What Exactly Is: "Lordship Salvation?"

Acts 16:30-31, “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

The following helpful truth is quoted from the retired preacherman website:

God’s Word clearly states that salvation is by Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Ephesians 2:8-9: [8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Lordship “salvation” (LS) is the unsupportable and unbiblical belief that the PERFORMANCE of good works, the PROMISE of good works, or the EVIDENCE of good works MUST accompany faith in Christ in order to establish, or provide evidence, that such faith has resulted in eternal life.

LS can be overt (one must forsake all of his sins and follow Christ in obedience and discipleship in order to receive eternal life) or VERY SUBTLE (one’s behavior will change once he has received eternal life, one must desire to get better in order to receive eternal life, one must want to have a relationship with Jesus in order to receive eternal life, or one must go beyond mere intellectual assent (head faith vs. heart faith) in order to receive eternal life.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that any of these man-made conditions are necessary for one to receive eternal life. And yet, such things are taught by many churches, ministries, and pastors throughout professing Christendom.

We expose the people who promote LS, because they:

• Keep people lost (Luke 8-12; 2 Corinthians 4:4);

• Are accursed (Galatians 1:9);

• Frustrate grace (Galatians 2:21);

• Bewitch believers, rendering the believers ineffective in their Christian lives (Galatians 5:4); and

• Are to be marked and avoided (Romans 16:17 and 16:18)

In addition to the above, LS causes people to focus on themselves, rather than on Christ, for assurance of salvation.

We cannot know whether or not someone influenced by LS is saved. In some cases, they may have never even heard the Gospel presented clearly, and may have never believed in Jesus as their Savior. In other cases, they may have believed in Jesus as their Savior, but have received bad teaching that causes them ongoing confusion. We cannot tell which is which. But, in any case, they need our prayers and they need a clear presentation of the gospel.

One wonders why so many thousands of seeking souls flock to the false message of LS. Could it be a cultic draw by charismatic personalities who manipulate scripture, relish the attention, fame and (incidentally) the dollars cleverly conned from their followers?

Or, could it be that they walk into the nearest church, and they are sold a false LS gospel? After all, people naturally want to trust authority figures. In either case, the person who is fed false LS teaching is being steered away from the truth.

Although this list is by no means complete, following are some of the terms that are associated with Lordship salvation as being requirements for receiving eternal life:

“Repent of your sins”

“Turn from your sins”

“Be willing to turn from your sins”

“Put Christ on the throne of your life”

“Give your life to Christ”

“Commit to follow Christ”

Some proponents of Lordship salvation will allow that salvation is by Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, but then will insist that a saved person will show signs of being saved, such as sinning less and doing good works. If these “signs” are not present, they will insist, or at least heavily suspect, that a person has never believed in Christ as Savior.

This thought process can never lead to assurance of salvation, because it is always dependent on how one thinks he is DOING at any given point in time (we put DOING in all caps, because it is a work). Other folks think that God knows whether or not they are TRYING (we put TRYING in all caps, because it is a work). Trying will not help you attain eternal life. Eternal life is a free gift, received when someone trusts in Christ alone for it.

If you think you may be under the influence of LS, and would like to read a clear presentation of the gospel, click here: The Gospel