Disclaimer: It is not the purpose of this post to elaborate on the teachings of Lordship Salvation and how it compares to Reformed Confessional Theology. At the end of this post, I will provide resources that deal more deeply with the differences. This post is more to describe to the best of my ability what it was like for me to believe that the tenets of Lordship Salvation were the only faithful expression of the Christian faith. If anyone reading identifies with what I am describing, this post is for you to show you that your sentiments are valid. I promise that there is a better, more restful, and comforting alternative that is both faithful to the Scriptures and faithful to maintain the necessity of repentance and obedience without compromising the comfort and rest that sinners can find in Christ.
undertone: an underlying quality or feeling
If there is one word that I could use to describe what it was like being influenced by the teachings of Lordship Salvation, it would be the word suspicion. I was suspicious of everything - the quality of my own faith, the quality of my obedience, and the quality of the faith of others. Perhaps the most damaging suspicion I harbored was the suspicion that God didn't really forgive me of my sin in Christ. I was suspicious that I was deceived into thinking that I was saved. I was terrified that perhaps Jesus did not know me and that He would cast me away on the Last Day.
Last week at the Shepherd's Conference, John MacArthur said the following to both aspiring and current Pastors and Shepherds:
"It is not enough to fire the Gospel all the time, but you have to constantly bring them to an incessant introspection and spiritual inventory of their spiritual lives" (For context you can find the link to the entire sermon here.)
That is exactly what I did under the influence of Lordship. I was constantly and incessantly examining myself to see if I was in the faith. And to be honest, I always fell short in relation to the exacting demands of God's law. I was always left terrified that I was outside of Christ, yet hoping that somehow my fruit qualified me to seek consolation in His promises. The Gospel was defined and explained, yet presented and held out to me with a closed fist. There was always this dark cloud of suspicion that obscured Christ's mercy and kindness. I felt like I was on the outside looking into a world where people were overjoyed and confident that God saved them as they were conquering their sin left and right. I remember feeling as if I was always stuck in limbo, always questioning but never resting. The temptation to give up and resolve to go to hell was palpable, but I always asked - "Lord where else can I go? You have the words to eternal life." (John 6:68). Yes I believed, but perhaps Jesus was giving Himself to me with his fingers crossed. Christ was for me - yet I had no right to believe that unless my sanctification level was up to par. If I was honest, it was never up to par.
At the 2011 Expositors Conference Steven Lawson said the following during a Q&A:
"I was asked at my table what would I preach to bring church members to Christ. And I said the last thing I would preach would be John 3 16. That just lulls everyone in the building to sleep. I would preach the Lordship of Christ, I would preach repentance, I would preach the new birth, I would preach the necessary evidence of the new birth, I would preach the sovereignty of God in salvation to the extent that I could push that. I would do everything that I could to blow a trumpet in Zion and to awaken those that are asleep" (For context you can also find the link to the interview clip here)
The above quote explains perfectly the experience of what it was like to be under the influence where the evidence of the new birth was emphasized widely and divorced from the powerful, life giving indicatives of God's love for His people in Christ. Lordship smoked me out as a potential false convert where I was defined by my sanctification level and not defined by the righteousness of Christ. I didn't see that the new birth, the Lordship of Christ, repentance, and the necessary evidence of the new birth were grounded in and effected in the promises of John 3:16 and other verses like it. The promises of sanctification from receiving the whole Christ by faith, turned into whips used to threaten me. I saw my sanctification as a threat with the presupposition that if I was not doing as well, I had no right to rejoice in the promises of Christ.
The definition of saving faith was unclear because it often involved the need to surrender all in order to be saved. Surrender all - how was I to do that? What does it mean? If it is obedience, I was sorely lacking because I knew that I was already disqualified. The questioning and silent despair lasted for years. I thought that if this is what defined the Christian life, then I will be resolved to keep trying and to go to hell.
If this describes you Beloved, there is a better way. Toward the end of MacArthur's address, he mentioned that "the last thing you want to do is make people feel secure when they shouldn't." I never felt secure. Yet I was secure in either my self righteousness or despair. Beloved, do not feel secure in your self-righteousness or despair. Christ is your security. Be secure in Christ's righteousness, in his intercession. Be secure in His life, death, and resurrection for you and outside of you. His kindness and love in forgiving your sin is yours forever. Christ became to you "wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption" . He is secure for you. He lived for you and died for you. He suffered the anguishes of hell in your place. He lives to make intercession for you. You live by faith in these promises, not by the quality of your sanctification.
The undertone of comfort:
In learning more about Reformed Theology from the confessions, my presupposition changed from one of suspicion to comfort. The Heidelberg Catechism is rightly called the Church's book of comfort. The first question opens with this beautiful line:
What is your only comfort in life and in death?
John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" Jesus was not holding Himself out to me with a closed fist. He gave himself freely to me and I only needed to receive him with the empty hands of faith. I was not to self-examine myself to despair, but with the understanding that in Christ I was righteous, sanctified, and prayed for. His Lordship over my life was not something I needed to make sure was true, but was forever and always present. He is my Prophet, Priest, and King. As my Prophet, He speaks the words of forgiveness and grace. As my Priest, He has offered His own blood so that I may boldly have access to the holy of holies. As my King, He governs and preserves me so that not a hair can fall from my head outside of His will. He defends me from the evil one and subdues and conquers the continuing remains of my sin that clings so closely. I never leave His hand because I know that I am His. When I sin, I am grieved. But I know that I am safe in coming to Christ to confess them and seek pardon, because of His mercy. He desires to pardon and forgive.
The message found in John 3:16 is the motivation to continue to fight my sin with a good and free conscience. Without it, my conscience would be terrified and I would only serve God out of slavish fear. Christ is the consolation for the terrified conscience.
Yesterday I asked a question in a Facebook group that asked for a description of pietism. With her permission, I am sharing this answer from Amanda Kershaw that perfectly articulates how Lordship affected me,
"The tincture of pietism is of perpetual incompleteness. It is quiet starvation carefully protected from all fulfillment and satisfaction. It is of questions that refuse answers and instead demand more questions. It is of restless water trying to cancel out its own waves with more waves and only stirring itself up into further disturbance.
The confessional church is where the humble and hungry come to be fed to complete satisfaction. It is the undeserving receiving a promise of which they are commanded to be fully assured. In the face of all their failure, the inheritance is indeed theirs! Pietism calls this presumption. Christ calls it faith. It is to His honor when His people eat what He provided."
There is indeed a better word Beloved than the undertone of suspicion. Christ is for you. I will leave you with the wonderful words from Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller, author of "Has American Christianity Failed?"
"Dear Christian, the Gospel is for you. The forgiveness of sins is for you. Jesus, and His death and resurrection, His mercy and grace, His undeserved kindness are still for you, today and always. Your life is hidden with God in Christ, and it is His lavish love and kindness, not your obedience and commitment, that make a Christian life."
"May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ." - 2nd Thessalonians 3:5
Resources for Further Study and Context:
The Reformation Answers Lordship Salvation: http://gospelgalblog.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-reformation-answers-lordship.html
Lordship Salvation with Pastor John Fonville from Theology Gals : http://theologygals.com/2017/10/lordship-salvation-with-pastor-john-fonville-theology-gals-episode-35/
Lordship Controversy Theology Gals: http://theologygals.com/2019/05/lordship-controversy-episode-112/
Why I left Lordship Salvation Theocast Part 1 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thtTV5hv41k
Why I left Lordship Salvation Theocast Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE6rkhkGi3k
Critique of Lordship Salvation Theocast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nidOt4Bc5k&t=1110s
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