"Those who hold to a lordship/discipleship/mastery salvation viewpoint do not (perhaps it would be more accurate to say 'cannot') send an unambiguous message about this matter. On the one hand, they say that the essence of saving faith is 'unconditional surrender, a complete resignation of self and absolute submission.' True faith, we are told, 'starts with humility and reaches fruition in obedience.' 'Salvation is for those who are willing to forsake everything.' 'Saving faith is a commitment to leave sin and follow Jesus Christ at all costs. Jesus takes no one unwilling to come on those terms.' 'Eternal life brings immediate death to self.' 'Forsaking oneself for Christ's sake is not an optional step of discipleship subsequent to conversion; it is the sine qua non of saving faith.'
"But what if I do not follow Christ at all costs? What if later on in life I become unwilling to forsake something? Suppose I lack full obedience? What if I take something back that earlier in my experience I had given to Him? How do I quantify the amount of fruit necessary to be sure I truly 'believed' in the lordship/mastery sense of the term? Or how do I quantify the amount of defection that can be tolerated without wondering if I have saving faith or if I in fact lost what I formerly had?" (p. 29, SGS)
Perhaps Ryrie's did not read MacArthur's book in total. For MacArthur does allow for Christians to be in various stages of growth in their walk. The point is that, if someone's conversion is genuine, he will exhibit growth, however meager and however faltering, during his lifetime.
Quoting MacArthur as Ryrie did, and his subsequent remark, demonstrate an inaccurate assessment of what MacArthur was saying. In fact, every single quote by Ryrie has been taken out of context in order to create a straw man (salvation by works) to attack, a tactic which Ryrie himself denigrates (p. 29, SGS).
To demonstrate, we'll take each quote out of context as Ryrie did, then put it in the proper context by quoting MacArthur or referring to the total context of MacArthur's remarks:
(1) Saving faith is "unconditional surrender, a complete resignation of self and absolute submission" (p. 153, GATJ).
Actually, MacArthur was explaining the lesson of the prodigal son. It is not an ambiguous message as Ryrie claims. Not if taken in context. Nor does it say that the prodigal son never again failed his father. What MacArthur was saying is that a change of heart attitude, not perfection in works, is necessary for salvation.
(2) "True faith, we are told, 'starts with humility and reaches fruition in obedience'" (pp. 176-177, GATJ).
MacArthur was explaining the Beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-12. Again, this is not ambiguous. If that single statement is taken out of context and combined with other out-of-context statements, it might be ambiguous. But there is no ambiguity in MacArthur's overall exegesis of the Sermon on the Mount.
(3) "Salvation is for those who are willing to forsake everything" (p. 78, GATJ).
Here MacArthur is referring to the rich young ruler who asked Jesus, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?" (Matt. 19:16-22). Again, we can see that Ryrie's out-of-context use of MacArthur's statement was less than scholarly.
(4) "Saving faith is a commitment to leave sin and follow Jesus Christ at all costs. Jesus takes no one unwilling to come on those terms" (p 87, GATJ).
Here's the same statement in context:
"Salvation is by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8). That is the consistent and unambiguous teaching of Scripture. But people with genuine faith do not refuse to acknowledge their sinfulness. They sense that they have offended the holiness of God, and do not reject the lordship of Christ. They do not cling to the things of the world. Real faith lacks none of these attributes. Saving faith is a commitment to leave sin and follow Jesus Christ at all costs. Jesus takes no one unwilling to come on those terms."
Taken in context, we again find no ambiguity in MacArthur's statement. What he is saying is quite clear: "Faith without works is dead, being alone" (James 2:17).
(5) "Eternal life brings immediate death to self" (p. 140, GATJ).
MacArthur states that there is no cost for salvation, but there is a definite cost in terms of salvation's impact. Read MacArthur's entire statement and see if Ryrie did not give the wrong impression about what MacArthur was saying by taking the statement out of context:
"Eternal life is indeed a free gift (Rom. 6:23). Salvation cannot be earned with good deeds or purchased with money. It has already been bought by Christ, who paid the ransom with His blood. But that does not mean there is not cost in terms of salvation's impact on the sinner's life. This paradox may be difficult but it is nevertheless true: salvation is both free and costly. Eternal life brings immediate death to self. 'Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin' (Rom 6:6).
"Thus in a sense we pay the ultimate price for salvation when our sinful self is nailed to a cross. It is a total abandonment of self-will, like the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies so that it can bear much fruit (cf. John 12:24). 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.
"Death to self does not mean immediate sanctification and glorification. But just as Adam died on the day he disobeyed God (yet did not see the completion of the death for many years), so we die on the day that we truly believe on the Son of Man (though the completion of that death will not be realized until we go to be with the Lord). And in dying we live unto eternal life."
(6) "Forsaking oneself for Christ's sake is not an optional step of discipleship subsequent to conversion; it is the sine qua non of saving faith" (p. 135, GATJ).
Like all the other Ryrie quotes, MacArthur's statement must be read in context. In accusing MacArthur of ambiguity, it is Ryrie who is being ambiguous. In fact, taking MacArthur's statements out of context to fit his claim is an abandonment of Warren Wiersbe's "Foreword" in Ryrie's book -- that changing one's meaning by taking his words out of context is amateurish. In building Ryrie's status in the eyes of the reader, Wiersbe states:
"This book is not only important, but it is also dependable. To begin with, the author is a theologian who has two earned doctorates in his field of study. He has served effectively on the faculty of one of America's leading evangelical seminaries and is widely recognized and respected as a teacher, preacher, and writer. As you read these pages, you will appreciate Dr. Ryrie's accurate exegesis and his clear explanations of biblical texts. An experienced and mature scholar, Dr. Ryrie quotes carefully and accurately from a wide range of writers; but his final authority is the Word of God. The cynic Ambrose Bierce once defined 'quoting' as 'the act of repeating erroneously the words of another.' Dr. Ryrie is too seasoned a scholar to make that mistake. You can read these pages with confidence; they are not written by an amateur" (p. 9, SGS).
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