A Look at Lordship Salvation (II)

As mentioned in Article I, I often fall prey to the evils within me, especially in the areas of thought, imagination, anger, and conscience. Sin is always a troubling thing, even if I'd like to call it something else for a better self assessment. I know sin displeases the Lord, yet I sin anyway; and, what's worse, I'm not always quick to repent. Sometimes I savor my sins for their gratification. Is that wrong? Yes, dwelling on sin is always wrong and dangerous, and it ought to grieve us when we do. But the vexing question is this: Does it mean I'm lost if I do? Is straying from Christ's mastery in thought and deed a litmus test for salvation?

That depends.

If you embrace the lordship gospel--that is, the belief that a truly saved man will of necessity (and that's the key phrase, "of necessity") evidence his faith in a progressive and unquestioned obedience to the lordship of Christ--then, yes, repeated sin, whether in flesh or spirit, signals bad things. It may signal, for instance, that you're a false professor, a counterfeit Christian. If you're not following Christ harder, purer, and better every day (allowing of course for minor and occasional setbacks), then you have every reason to doubt your salvation, which is exactly where many lordship advocates end up . . . on the shoals of human doubt.

However, if you've truly received Christ (Jo. 1:12; 2 Cor. 6:1,2; Col. 2:6; Ja. 1:21), then you are saved on the sole condition of a repentant faith in Him--apart from any promises of consecration, dedication, or submission. Striving toward full consecration is the natural and normal thing for a believer, but it's not an inevitable thing. It's not a given a believer will reach a large measure of maturity in this life. The Christian life is a race. Some run it well and some don't (1 Cor. 9:24-27; Heb. 12:2). The Christian life is a war. Some fight it well and some don't (Eph. 6:12-19; 2 Tim. 2:1-8). Again, maturity is expected but not assured. What about besetting sins? Yes, believers have besetting sins, sins that are deep rooted and difficult to conquer. For Lordship followers these sins are terrifying and can only increase the prospects that they aren't saved because if they routinely fall prey to these sins, especially for any length of time, they must conclude themselves as lost. Sadly, Lordship salvation is so constructed that it will only increase the spiritual agony of its adherents.

Indeed, besetting sins are a problem--not for salvation, however, but for sanctification and transformation, or the believer's growth in grace, obedience, godliness, and Christlikeness. Every believer has sins and habits to overcome, with some sins being quite vicious and nasty. Consequently, it's not surprising his obedience is often sketchy and poorly expressed. Let's be honest. Lordship is a struggle for every believer. It doesn't come easy and it's often hit and miss. It's not always onward and upward, moving from one victory to the next. Again, Lordship is a natural thing, not an inevitable thing. Some believers may go weeks, months, and even years without a conscious, determined effort to submit to the Lordship of Christ in their lives and to follow Him at all costs. And testimonies abound to this effect.

Oftentimes I think of Lot, a sterling example of both a failed believer and a failed follower. As far as I know, he neither served God in any committed way during his lifetime nor repented either for offering his daughters to homosexuals or for impregnating his two daughters, at least there is no evidence he repented. Solomon is another who comes to mind as a failed believer and a failed follower, one who delved into the deepest carnality and religious apostasy imaginable. He never persevered. Yet was he lost? We don't think so. And we know for sure Lot was saved (Jude 7-9). It's not with glee that I cite these two men as proof of failed Lordship. But their testimony is there, and it contradicts the Lordship message.