A Case for "Lordship Salvation"

First off, I would like to define what I mean by “lordship salvation.” Lordship salvation teaches that when a person is saved, this person will show fruit of their repentance, and that these works show that this person is a true Christian. It calls for holiness and the progressive sanctification of the believer, by the work of the Holy Spirit in a man or woman’s life.

In fact, the late A.W. Pink once remarked that: “Yes, there are tens of thousands who have been deluded into thinking that they have ‘accepted Christ as their Saviour,’ whose lives show plainly that they reject Him as their Lord."

Today, there’s been a sharp dispute between a view known as “Lordship Salvation” and “Free Grace theology.” One person laid down 8 points of free-grace theology, which is worth passing along.

1.) The only condition of eternal life is simple faith in Jesus
2.) Simple faith in Christ is intellectual assent
3.) The specific object of saving faith is Jesus and results in the promise of eternal life to all who simply believe in Him.
4.) Turning from one’s sins is not faith & isn’t a condition of eternal life
--At this point, the author notes: “Free grace advocates admit that turning from sin is not faithand is not a condition of eternal life. Please not that turning from sins is part of a Christian requirement, not a requirement to become a Christian. Repentence is not a condition of eternal life according to basic free grace theology”
5.) Perseverence in faith and good works is not a condition of eternal life
6.) Good works are not indispensible for assurance
7.) Eternal life is not based on future judgment of works
8.) Eternal life and eternal rewards must be distinguished by noting that the former is a gift and the latter is earned.

Furthermore, even more concerning is the remark by this Free-Grace proponent are the statements: “No matter what a believer does, he is eternally secure,” and “perseverence is a rewards issue, not an eternal life issue.” (I’ll deal with those later)

Now, to be fair, I can recognize that it’s a reaction against the Roman Catholicism, in which the salvation is by faith and works. Yet, as I pointed out in one of my previous notes, “Fruit,” John the Baptist told the people coming to the Jordan River to be baptized: “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance… Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 3:8 & 10)


First off, I would like to establish the authority of Christ as Lord. There are over 100 references to Christ as “Lord” in Scripture. In the gospels alone, Matthew 14:30, Matthew 17:4, Matthew 18:21, Matthew 20:30, Luke 2:11, Luke 5:8 & 12, Luke 7:6, Luke 10:1, Luke 11:1, Luke 24:3, John 11:3, 12, 21, 27, 32-33 & 39, John 14:5, John 21:7 & 15-17, refer to Christ as Lord.

Furthermore, Jesus Himself states in Matthew 28:18 that: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

And, in a similar vein, Paul writes: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

I see this harkening back to what Daniel wrote: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14)

As John MacArthur summed it up: “The question in salvation is not whether Jesus is Lord, but whether we are submissive to His lordship.”

With that, I would like to get into a defense of Lordship salvation. But, I'd like to clarify that we're not saved by the law.

Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly states: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Furthermore, Paul notes: “…if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” (Galatians 2:21)

He also goes on to write: “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for 'The righteous shall live by faith.'" (Galatians 3:10-11)

“You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.” (Galatians 5:4)

“It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (Romans 3:26-28)

Yet, with all that being said, obedience to Christ and His commandments are not optional for Christians.

First off, we get a picture of regeneration in Ezekiel, as I’ve noted before: “ And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

Furthermore, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus states: "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." (Luke 6:46-49)

He also says: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing… Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John 15:5 & 9-10)

Similarly, Paul states in Romans 8:10-14 that: "if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

We also see this theme of obedience as a fruit of belief in the Book of 1st John.
“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” (1st John 2:3-6)

“And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.” (1st John 3:23-24)

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith.” (1st John 5:2-4)

Again, I must stress that our obedience doesn’t save us, but it shows that we are indeed saved. We certainly won’t obey perfectly, but, we’ll continue in sanctification, which entails obedience.

To again quote John MacArthur, who, along with the likes of Paul Washer and Tim Conway, promotes Lordship salvation: “We do not ‘make’ Christ Lord; He is Lord! Those who will not receive Him as Lord are guilty of rejecting Him. ‘Faith’ that rejects His sovereign authority is really unbelief. Conversely, acknowledging His lordship is no more a human work than repentance (cf. 2 Timothy 2:26) or faith itself (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9). In fact, it is an important element of divinely produced saving faith, not something added to faith.”


The 1646 Westminster Confession of Faith states in Chapter 16, point 2, that: “These good works, done in obedience to God's commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith: and by them believers manifest their thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, edify their brethren, adorn the profession of the Gospel, stop the mouths of the adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto, that, having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the end, eternal life.” The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith almost mirrors this statement.

I must also say that, as I mentioned before, the statements posed by the Free-Grace proponent that all it takes is mental assent to become a Christian and that “No matter what a believer does, he is eternally secure,” as well as “perseverance is a rewards issue, not an eternal life issue,” are troubling.

In fact, I would go as far as to say that these statements, in many cases can be outright damning, given the passages of Scripture that I listed. The problem is that, given these statements, forces one into the borderline antinomian view of eternal security, often summed up in the popular phrase “once-saved, always saved.” And, unfortunately, this view of eternal security, when taken to it’s logical end results in “carnal Christianity.” By the term “carnal Christianity” or the doctrine of the “carnal Christian,” I’m referring to those who are “Christians” yet show no sign of regeneration and continue on in their worldly living, with no evidence of change.

That, my friends, proves to result also in an almost blasphemously low view of regeneration and sanctification, as well as the person of Christ.

I close with a quote from the Puritan Bible commentator Matthew Henry: “All the grace contained in [the Bible] is owing to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior; and, unless we consent to Him as our Lord we cannot expect any benefit by Him as our Savior.”