Over time the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been slowly and sometimes suddenly perverted by the thoughts and desires of men. By adding extra steps or removing essential components we push out the Grace of God necessary for true salvation and take away the power needed to make disciples, defined as a fully engaged follower of Christ. Two of the most common and extreme occurrences of this perversion is found in the man-made doctrines of Free Grace and Lordship Salvation.
Although there are variations, Lordship Salvation is generally referring to the teaching that a person must receive Jesus as Savior and Lord and stop or at least be willing to stop sinning while producing good works or fruit. Ultimately making salvation a two-step process requiring faith in believing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and active following Jesus’ teachings, evidenced by the production of fruit. The proponents of Lordship Salvation claim that the proof of this two-part salvation plan can be found in Luke 14:27 “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” Clearly, this verse is teaching on discipleship, not salvation. Lordship salvation also teaches that salvation will always be evidenced by fruit or good works. While this is partially true the task of defining good works often falls to the opinion of flawed men as to what is and is not acceptable. Overtime time Lordship Salvation becomes more about checking off boxes on a list rather than truly producing good fruit. This false plan of salvation often causes followers to feel that they have never done enough to earn God’s Grace or love.
The major failing of Lordship Salvation is in the tying of works to the act of salvation. By adding our works to salvation, even in the smallest amounts, we minimize the work done by Jesus on the cross of Calvary. Further Romans 11:6 declares “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” Adding a small number of works to Salvation is comparable to adding a small amount of poison to a glass of water. The water is no longer good to drink and the grace is no longer good for salvation. Works are the result of salvation, not the causal effect. We had a saying growing up “don’t put the cart before the horse”, the cart follows the horse but the horse is not real because of the horse, and salvation is not made real because of the works that follow.
It is my experience that Lordship Salvation produces disciples that are more concerned with the sin in someone’s life rather than the Savior needed for Salvation. They become legalistic and hypocritical in their judgment of sin.
On the other end of the spectrum is the teaching of Free Grace Salvation which teaches that belief alone is enough for salvation. The problem with Free Grace Salvation is in the elimination of repentance on the part of the believer. Often cited as proof of this teaching is John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The lack of the mention of repentance in this and other verses is often declared to be proof that it is not necessary for salvation, resulting in a watered-down gospel that only requires the reciting of a prewritten prayer or asking Jesus into our hearts to force God’s hand to save the individual regardless of how they view their sin or whether or not they desire to stop sinning. Those who teach this “Easy Believeisim” style of salvation ignores the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repentance was the thrust of Jesus’ message to the lost world. The elimination of repentance from the plan of salvation reducing the act down to turning over a new leaf. The great tragedy is the false sense of security given to someone who may never seek out salvation again, resulting in their eternal condemnation in Hell.
Free Grace focuses heavily on the supposed conversion of the lost but fails in discipleship because the person being converted does not possess the changed heart or the power of the Holy Spirit needed to be true disciples.
As with most extremes, the truth is often found in the middle. The Biblical plan of salvation includes elements of both Lordship Salvation and Free Grace. Biblical salvation includes repentance and faithful belief. The lost person needs to have some degree of understanding of how his sin has separated himself from God and how he must desire to move away from that sinfulness and in faith turn to Jesus Christ and the price He paid for those sins on the cross of Calvary. The evidence of this is the changed Heart that no longer desires sin. A change of vision that sees the world the way God sees it, lost, and in need of salvation. And ultimately a change of will, where the person’s Will aligns with the Will of God. We see this evidenced many times in the New Testament. This complete transformation and repentance of the Woman at the Well, John 4:28-29, where she not only left her earthly duties but began to proclaim the Messiah and in the Changed life of Zacchaeus and his desire to change his past wrongs in Luke 19:8.
CONCLUSION
Although possibly well-intentioned, any changes to the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ condemns souls to Hell. Lordship Salvation adds hurdles to Salvation that is evidence of Salvation, not part of the act of Salvation. Free Grace Salvation takes the process of Salvation to the opposite extreme, oversimplifying the Salvation process to the point of being ineffective by the removal of the need for repentance. Both fail to make true disciples of Jesus Christ. The true Salvation process of repentance and belief through faith in Jesus Christ is the only means by which one can be reunited with the Father. From that true conversion, true disciples can be made.
I suspect that you could be trying to play it safe with your content, but please remember that the unpopular reasoning usually make for healthy dialogue when approached with respect..and this IS your blog not a democracy- allow your “take” be King here!