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Lordship necessary for salvation

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Darrenss1

New Member
May I suggest that you really need to study the Bible more if you are going to debate it. If you don't have good Bible software, I suggest E-Sword, which you can download free at: http://www.e-sword.net/

Please show me one piece of scripture that uses that phrase "accept Jesus as Savior". That was merely my reply when you said there is no scripture that says to "accept Jesus as Savior and Lord". Emphasis on "accept".

Darren
 

John of Japan

Well-Known Member
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Please show me one piece of scripture that uses that phrase "accept Jesus as Savior". That was merely my reply when you said there is no scripture that says to "accept Jesus as Savior and Lord". Emphasis on "accept".

Darren
Sorry, I don't want to go down this road. It's not connected with the OP. It would derail the thread, and thus in an Internet forum be rude to the writer of the OP, not to mention breaking the rules.
 
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John of Japan

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I very much disagree, the appeal to believe on the Lord Jesus is reason enough. Your claims to simply find a few examples that match your view is far outweighed by the greater evidence of scriptures that point to the person of Christ, whom HE is, what HE did, His authority, His deity, His resurrection - its the trust in Jesus the God man sitting today at the right hand of God whom is Lord of all. Take Acts 5 as your example -

Acts 5:29 - Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

How does this passage deny Christ as Lord? It doesn't, indeed Jesus is also referenced as Prince AND Savior. Should people be told to simply believe in what Jesus did BUT not believe ON Jesus (He is Lord)? Indeed its the other way around, by placing faith on Jesus, the sinner is provided with all that Jesus did do and what Jesus is doing and will do yesterday, today and into eternity.

Darren
I'm very close to deciding to ignore you from now on. You have insulted me for the second time. Please pay close attention. Lean in to the screen. I never said any passage anywhere in the Bible denies Jesus as Lord! For you to intimate that I did is insulting.

It is very important for a Christian to acknowledge Christ as Lord (not to be saved, but as soon as possible after salvation). It is vital for a Christian to give his all to Christ and follow Him with every fiber of his being. I gave up all I had, everything I am to be a missionary to Japan, and I don't consider that to be special--I consider it to be the normal Christian life, something all Christians should do, not just missionaries or other full time workers.

Now, I'm still waiting for you to define the Gospel that we are commanded to proclaim to the entire world.
 

Darrenss1

New Member
I'm very close to deciding to ignore you from now on. You have insulted me for the second time. Please pay close attention. Lean in to the screen. I never said any passage anywhere in the Bible denies Jesus as Lord! For you to intimate that I did is insulting.

You're insulted?? You must be joking. This discussion references the conditions to OBTAIN salvation between either Savior or Lord or BOTH. I said elude to Lord not deny. I think you've simply misread the context of what I was saying.

Now, I'm still waiting for you to define the Gospel that we are commanded to proclaim to the entire world.

The gospel of the good news entails all of the life, death and resurrection of Christ as I have already stated. Go back and read my previous post regarding belief (to believe) in the person of Christ; I think I was very clear. Anyway, I'll leave it there, I'm just having a plain discussion, I don't feel any negative emotions neither do I have the mind to insult anyone, sorry you feel that way.

Darren
 

John of Japan

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
You first insulted me by presuming to know what I preach in Post #34:

You and I both know that Jesus is Lord, aren't you simply making an omission to inform your new members of this fact

You're insulted?? You must be joking. This discussion references the conditions to OBTAIN salvation between either Savior or Lord or BOTH. I said elude to Lord not deny. I think you've simply misread the context of what I was saying.
Yes, I'm insulted. And I didn't misread the context. You used the word "deny" in post 60, as can be seen in my quote of your post, then you changed it to "omit."

Now, as the Bible commands, I've informed a brother of your offenses towards me. What say ye?

The gospel of the good news entails all of the life, death and resurrection of Christ as I have already stated. Go back and read my previous post regarding belief (to believe) in the person of Christ; I think I was very clear. Anyway, I'll leave it there, I'm just having a plain discussion, I don't feel any negative emotions neither do I have the mind to insult anyone, sorry you feel that way.

Darren
I just read all of your posts in this entire thread, and found nowhere until this very post where you answered my repeated question about what you believe the Gospel to be. If you mean to be just having a plain discussion, then let's interact with each other, not ignore what each other is saying.

I'm glad to say you don't mean to insult anyone. But sometimes insults come without meaning them to. In your case, by making assumptions about what I am and what I preach, you have been offensive. I take very seriously what I preach, and I preach the Lordship of Christ to believers.
 
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freeatlast

New Member
The Lordship of Christ must be presched to un-believers as well. Unless they accept Him for who He is they are not repenting and are not getting saved. :thumbs:
 

Winman

Active Member
It goes without saying that a person must believe Jesus is Lord to be saved, you must believe he is the Son of God who died on the cross for our sins and was raised again. Only God can forgive sins.

But nowhere will you find as a condition of salvation that a person must promise to quit sinning to be saved. What did Paul and Silas tell the Philipian jailer?

Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Did Paul and Silas tell the Philipian jailer he must make a commitment to quit all sins? No. They said he must believe on Jesus, that is, to trust himself to Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.

If we must make a commitment to quit sinning to be saved, then nobody is saved, because we all continue to sin. Even Paul said he did the things he did not want to do, so he never fully ceased from sinning.

So, then you come to the question as to how obedient you must be. If no one is 100% obedient to Jesus, how obedient do you have to be to be saved?

This is error. When you receive Jesus, that is exactly what you are doing, receiving Jesus himself. He lives inside of you and he cannot sin. You do not have to make a commitment not to sin because the Holy Spirit within you cannot sin, it is impossible.

At the same time, the scriptures show we still have the sinful flesh that wars against the Spirit, so we cannot do the things we will.

Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

The scriptures clearly show we have two natures when we get saved, the flesh and the Spirit. When we obey the flesh we will sin, when we obey the Spirit we cannot sin.

But nowhere is it shown as a condition of salvation that we must completely cease from sin, if so, then we are all lost.
 

freeatlast

New Member
It goes without saying that a person must believe Jesus is Lord to be saved, you must believe he is the Son of God who died on the cross for our sins and was raised again. Only God can forgive sins.

But nowhere will you find as a condition of salvation that a person must promise to quit sinning to be saved. What did Paul and Silas tell the Philipian jailer?

Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Did Paul and Silas tell the Philipian jailer he must make a commitment to quit all sins? No. They said he must believe on Jesus, that is, to trust himself to Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.

If we must make a commitment to quit sinning to be saved, then nobody is saved, because we all continue to sin. Even Paul said he did the things he did not want to do, so he never fully ceased from sinning.

So, then you come to the question as to how obedient you must be. If no one is 100% obedient to Jesus, how obedient do you have to be to be saved?

This is error. When you receive Jesus, that is exactly what you are doing, receiving Jesus himself. He lives inside of you and he cannot sin. You do not have to make a commitment not to sin because the Holy Spirit within you cannot sin, it is impossible.

At the same time, the scriptures show we still have the sinful flesh that wars against the Spirit, so we cannot do the things we will.

Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

The scriptures clearly show we have two natures when we get saved, the flesh and the Spirit. When we obey the flesh we will sin, when we obey the Spirit we cannot sin.

But nowhere is it shown as a condition of salvation that we must completely cease from sin, if so, then we are all lost.


I think you are confusing repentance with perfection. They are exclusive one of the other. The one thing that men do not want to do is submit themselves to a God that has the rule over them. This alone is what we are called to in repentance. It is a change of mind about our real place in regards to God. This is not 50% or 75% or 99%. it is 100%. or there is no salvation. From the heart of the person they come to the place where they are willing to do anything to get right with God. many things can bring this about but it all ends at the same place, the cross.

As for Paul he never suggested that he was living in sin. The passage you refer to is not about him sinning. This is a liberal view so as to justify their own sin. Paul actually said that he was blameless even while under the law (prior to salvation). If he kept the law before Christ he certainly obeyed it after he was saved. By the way here is the scripture.
Phil 3:4-6

And no we do not have two natures. Only one. While lost a nature to sin and rebellion. Once saved a nature to obey and live to God in Christ. We are left with the flesh which we are to control and can but we do not have two natures.
Salvation only comes to those who repent towards God. That means they surrender, not reform.
 

Darrenss1

New Member
Yes, I'm insulted. And I didn't misread the context. You used the word "deny" in post 60, as can be seen in my quote of your post, then you changed it to "omit."

For your information I changed that almost immediately after I wrote it. I know I meant "omit" or "elude" not deny. Thus the reason why I quickly changed it.

I said -

How does this passage omit Christ as Lord?

It was written at 6:37 and edited at 6:47. Mate you are getting all fired up for nothing.

Darren
 

Winman

Active Member
I think you are confusing repentance with perfection. They are exclusive one of the other. The one thing that men do not want to do is submit themselves to a God that has the rule over them. This alone is what we are called to in repentance.

If repentance means to turn from sinning, then God is a sinner. The scriptures show God repenting several times.

Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

What we are to turn from is unbelief. We are to cease from trusting in our own works and trust and depend upon Jesus only to save us. If a person has to commit to quit sinning to be saved, then salvation is dependent upon our actions. This is not depending on Jesus, it is depending on ourselves.

Salvation is a free gift (Romans 5:15,16,18). There are no conditions or price to be paid for it, only receive it or refuse it. That is all you can do with a free gift. If you have to quit sinning to be saved, that is not a free gift.
 
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Darrenss1

New Member
If repentance means to turn from sinning, then God is a sinner. The scriptures show God repenting several times.

I agree, I think at the "pre-salvation" phase a sinner is not asked to stop sinning, rather to change their mind about what they think about the true God. Repentence of sins is a natural process in the life of a believer.

Salvation is a free gift (Romans 5:15,16,18). There are no conditions or price to be paid for it, only receive it or refuse it. That is all you can do with a free gift. If you have to quit sinning to be saved, that is not a free gift.

I can't see how coming to Christ for the complete package of who is HE, what HE did, what He is doing; makes no sacrifices upon salvation being a free gift. A sinner comes to Christ, Christ takes them in.

Rather than thinking I can come to Christ just for this one thing (free gift) but I don't have to think there is anymore to the Person of Christ other than "Savior". Would that really do justice to "believe ON the Lord Jesus".

Darren
 

Winman

Active Member
I agree, I think at the "pre-salvation" phase a sinner is not asked to stop sinning, rather to change their mind about what they think about the true God. Repentence of sins is a natural process in the life of a believer.

I can't see how coming to Christ for the complete package of who is HE, what HE did, what He is doing; makes no sacrifices upon salvation being a free gift. A sinner comes to Christ, Christ takes them in.

Rather than thinking I can come to Christ just for this one thing (free gift) but I don't have to think there is anymore to the Person of Christ other than "Savior". Would that really do justice to "believe ON the Lord Jesus".

Darren

Darren, suppose I told my kids this:

"Kids, you have been very disobedient to me all week and I am very upset with you. However, if you will from this moment on obey me until 6 PM this Saturday evening I will take you to the fair Saturday night."

Now, isn't going to the fair conditioned upon their obedience? Isn't it conditioned upon their works?

Is it a free gift, or is it an earned reward?

But this is what you are teaching. You are teaching that if we make a commitment to stop sinning that Jesus will save us. If we do not make that commitment he will not. So, salvation is no longer a free gift but an earned reward conditioned upon our obedience.
 

Darrenss1

New Member
Now, isn't going to the fair conditioned upon their obedience? Isn't it conditioned upon their works?

I'm afraid you have taken it the wrong way. Salvation is a free gift BUT coming to the Lord and not acknowledge from day 1 that HE is THE Lord, will be giving the sinner the wrong impression and thus one reason why there is so many problems with the direction a new convert will take.

Is it a free gift, or is it an earned reward?

I never said salvation was not a free gift. It is about the attitude of how that sinner comes to Christ. Just the same as they must acknowledge they are sinners. Figure this out with me, if Lordship salvation implied "salvation via reward" (which it doesn't), then salvation can either be lost, have little or no assurance but more important either eternal life given at the end of the life of the believer or given in "credit" that they'll continue to "obey" the Lord.

But this is what you are teaching. You are teaching that if we make a commitment to stop sinning that Jesus will save us. If we do not make that commitment he will not. So, salvation is no longer a free gift but an earned reward conditioned upon our obedience.

No I don't believe that and if you'll notice no one has taken that position either. No one has even said you must stop sinning (in order) to be saved.

As I said, if one comes to Christ they get all of Him not just the parts they want to highlight; as a result salvation is a free gift when that person comes to Christ with that right attitude. And as I said, God takes responsibility to judge when the sinner has met the correct attitude/faith conditions anyway, so that God will bring them into the new covenant.

Darren
 

John of Japan

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
For your information I changed that almost immediately after I wrote it. I know I meant "omit" or "elude" not deny. Thus the reason why I quickly changed it.

I said -



It was written at 6:37 and edited at 6:47. Mate you are getting all fired up for nothing.

Darren
Wrong answer, spiritually speaking.
 

jrscott

New Member
If I may chime in,

Lordship salvation does not teach that one must "clean up his act" before they can be saved (I suppose there are probably some guys on the internet and perhaps even in print who have taken it to this extreme). That IS works salvation, not Lordship. On the contrary, repentance IS true belief, and faith is repentance. They are one in the same, and are only separated topics for systematic purposes.

In the West, we are very comfortable with the idea of mental, intellectual belief which makes no impact or affect on how we live. This is not the faith of the Bible. The faith of the Bible is not begun in works, but is demonstrated by it. Our actions reveal what we truly believe. This is precisely James' argument in Js. 2. Real faith works. It is not abstract, it is concrete. It makes a difference in how we act, think, and live.

A closer analogy would be a man asking a woman to marry him. She says, "Yes, I would love to marry you, but I also want to have all these affairs on the side. As long as you're okay with that, I'll marry you." What righteous man would marry her? That's the same as a person wanting to come to salvation without repentance. (See Hosea 1-3)

Just my take.

Randy
 

Winman

Active Member
This is one of the better articles I have seen on Lordship Salvation, and I tend to agree with it.

Can a true believer receive Him as Saviour but reject Him as Lord?

If we are honest and face reality we must admit that there are times when every true believer rebels against Christ’s authority and is disobedient to His Word. Total submission to His Lordship requires total obedience to all His commands, and we all have fallen short of this. Consider the following two statements from professing believer A and from professing believer B:

Professing believer A: "I have received Christ as my Saviour but I refuse to submit to Him as Lord! I reject His authority over my life and I refuse to obey Him. I’m glad to have Him as my Saviour from hell, but He is not going to tell me what to do."

Professing believer B: "I want to obey my Lord, the One who died for me, but there are many times when I fail. My heart is deeply grieved when I fail to obey Him and I’m convicted and bothered and often miserable. I have dishonored my Lord and brought shame to His Name." We are reminded of Peter who, after he had sinned, "went out and wept bitterly" (Luke 22:62) or of Lot whose righteous soul was vexed (2 Peter 2:7-8).

Professing believer A, by his words and attitude, does not give much evidence of having a real, personal, saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Professing believer B seems to be a true possessor of Christ, because although he has sinned and rebelled against his Lord, he was bothered and broken about it. The Spirit of God who indwells a sinning believer is grieved, and He makes His grieved presence felt. As R.Gene Reynolds has written, "A person who is living sinfully, who knows he is living sinfully, who enjoys living in such a manner, who intends to continue that sinful way of living—that person does not have the Holy Spirit living within him. The very fact that he is ‘comfortable’ about his sin is proof of the Spirit’s absence. His spiritual vital sign registers, ‘no life.’ " [R. Gene Reynolds, Assurance (Tyndale House), page 73]

Does every true believer surrender to Christ’s Lordship?

This question needs to be answered very carefully in light of the Scriptures. The answer to the question is both YES and NO.

1) YES, every true believer surrenders to Christ’s Lordship.

The person who surrenders to Christ’s Lordship is the person who bows before His authority and obeys His Word. The New Testament indicates that one of the characteristics of a true believer is that he obeys God’s Word and keeps God’s commands: "And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:3-4). The same was true of the original disciples. Jesus said of them, "They have kept My Word" (John 17:6). This was a remarkable statement for our Lord to make in view of the obvious shortcomings of these men. Peter, for example, did not represent a surrendered, obedient believer when he denied his Lord three times. Nor was he being submissive in Acts 10:14 when he said, "Not so, Lord!" Nor was he surrendering in Matthew 16:22 when he rebuked the Lord and strongly contradicted His Word! If you were to take a snapshot of any of these isolated acts of failure you could say that Peter was a disobedient believer who did not surrender to Christ’s Lordship. But as you look at the overall picture of his life, as the Lord Jesus did, you would have to conclude that this was a man who kept Christ’s Word. As you look at the whole panorama of his life you would say that Peter, in spite of his shortcomings, was a man who surrendered to Christ’s Lordship.

2) NO, every true believer does not surrender to Christ’s Lordship.

We desire and want to please our Lord, but there are times when we fail to surrender as we should. If we are honest we would have to admit the following: All believers have sinned and come short of perfect submission to Christ. Every believer falls short of perfect surrender, perfect obedience, perfect submission, perfect compliance with all the demands of discipleship. Thank God we have an Advocate with the Father, Christ Jesus the Righteous One (1 John 2:1-2)!

Does a new believer understand the full implications of Christ’s Lordship?

No, the new believer is just beginning to learn what Christ’s Lordship means and the obligations that accompany it. The newborn babe in Christ knows very little about surrender and submission. He knows his sins have been forgiven and that he has received Christ and that he possesses eternal life. He is full of thanksgiving for his so-great salvation and he desires to please the One who died for him. But how Christ’s Lordship will affect his marriage, his family, his job, his finances, his church, the way in which he takes care of his body, etc.—all these things he will need to learn in time.

Similarly, a new believer does not understand the full implications of Christ’s saving grace all at once. He is learning what it means to be saved by grace and this learning process takes a lifetime. John 3:16 should mean more to a believer now than it did a year ago and it should mean more to him a year from now than it does today. So it is with discipleship and Lordship. There is a learning process involved. The fact of Christ’s Lordship should be more precious to me now than it was last year. As I grow in Christ (2 Pet. 3:18), I will gradually come to a better understanding of what it means to submit to Christ as my Lord.

Is Lordship Salvation is misnomer?

It would be more accurate to speak of "Lordship Sanctification." Sanctification used in this way refers to progressive sanctification (as in 1 Thess. 4:3; John 17:17), not positional sanctification which is true of every believer, including carnal believers (1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11). Surrendering to Christ’s Lordship is an essential requirement for sanctification (growth in Christ), not for salvation. Our message to the unsaved is to BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ, not to surrender to the full demands of discipleship. Saints are the ones who need to surrender. Sinners need to believe; saints need to surrender.

Can unsaved people surrender to Christ’s Lordship?

Absolutely not. It’s impossible. "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be. So, then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8:7-8). This illustrates the folly of making submission a requirement of salvation. Salvation is needed in order for a person to submit and obey! If salvation is a requirement for submission, then how can submission be a requirement for salvation? Submission to Christ and all His commands is not something a sinner does in order to be saved. The person is responsible to live a life of surrender and obedience once he is saved, but not beforehand. Do not put the cart before the horse.
 

Darrenss1

New Member
This is one of the better articles I have seen on Lordship Salvation, and I tend to agree with it.


There is an obvious confusion between coming to Christ and being of Christ. In any case the moment someone comes under Christ, or Christ in them they fall into the category of any believer that is, any christian should and ought to submit to the authority of Christ. Should any christian say He's my Savior but not my Lord? Therefore even a new convert has Christ as their Lord immediately before they have enough understanding on how to "obey" the Lord.

Someone said you don't make Him your Lord, HE is the Lord and to recognise that sooner rather than later.

I was in a pentacostal church that took Lordship Salvation to the extreme, so I pretty much know the ugly way it can be taken but that said they taught that one needs to keep themselves saved by their obedience, which we know is impossible and really has no part in the new covenant.

Darren
 

Winman

Active Member
There is an obvious confusion between coming to Christ and being of Christ. In any case the moment someone comes under Christ, or Christ in them they fall into the category of any believer that is, any christian should and ought to submit to the authority of Christ. Should any christian say He's my Savior but not my Lord? Therefore even a new convert has Christ as their Lord immediately before they have enough understanding on how to "obey" the Lord.

Someone said you don't make Him your Lord, HE is the Lord and to recognise that sooner rather than later.

I was in a pentacostal church that took Lordship Salvation to the extreme, so I pretty much know the ugly way it can be taken but that said they taught that one needs to keep themselves saved by their obedience, which we know is impossible and really has no part in the new covenant.

Darren

The last paragraph of that article makes the important distinction. You cannot really obey Jesus as Lord until you are born again and have Spirit.

Absolutely not. It’s impossible. "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be. So, then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8:7-8). This illustrates the folly of making submission a requirement of salvation. Salvation is needed in order for a person to submit and obey! If salvation is a requirement for submission, then how can submission be a requirement for salvation? Submission to Christ and all His commands is not something a sinner does in order to be saved. The person is responsible to live a life of surrender and obedience once he is saved, but not beforehand. Do not put the cart before the horse.

You don't get the Spirit by submitting to Jesus, you get the Spirit by trusting (Eph 1:13). Only after receiving the Spirit is a person able to submit to Jesus as Lord.

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Trusting Jesus as Saviour comes first, submitting to him as Lord follows.
 
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