Incompatible Gospels: The Misfit of Lordship Salvation and Gospel-Centric Fellowship
There may not be any problem more common
among men, even good men, than their being inconsistent. All men say one
thing and then fail to always live by what they have professed. It is a
problem of a different kind when men try for whatever reason to join together
two things that are not compatible. While in this life inconsistency in
itself is unavoidable, attempts to force a conjoining of incompatible
properties or principles is not necessary.
In Fundamental
circles there are two growing trends. The
first trend is for a man to begin to espouse a Gospel message that curiously
has the same tints and shadows cast from one of Dr. John MacArthur’s The Gospel
According to . . . books. The second
trend is for a man to publically reveal that he has been awakened to a
Gospel-centric orientation concerning his Christian fellowship. Rather than just re-examine whether the
Biblical focus concerning fellowship is a pure Gospel or a pure church I would like to draw attention to these
questions: How can someone claim a belief in a narrow Lordship-defined
Gospel and also claim that they fellowship around a broad non-Lordship
defined Gospel? Likewise, how can
someone claim that it is all about the Gospel and not care enough about the
definition of the Gospel that would publically place them in agreement with or
against Lordship salvation?
How a Lordship Gospel and a Gospel-centric Fellowship are Incompatible
Lordship Salvation Defined
Thus in a sense we pay the ultimate price for salvation when our sinful self is nailed to a cross. . . . It is an exchange of all that we are for all that Christ is. And it denotes implicit obedience, full surrender to the lordship of Christ. Nothing less can qualify as saving faith. (John MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus, p. 140.)
That is the kind of response the Lord Jesus called for: wholehearted commitment. A desire for Him at any cost. Unconditional surrender. A full exchange of self for the Savior. It is the only response that will open the gates of the kingdom. (John MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus [Revised and Expanded Edition], p. 148.)
There is no doubt that Jesus saw a measure of real, lived-out obedience to the will of God as necessary for final salvation. (John Piper, What Jesus Demands From the World, p. 160)
If It Only Were About the Gospel of Christ
If it were all about the importance of the Gospel then variations of the Biblical Gospel would matter. No man could truly believe in the utmost importance of the Gospel, but then walk in the shadows when it comes to matters of a Crossless or Lordship Gospel. His voice would be clear and distinct defining with great clarity where he stood.
It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. . . Matthew 20:28It seems inconceivable that someone who understands the message of the cross would use that message as their justification to ignore wrong. No man should believe that the same God, who will so richly reward us for the smallest deed done for Him, will ignore and pass over our variations from sound doctrine and practice. If in this truth men were willing to live all about the Gospel, all would be well.
Evangelist Gordon Phillips
Site Publisher's Addendum:
Let me get some clarification here as one who is certainly not a fan of MacArthur or Piper. Are you saying that saving faith is completely devoid of an
ReplyDeleteattitude towards learning and obeying God's truth? Are you saying that saving faith is devoid of a commitment to God of any sort?
Thanks for asking.
DeleteWhat we are saying is that front-loading faith with a commitment to live as an obedient, committed disciple of Jesus Christ to become a born again Christian is NOT the gospel of Jesus Christ. For further clarification please refer to articles such as:
Summary of Lordship Salvation From a Single Page
Can God-Given Faith Be Defective?
LM
Paul,
ReplyDeleteYou asked if "saving faith is completely devoid of an attitude towards learning and obeying God's truth." I believe that a result of salvation will be those things (among other things) in the life of a child of God, but we must be clear that those things are not the means of obtaining salvation.
Salvation is by God's grace through our faith, belief, trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is not dependent upon an individual making a commitment of change to his life or of surrender of all that he is. Any and all such promises by us, though sounding spiritual, are only more attempts by man to once again be offering his own deeds, his own efforts, his own works in exchange for forgiveness of sin. No such promise to God is any good because we could never keep it no matter how sincere we are.
The necessary change in us comes from God, Who makes us a new creature, when we come in simple faith to Him. The only promises or commitments that truly matter in salvation are those that God Himself has made to us. It is us who trust in His Word, not Him in ours, that results in salvation.
I trust this helps. Lou has many articles on this blog that you should carefully read to better understand the issue of LS.
Paul,
ReplyDeleteIf I may, let me add to what I wrote before and expand upon the false idea that intentions, promises, or commitments from man are of any value in our salvation. When it comes to God, the value of His intentions, promises, and commitments regarding salvation are in the fact there is absolutely no difference between what He says and what He does. Abraham believed this as Paul reminds us in Romans 4:21, "And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform."
When it comes to us what value is there in any of our intentions, promises, or commitments? Our intentions are more inaction than actual action; our promises more words than performance; our commitments more desire than completion. When it comes to what can save us who truly believes that attitude rather than substance is what matters? This is exactly why God commands us to put our trust in the substance of the finished work of Christ. Only that can save us! The truth of the matter is that despite the fact that some men believe that declaring their obedience and surrender to Christ is part and parcel to what saves them, not a single one of them ever came remotely close to following through on those commitments. Do they believe that it something just to be said or something that must be done?
May I be quite frank and say that what I myself see in the LS doctrines is just a novel, contemporary form of the doctrines of the Judiazers of old. They wanted the Mosaic Law to be a part of saving faith, not that they perfectly kept the Law but they wanted to be judged by their good intentions toward it. But Paul ably tells us that obedience for justification is an all or nothing proposition.
Look again at the words of John Piper I quoted. Do we notice that even he hedges on the obedience issue when he used the descriptive modifier "a measure.?" Is there really some value in just a measure of obedience to God? Really? Just and only "a measure" of obedience will get the job done? There is no difference between "a measure" and "a partial," and it is certain in the Scriptures that God does not see the partially obedient man any differently than the completely disobedient man. My friend, salvation is all of God.
Hi Lou,
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing this inconsistency to light. I had not considered this before, yet now that I've been exposed to it it makes absolutely no sense. You're not saved if you're not obeying Christ's commandments but you can fellowship with anyone who doesn't obey them... what???
I would very much like to hear Piper explain this.
Kev
Kev:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input. This is the kind of nonsense that comes from men who prefer friends and fellowships above the clear teaching of the Word of God. It seems to me they construct applications from dubious theology to legitimize their fellowships.
Thanks again,
Lou