it's really important that we do we are clear on what we're saying and what we're communicating.

And we're not mixing the law with the gospel. So discipleship, the word to disciple is to be taught the ways of a teacher, of a rabbi, right? So we are being discipled in the ways of Christ. This is important. The way of Christ is important for us to know and to follow, but it is not the gospel. The gospel is the good news of what Jesus accomplished on our behalf for us. That's the good news of the gospel.

And when you're called to, as Paul says, obey the gospel, that obey is belief. Like how do I know that I am of Christ? And he says, for those who obey the gospel. And to obey the gospel is to believe. Now how do we know this? Because Paul gets so upset. with the the Corinthians and the Galatians, when they are try and and in Colossians, when anyone tries to add any type of work of discipleship at all or any type of law for them to be of

of Christ. That's why Paul explicitly says it is those who are of faith or of Abraham. So we are of the lineage of Abraham or we are of the children of God by faith alone. This is why he gets so angry with the Galatians when he says, Who's bewitched you? You have begun by the spirit. Are you now going to be perfected by the flesh? Or are you going to now turn towards works of the flesh?

as means of your salvation and sanctification. So there he says the same way in which you began in this relationship, well we if if we began in this relationship by works, then he would not be upset.

Or if we began by discipleship, he would not be upset. Or if we ga began by repentance of our sin, he would not be upset. But he says we began by faith, therefore we continue by faith. Now again, uh I don't like this dichotomy because what people then are saying is, well, now you're you're teaching free grace. You're teaching this idea that you can just live however you want and uh procla you know, say with your mouth.

And that is not true. There again, there is a difference between the fruit of the gospel, which I do believe is repentance and obedience and turning towards Christ. And what is salvation? Right. So we have to we cannot combined the fruit of what is the outcome of what happens versus with how some something comes to be, right? Um, and so I'll get into a couple of illustrations with that, but we'll we'll keep playing because he's gonna give some more illustrations and I'll respond to those.

Advocates of Lordship Salvation point to Jesus' repeated warnings to the religious hypocrites of his day as proof that simply agreeing to spiritual facts does not save a person. There must be a heart change. Okay, so here's my problem with this. This happens a lot. Jesus is not dealing with s uh people who believe that he is the Messiah. He that um that he has come to save them.

He says in John five that they think that in the scriptures that they have eternal life, but the scriptures are bare witness about him. So we keep mixing narratives and words to make this system work, but it doesn't work when it comes down to the context of what's being said here. Um So the religious leaders of the day were using the law as self-justification to save themselves. And Jesus was telling them that it's not. self justification, but it's a heart change.

And that heart chain has to come through him. This is why he gets so upset at Nicodemus when he's talking to him in John three and he's saying to him, you should know this. You should know that it's regeneration. You should know that it's a rebirth. This is Ezekiel 36 in Jeremiah where it says he pulls out the heart of flesh, a heart of stone, and puts it in a heart of flesh, and he tells uh Ezekiel, you should know what it means to be born again. But

uh he doesn't. So we have to be careful He the way in which he makes it sound is if there are people who are following Christ and are putting their faith in Christ and are trusting in the gospel. Uh but yet they're still living a double life in in some other way. That's the religious hypocrites. But that's not what's going on in these particular passages. So it's important that we distinguish the the passages. Religious hypocrites were using the law unto salvation.

And yet they weren't even upholding the law. So this is like Matthew 5, when Jesus on the Sermon on the Mountain, he says, Well, I haven't committed adultery. I haven't murdered somebody. And that's where these religious hypocrites are pointing to the external obedience to the law. And Jesus says, Yeah, but in your heart.

You have hatred and you have lust, and therefore you are a sinner, and you are not holy, and you are not righteous, and you are not worthy of salvation. And so he uses the law against. Not the gospel, but he uses the law against the rig religious leaders to prove that they are not worthy. Jesus emphasized the high cost of discipleship.

Whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Luke chapter fourteen verse twenty seven. And those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples, verse thirty-two. In the same way. All right, so we've done an entire episode on both of these passages, so I'll just do a quick comment here. This is um This is a really important understanding, the difference between being the disciple of Jesus and being rescued by Jesus.

I think that um Again, if it says if we do not give up everything, or if we don't pick up our cross and follow him. That would that sounds like Roman Catholicism. That sounds like works-based salvation. I don't care how much you want to try and dance around it, but that's just the case. Like, I don't know of anyone who's given up everything to follow Jesus. I've never met anyone who's done it. It's impossible to do. You can't. Like all right, here's the greatest command.

To love God with all your heart, so mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. If you don't give up, Perfectly. I mean, because he doesn't qualify this. Like, what does it mean to give up everything to follow Jesus? Like has anyone ever loved God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength at any moment in their in their life, let alone their neighbor as themselves?

And if that's the obligation of giving up everything to follow him, then there's no one who will be the disciple of Jesus. So what is Jesus getting at in those contexts? Like this is why it's so important. You just can't quote a passage. And say, see, this is an example that you must make Jesus Lord of your life, or you cannot be saved. In those particular so when we're talking about the cross.

and taking up the cross, this is the fruit of the gospel. Like th that is that is true that those who have been brought from death to life and have been given the gift of faith, That their hearts are going to be open, their eyes will be open, but it's not a work of their own. And they will understand that they have been set free from the power of darkness. They've been set free from their flesh. And they will run to Christ. This is true.

And Jesus is letting them understand the difference between those who do not follow Christ versus those who do follow him. But it is the result of one's regeneration, of their heart being opened to by the gospel, by the power of the Holy Spirit. and those who have had their hearts and their minds opened, then there is a heart change and then there is a mind change. This is where I agree, but we cannot front load it. And what's happening here in this particular video.

Is it's making it sound like unless you do this, then you cannot have salvation. And that's that's dangerous. Um Picking up your cross is never the message of Christ's salvation because that's a work. That is something you have to do.

And then and then to define the cross, what does that mean? You're going to be willing to die for Jesus. So unless you're willing to die for Jesus and that's your heart posture from the beginning, then you cannot be saved. Well then then none of the disciples would have been saved because they all abandoned him. And then you could say, well, eventually they were rel uh uh uh so then none of the disciples were Christians until Christ's resurrection, and then they all became Christians after.

Uh I mean there's a lot of problems that we're having here when it when we're dealing with what is the good news of the gospel and what is the law and we're mixing these or what is the fruit of the gospel. So let's keep going. I know this is sound confusing, but as we keep going in the video, uh I'll have some more opportunities to respond. Same passage, Jesus speaks of counting the cost.

Elsewhere he stresses total commitment. No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. Luke nine verse sixty two. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that eternal life is a narrow path found by only a few, Matthew chapter seven, verse fourteen. In contrast, easy believism seeks to broaden the path so that anyone who has a profession of faith can enter.

Jesus says, every good tree bears good fruit. Verse 17. In contrast, easy believism says that a tree can still be good and bear nothing but bad fruit. Jesus says that many who say, Lord, Lord, will not enter the kingdom. Verses twenty-one through twenty-three. In contrast, easy believism teaches that saying Lord Lord is good enough. Lordship salvation teaches that a true profession of faith will be backed up by evidence of faith. If a person is true.

Okay, that last statement. I agree. I don't disagree that for those who have their heart of stone ripped out and heart of flesh put in. And the Holy Spirit now lives within them that we will see the evidences of that. that there's a difference uh in those again in uh in those contexts in Matthew, um, we're dealing with false teachers and you will know them by their fruit. Uh that's dealing with

uh those who are coming into the church to mislead. So we have to be careful there. And then he's talking about the narrow road. And again, the all these passages, Jesus is pointing out that They want to create their own means of salvation. And they want to create their own way of salvation. And Jesus is like, there is only it's very narrow, it's super narrow, and there's few that find it, meaning that you can't discover this on your own, you can't formulate this, you can't create this.

It has nothing to do with this sacrificial pick up your cross and I'm gonna suffer my way into heaven. That's what this sounds like. And I know that this brother probably doesn't mean it to intend it to be this way, at least I hope not, but

There he on on there's no if you ask this pastor, do you believe That you found your way to Christ, that you walked the narrow road, that you picked up your cross, that that you can be attributed to your salvation. The answer to that's gonna be he's gonna say no. I mean, he has to say no. Otherwise, how do you hold to Ephesians chapter two where none may boast? So is Jesus setting it up the impossibility where the, as the disciples rightfully do in John 6 and say, well then who can be saved?

Jesus says with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. So this is important because that is the impossibility of picking up the cross and and forsaking everything and finding the narrow road. Like all of that is for you to throw up your hands and say, well, then who can be saved? And that's why John six needs to resonate in our ears and that it's not us. that find Christ that picks up the cross and walks the narrow road

But it's Christ who comes to us and opens up our eyes, and he is the one who draws us and removes our heart of stone or gives us a heart of flesh. And the Spirit comes and lives within us and gives us the gift of faith. And from those moments the evidences of salvation come in. So this is where I know this brother is um Calvinistic, but this is where it's at times I'm like, man, we have we forgot the sovereign passages? Have we forgot the sovereignty of God?

have we forgot the depravity of men, that we were dead in our trespasses and sins, that we were born as rebels of God, and that it says in Ephesians and Colossians that He had to make us alive. That is the power of the Spirit had to make us alive. He brought us to life and he causes us to walk in these ways. Or First Peter, which he's going to mention here in a minute, that it's by divine power.

that has been granted to us all things for life and godliness. Think about that. Divine power has nothing to do with you. It means that it was a gift of a supernatural nature to open up your heart and your mind and cause you to believe And that work has nothing to do with you at all.

So we're almost removing the sovereignty of God out of this conversation. And we're all we're the very thing which they're saying is easy believism is I would say this is what lordship salvation actually does is that it it makes it dependent upon the human.

I mean this Arminianism through and through where you are requiring the human to do their part of salvation and not giving a total attribution to A person who is living in willful, unrepentant sin has obviously not chosen to follow Christ because Christ calls us out of sin and into righteousness.

Indeed, the Bible clearly teaches that faith in Christ will result in a changed life. Second Corinthians. Lordship salvation is not a salvation by works doctrine. Advocates of lordship salvation are careful to say that salvation is by grace alone, that believers are saved before their faith ever produces any good works, and that Christians can and do sin. However, True salvation will inevitably lead to a changed life. The saved will be dedicated to their Savior. A true Christian will not be.

So I agree here. And this is where it's hard because there are times where things like this are said. And I'm like, I completely agree with that, but you just contradicted a lot of the things that you said before. Um uh it will lead to a changed life. Well, there are times that Christians can sin.

But it ultimately it will lead to a changed life. And the the problem that we're having with this is that the changed life becomes the evidence of one's salvation. How much change is necessary? Right? How much change is necessary? Um, we're never told. And uh people get really irritated when I ask that question. And then Christians can struggle with sin. Well, for how long? How long can a Christian struggle with sin before you begin to question their salvation?

That's that's an important question. James says unto death, like someone could struggle. Uh Galatians six says if someone is trapped in sin, go to them with a spirit of jitterness, but it doesn't tell us how long they had been struggling struggling with sin. I mean uh Cor okay the Church of Corinth had some people that are struggling with that for a very long time.

So there can be lifelong struggles and situations. And I've always said if you agree with God that Excuse me, if you agree with God that your sin is wrong and yet you're struggling, you're seeking repentance, then that is the normal struggle of the Christian life.

But if you don't agree with God and you're like, no, I can live in this, I don't think it's sin, and I can live this way, and it's not a violation of scripture, and it's a clear violation of scripture, then that you're not a Christian because you can't disagree with truth. That comes from God and then claim to follow him and to serve him. That's just not how it works.

So I would I would agree there. So again, um this is where lordship salvation can get really tricky. So we're gonna keep going because I think you're gonna see here he creates oh, it's not a works based salvation.

I would, I would, I wish that was true, but it's not what it sounds like. So let's keep listening. Not feel comfortable living in unconfessed, unforsaken sin. Here are nine teachings that set lordship salvation apart from easy believism. 1. Repentance is not a simple synonym for faith. Scripture teaches that sinners must exercise faith in conjunction with repentance.

Repentance is a change of mind from embrace of sin and rejection of Christ to a rejection of sin and an embrace of Christ. And even this is a gift of God. Genuine repentance, which comes when a person submits to the lordship of Christ, cannot help but result in a change of behavior. Okay, right there. Th this is what's so hard is that I agree with everything he just said up until that point. And no one can submit themselves to to the lordship of Christ.

That like that's the problem I'm having. It's like you're you say it's not by works, but yet the moment you use that language, one who submits themselves to the Lordship of Christ as if they're involved. The the repentance is required, but God is the one who ends up repenting. It's through the power of the spirit that he changes our heart and he changes our mind. And so repentance is a part of the normal ongoing experience of the Christian life.

And I would even say that repentance when Peter says repent and believe. He's calling them to repent away from a law-based salvation or saving oneself. And that repentance is not turning away from lawlessness or sin. He's saying, stop trying to save oneself, repent of that. and only be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. He's creating a clear dichotomy that you are either saved by Jesus or you're trying to save yourself or some kind of combination of.

So when it we use this idea, one when one submits themselves to the lordship of Christ, then then then repentance is gonna be a part of this act. It's more biblical and better to say. That when you go from death to life. that the spirit now lives within you, convicts your heart and shows you that your sin is uh an a grievance to the Lord. And you want to agree with him on that and you want to repent.

And which is an ongoing act. Uh first John says, if you think you're without sin, you're a liar and the truth is not in you. So repentance doesn't mean that we stop sinning. Um but It does mean that we acknowledge that our sin is there. So again, it found sounds like nitpicking, but let's keep going through this. Um, and you and you guys make your decision. Are we removing the sovereignty of God and slightly and subtly sliding what I would say a man's salvation back into this conversation.

two. A Christian is a new creation and cannot just stop believing and lose salvation. Faith itself is a gift of God, and real faith endures forever. Salvation is all God's work, not man's. Those who believe in Christ as Lord are saved apart from any effort of their own. Three. So amen. Like I this is this is why this is so frustrating to me. I could not agree with him more. Like that is a biblical, you don't have to be Calvinistic. That is a biblical understanding of the gospel. That it is

Purely a work of God. It's a gift of grace given to you. No works involved whatsoever. Like that is so important and valuable to understand. And then we leave it. The object of faith is Christ Himself, not a promise, a prayer, or a creed. Faith must involve a personal commitment to Christ. It is more than being convinced of the truth of the gospel. It is a forsaking of this world and a following of the Master, the Lord Jesus. Okay.

So I don't know if you caught this. We just left what it is and so Uh what we're being told is that it's a personal commitment to Jesus Christ and that we're not going to be committed. The good news of Jesus Christ is believing that He for s that He forgave your sins. And that he took your place. in judgment. So there's no more it's not that he forgive it and there's judgment looming.

is that he forgave your sins, he received the judgment, and then the required righteousness to live in the presence of the kingdom. This is, you know, where it says, well the first Adam failed, the second Adam succeeded. What did the second Adam do? This was Jesus. He obeyed the law on our behalf.

So this is what's been granted to us. When Peter says everything for life and godliness has been granted you by his divine power, that has nothing to do with your commitment to him. Like if it's granted to you, it's not like, oh, you committed to me. You committed yourself to me. Great. I'll grant this to you. That's a transaction. That's not that's not great. Okay. Um, so this this is what's hard is that salvation

Is not dedication. It's not discipleship. It's not uh turning oneself over. But at the same time, you cannot say that what I'm saying is free grace. There is a difference. Uh, again, we have to emphasize what the gospel is and how we are saved. And then there is the fruit of the gospel. And my this has been my criticism from day one of Lordship Salvation is that they say right things on this category.

He what he just said about the gospel, I would agree with it's the free gifts of God. The object of our faith is Jesus Christ. All of that is correct. And then there's the fruit of the gospel. But what he did is he's mixing the fruit of the gospel or the what happens is the nature, the natural outflow of what happens of those who are in Christ. We're combining them to make it the obligation. It's it's how we become safe. Um let's keep listening.

4. True faith always produces a changed life. The inner person is transformed by the Holy Spirit, and the Christian has a new nature. Those with genuine faith, those who are submitted to the Lordship of Christ, follow Jesus. love their brothers, obey God's commandments, do the will of God, abide in God's word, keep God's word, do good works, and continue in the faith.

Salvation is not adding Jesus to the pantheon of one's idols. It is a wholesale destruction of the idols with Jesus reigning supreme. Five. Got Yeah, I don't disagree with anything that he says there. That that would be the outflow, uh this is true. I mean, um when that when God and Jesus Christ, the power of the Spirit comes to live within you, he causes us to walk in in newness of life. And it's a wonderful gift. Now it's not perfect and there are times

that some people's experiences are different. And this is why we have church discipline. This is why we have commands. This is why we have uh bearing one another's burdens and confronting each other, confessing our sins. But um so I'm not I'm not disagreeing there, but uh hopefully you're starting to see the connection that he has here where

We we keep mixing and it's subtle, it's so subtle, but we keep mixing the gospel with the law because everything he just said here is the law. That is not the gospel. What that is, is what is given to the believer after they are brought into the family, after they're adopted. So that is the new way of living.

But it's not the pathway in nor the way in which one stays in, which I he would agree with. But again, it's just the lack of clarity. I'm just asking for. Like we need to be more clear on how we're presenting this.

God's divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life. Second Peter chapter one verse three. Salvation then is not just a ticket to heaven. It is the means by which we are sanctified practically in this life and by which we grow in grace. six. Scripture teaches that Jesus is Lord of all. Christ demands unconditional surrender to His will. Those who live in rebellion to God's will do not have eternal life.

For God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble. James chapter four verse six seven. Those who try to Okay, I agree. Like I uh I agree that uh everyone must submit to the Lordship of Christ and it says every knee will bow. Um but again one You are not relieved of judgment because you submitted yourself to the Lordship of Christ, because you can't submit yourself to the Lordship of Christ.

Um, and that's where it's like when you say that, it's terrifying to hear. Like what he just said, it's like, man, that's so terrifying. Because he's right. Like, he's not wrong. To say that Jesus is going to judge the w those who are in the earth when he comes back is he's absolutely correct. But those who are freed from that judgment are not those who submitted themselves to the Lordship of Christ. It's just that's just not how it works. It's those who are in Christ are free from judgment.

Those who have been adopted and rescued by the Father, and how is it that we know this to be true? By faith. This is why those who when Paul says those who Like who are the children of Abraham? It's those of faith. Not of those who have surrendered, not of those who have submitted themselves. It's not a work of it it's believing that Jesus is sufficient.

to save and it is by faith that we are saved, not surrender, not dedication, not repentance. Um and so he just said this like a couple points earlier and now he's contradicting it here. I think it's so I'm not disagreeing. If you um are not in Christ and and Jesus returns, you will be judged. And you will be judged for rejecting Jesus Christ. You will be judged for that.

But you it's not that you submitted yourself to Christ, therefore that then you are set free. It's because Christ rescued you and saved you, and you believe that to be true. And the evidence is that he rescued you is your faith. So again it's it it's the constant mixing of the law and the gospel.

Truly believe in Christ will love him, and those we love we long to please. Eight. Scripture teaches that behavior is an important test of faith. Obedience is evidence that one's faith is genuine. If a person remains unwilling to obey Christ, he provides evidence that his faith is in name only. A person may claim Jesus as Savior and pretend to obey for a while, but if there is no heart change, his true nature will eventually manifest itself.

This was the case for Judas Iscariot and nine. James. I don't disagree with that. Um and it's true. I I I would preach this way. I would shepherd people in my congregation this way that if um they don't they don't Uh If they're not willing to see their life as

controlled and dictated by Jesus Christ because of the gospel, then that's a concern. You know, this is why fr going back, he quoted second Peter one nine, but if you go back and quote Second Peter, he says, if these truths about you are not increasing Which are these fruits of the spirit. He goes, You've forgotten you've been cleansed from your former sin. So it is very possible to live the Christian life and not produce fruit.

And this is the very case that Peter is saying. He's saying, Look, you're you're living a fruitless life. He and and this is what's hard, is that in this particular video This video makes it sound like you can't do that. And Peter and Paul and James are saying, You can do that and you shouldn't do that. And Peter is saying, You forgot your allegiance. You forgot what's happened to you. You forgot you you've been rescued.

Um, but if someone goes on and says and basically d completely says you're right, you know what I th their response is, you're right, I forgot that this is not this is not who I am. But they agree with their sin, then that's like you're you're denying the very gospel. Like you're denying you need you need you're not you're denying you're sick and you need to be saved. You're denying that you're lost and you need to be found. And that's a whole different situation.

Believers may stumble and fall, but they will preserve in the faith. This was the case for Simon Peter. A believer who completely turns away from the Lord plainly shows that he was never born again to begin with. A person who has been delivered. Yeah, I just want to know what he means by completely turns away from the Lord. Um because the in the Lordship world.

this this becomes like they start creating extra biblical rules and then that's turning away from the Lord. And that's where I'm like, we gotta be careful and define what does it mean to turn away from the Lord? Like to reject the gospel. to reject truth? Like, what does it mean to turn away from the Lord? Like, because I I'm telling you, people hear these type of things and then they contact

Me and our ministry and they're like, Have I turned away from the Lord? Yeah, because I'm struggling with lust or I'm struggling with anger or whatever. And uh because I don't agree, like I can't stop doing this if I turned away from the Lord. And uh my answer to that is no. The fact that you're concerned with this is the the first step. So we had to like we gotta clarify what does it mean to turn away from the Lord?

from sin by faith in Christ should not desire to remain in a life of sin. Of course, spiritual growth can occur quickly or slowly depending on the person and his circumstances. And the changes may not be evident to everyone at first. Ultimately, God knows who are his sheep, and he will mature each of us according to his perfect timetable.

Is it possible to be a Christian and live in lifelong carnality, enjoying the pleasures of sin and never seeking to glorify the Lord who bought him? Okay, so first of all, I just again I I love it. Like it

He's correct. Like I God grows us at his own timetable. And I don't understand at times why you have some people who explode in growth and others it's a struggle. Like I don't really always understand that. And and I agree. And he what he's admitting to is the sovereignty of God in our salvation and sanctification.

Like, why did why do some per people live till they're 20 something years old and the Lord takes them home? And why do some live till they're 80? Like, all of this is in the hands of God. And so there are things when he says that, I'm like, yes, this is so helpful. This is so clarified. And then uh we'll get something like this. So let's hear this next section. Can a sinner spurn the lordship of Christ, yet lay claim to him as savior?

Can someone pray a sinner's prayer and go about his life as if nothing had happened and still call himself a Christian? Lordship Salvation says no. Let us not give unrepentant sinners false hope. Rather, let us declare the whole counsel of God. Okay, so he says, let us not give unrepentant sinners false hope. Um Man, there's so there's this is so complicated for me because the church is rife in the New Testament with people who are claiming to know Christ and live in open sense.

Like, have you read the New Testament? Like, it is almost in every single book that there's a correction going on. Um, and Paul, and Paul at times even gets in arguments with them about it. Like seven critics is pretty wild. So we have we have to be careful here because there are evidences of times where people do struggle with sex.

Romans seven is a perfect example where Paul himself talks about where the things that he wants to do he doesn't do and the things that he should do he isn't doing. So should we just say, Well, Paul, you're not a Christian? Like you should repent of those things. I mean that that is crazy. Um being trapped in sin is a real word. Like it's a real concept in scripture. Galatians 6, uh the end of James 5. It says if you restore a brother, you save his life.

Uh, not from salvation of eternal damnation, but his actual life, because of the word that's being used there, it's not a soul, it's a it's actual living body, meaning like Ananias and Sapphira, you could be taken out just because that you you're living in an open rebellion. So the concept of Christians living in sin or being trapped in sin is is a biblical concept.

And what causes them to repent? Well, according to Peter, it's the gospel. Paul writes to the church at Corinth and he says, I can't wait to come to you so I can preach to you the power of the gospel. Christ and Him crucified. I want to make that known among you. Why? Because let's say they're not a believer. Are you going to call them to surrender their life? We're we're Calvinists, right?

Forget that. Like if you just believe in those i in the sovereignty of God and that men are dead in their trespasses and sins. that you have to have a gift given to you, the gift of faith. So if someone is not obeying, then the response to that is not surrender. It is, do you not understand what the power of the gospel does?

Because if someone is not a believer, then what I need to remind them of is that they are still trapped in their sin and they need to be set free by the power of Christ in the gospel. Like they need the gospel. Calling them to discipleship, to pick up the cross, um, it could expose the fact that they're not a Christian, but telling them to do it won't won't make them a Christian, right?

That's the struggle I have here is that I would never if you were to put me in a room in a prison and you told me uh let's say we go to throw our country, you put me in a prison room, uh a room with a bunch of prisoners. And you tell me that these people have never heard the gospel. And I t and I tell them they need to pick up their cross. They need to submit themselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Um, they need to uh forsake everything and follow him. They can't do that.

Those are the works of a spirit driven person. So what did they need? They need the power of the gospel that opens up their blind eyes, it gives them a new heart. And allows the spirit to come in and awaken them, right? This is why faith is the first response. Like they believe that Jesus Christ is sufficient.

And upon believing, they then turn because the power of the Spirit lives within them. They then turn from their old system of belief. They reject it because they realize they cannot be saved by it. And they turn away from their old life because why would I want to stay in the life that my savior died for? Right. That that's the that's the process.

Now we're dealing with people who I think have been gul you know, they've been given the gospel and the law and it's a confusion. And so they're we're trying to use the law to Bring people into the gospel, and it won't work. The law will show them where they have failed, but it is powerless to save. Calling someone to pick up their cross, to dedicate themselves, to walk the narrow road, to repent of their sins cannot save their soul.

Uh the only thing that has the power to save them it is the power of God in what? The gospel is the power of God. Must be born again. John chapter three, verse seven. Want to learn more? Subscribe so you don't want to. That is the video. Um hopefully, I mean I I was gr I want to be gracious towards this brother, and I think that

Uh a lot of what he had to say is good and healthy and helpful, but some of it I think is confusing. And so this has been my criticism for a long time because people have asked me, like, what do you think lordship salvation is a false gospel? And I think a lot of the people who promote lordship salvation do so But it's confusing. At times you hear them preach and it's wonderful. And it's like you are saved by the sovereign work of God.

And then other times you hear them preach and you're saved by your own works. You're saved by your faithfulness. You're saved by your dedication, by picking up your cross. And it does become it does create a sense of Phariseism because we are constantly fruit checking. We're constantly checking each other's works and examining examining each other, calling ourselves to examine ourselves. And listen, I think it's good and healthy for us.

To ask ourselves, you know, are we walking by faith, trusting in Christ? Am I repenting of my sins? Do I feel, do I feel as if? uh Christ is sufficient am I turning to other things, those things are fine. But when you start to say that, you know, your salvation is in question based upon your performance, you were never saved by your performance in the first place. Like the law, telling someone to obey the law cannot produce faith and it cannot produce righteousness.

This is so important. That's why Paul says the law is a schoolmaster. Like it can expose to you your sin and it can tell you what you need to do, but it is powerless to cause you to do it. You have to remember it's pure instructions. Right? Just because you know what you need to do doesn't mean you have the capacity to do it.

Like we just got done watching the Olympics and I'm watching these people, you know, do flips on ice skates and they're jumping off. Like I you could give me all the instructions on how to do an Olympic game, but that doesn't mean I have the capacity then to go out and do it. And this is what we do is that we are telling people this is what you must do as if they can do it. And they can't. So then this is why it says that it is impossible to please God.

Unless it is done by faith. Like this is I don't I don't know how to be more clear than if you're not walking by faith. Faith is in the object of Jesus Christ and what he has accomplished for us. So to walk by faith. And to believe that I am accepted, that I am wanted, and that I am righteous by faith alone. Like I just and faith means that I trust that Jesus is sufficient to forgive me and to sanctify me and to glorify me and that I am right with God.

Because of the power and the person of Christ. Like that that is what my trust is. I I I I I live in that. I swim in that. Everything that comes out of my mouth, everything that I do is in light of that. Like I would never go approach God based upon my own merit. Like that would be terrifying. I would be doomed. But I can run with boldness to my great high priest, because it is in Christ that I am heard and accepted and listened to.

Therefore, I obey because I want to honor my king. I want others to benefit of the fruit that comes from my life. And if I'm lacking those things. It says, what? Laying aside the weight and the sin that easily besets us from what? Looking into Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. The author. And finisher, your submitting and dedication to Jesus Christ is not what got you saved. It is not what preserves you. Jesus saves you. Jesus preserves you. That's where we look.

So if they're you're trapped in sin. If you feel as if your life is uh not a reflective of what Christ is at all. If you're any any and all of these things, remember what Christ you need to hear what Christ has done for you, what he can is doing and will do. And there's liberation and freedom in Christ. Like you need all of that. But that comes to you not based upon a dedication. Now, what do those passages mean? Like pick up your cross.

Forsake everything. Those passages mean if you're going to try and add anything to Jesus Christ, and you're, then you're not going to, you're not saved. You can't add anything to Jesus Christ. Right, when it says we died with Christ, that's what it means to pick up our cross. It means that the I and my righteousness and my good works and my future.

I I'm a I'm a walking dead man. Like I am dead. I picked up my crop. Meaning you are literally carrying around the mechanism that destroyed your life. That's what that means. I died with Christ. Anything that I want to put before the Father as acceptable is now dead. It is Paul Paul says that my righteousness is as filthy rags. I'm going to forsake the law. I'm going to forsake obedience. I'm going to forsake anything and everything. And only Jesus Christ will be my salvation. Nothing else.

It's important because Jesus kept saying, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man can come to the Father except through me. You search the scriptures because you think in them they have eternal life, but they s bear witness about me. Right. And it's a supernatural work. Nicodemus is like, what can I do to enter the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus says, you must be born again. You have to have a spiritual change. And the spirit does it.

As we look to see where the wind blows, and we can see it in the trees, but we do not know where it comes from. We do not, you cannot manipulate the spirit into salvation. If you can do that, then you can say, I was saved because I called upon the Spirit to save me. If you call upon Jesus to save you, that's because he opened your eyes and he showed you that he is salvation. This is John, right? John 6, it says that no one comes to the Father unless the Father draws him.

Like you, you haven't, you're not involved, not your dedication, nothing. So dear believer, if you're sitting here and you're just worried, have I dedicated enough? Have I submitted enough? Is Jesus really Lord of my life? Yes, he is Lord of your life. He is. Because he's the Lord of the universe. Whether you want him to be or not, Jesus is Lord. The benefits of living as Jesus is Lord is outweighs the benefits of rejecting.

I give him my heart, my mind, and my strength because he owns me and I want him to owe me. But even when I didn't want him to own me, he still owned me, right? When I, it says that when I was the enemy of God, he set his heart upon me. Like this is the beautiful part about Romans, that while you were yet his enemy, he died for you. He didn't die for you because you submitted yourself to him or you repented or you made him Lord. You were his enemy.

He died for you. He rescued you. He clothed you. He called you into his family. He opened your eyes, opened your heart, and gave you a new path. And at times we wander from that path. And what brings us back? Let's getting rid of things that distract us, getting rid of our sin that is distracting us from Jesus and looking onto Jesus. So preaching a message of dedication

Or giving people false hope. If someone truly isn't a believer, then go give them the gospel. Don't give them the law. Listen, you gotta give them the law to show that they're a sinner, but the the law won't save them. That's why they need the gospel. So that is my criticism. It's always been my criticism of Lordship Salvation. I can remember the first time I heard it, it sounded right. I was uh I grew up in the E V Z believism.

uh system, you raise your hand, say a prayer, live however you want. Um, you know, I got my ticket out of hell. I I grew up in that. I understand why that is frustrating because people it's almost a mockery to God. You know, you said a few words and therefore you're it's like saying words or saying a prayer. or walking a Nisle or even baptism is the way in which you were saved. And uh it seems like a mockery to say I can now live however I want because I, you know, I I punched my ticket.

And uh I agree, that's that's not helpful. And it's not good for those people. You know, I don't I don't want that for them either. But they're the the opposite of that is not calling someone to dedicate their life or Some render themselves.

So let's not let's not mix the law and the gospel here. Uh I'm gonna close with this. I know I keep promoting the book, but I wrote a whole chapter in this book called The Bible according to Jesus on law gospel distinction. And it is vitally important. that we take a lot of those passages that he mentioned are in this book. And I explain why that's not what they mean.

And I explained the difference between the law and the gospel and how we must read that correctly. So you can get this at theocast dot org or an Amazon. It's Kindle, hardback, paperback, and audio soon. So hopefully this is helpful for you. I just wanted to give an example. Um Again, want to be gracious. Um, I don't believe everything you said was wrong. I don't think this entire thing is

uh completely heretical. I think it's confusing. Let's be more clear and how we talk about the gospel, the law, the fruits of the gospel. How one is saved, how one is sanctified, making sure that we keep the sovereignty of God and the depravity of man in their proper places. And if someone is trapped in sin, uh, that we're not immediately going to calling them Not a believer.

But we call them to repentance first. But if and if they are disagreeing with God and rejecting the truth that I'm with you, then we need to call them to faith in Christ because They're clearly not agreeing with Jesus and they need to be told that they are under God's condemnation. And the only way out from under God's condemnation is to believe the truth of Christ that can rescue them from that.

Hopefully that was helpful and I hope it wasn't too long. Thanks for listening. And uh if this was helpful, please if you're uh listening to this, share it with somebody, uh subscribe, like, leave a comment. Um, we try to go to uh in there and read those. uh the help just helpful feedback and um it's just a great way to support our ministry. If you have questions, you want a dialogue about this, you want to have more videos and articles about this, go to Theocast and join.

That's where I answer a lot of all of the questions. I post more videos and have lots of articles and resources available there. So go to theocast.org. Thanks.