Lordship Salvation; Is It Biblical? Part 2

Repent ye therefore. and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, Acts 3:19.

In this second part of this series, I want to discuss one aspect of Lordship theology that teaches a person must repent (turn from sin) and put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved. For me this has been the most confusing aspect of this theology because one thing I knew was that this was not what happened to me at conversion. Reading how all other saints where converted in the bible, and by reading the likes of Bunyan and Spurgeon, I learnt that term repentance means something totally different to what I was hearing. As someone who shares the gospel regularly, I feared that my presentation of the gospel may not be entirely true. I implemented some of the Lordship theology in my presentation of the gospel,but every time I did this there was always a conviction in my heart, as though I was saying something wrong because I knew that this was something I could have never done outside Christ. I was bothered by the fact that I told people to turn away from sin, yet in my bible I was not getting such kind of teaching. But this is a teaching I was learning from the so called great theologians of toady. I then began reading about the meaning of repentance, and asked the Lord to help me fully understand the scriptures. I was amazed by what I learnt.

Nowhere in the scriptures do we see that repentance means to turn away from sin. Lordship theology defines repentance as the forsaking of sin. Personal reform through the forsaking of sin is a human work. Yet Lordship advocates deny that they teach a work based salvation, that salvation can only be obtained by faith in Christ. This is why I now despise this teaching so much and what led me to question it was the double talk which makes everything so confusing and complicated! They say salvation is not of works, yet they strongly teach that repentance is the turning from sin and this repentance is necessary for salvation. I don't know if its only me, but how contradictory and confusing can this doctrine get! A lot of people have accused me of my lack of understanding of what Lordship Salvation is, all I can say is over the past months the Lord put me in the fire, and it was through the most painful trials I have ever experienced that I learnt the falsehood of Lordship Salvation. I will admit that I learnt the hard way, it was when I was in what Bunyan described as the valley of humiliation, that my eyes where opened and the Lord saw it fit to deliver me from such a false and dangerous teaching. The Lordshippers who accuse me of ignorance, may I say to you that I know what I have been delivered from, and I cant help but share what I have learnt by the Grace of God.

Contrary to popular belief among professing "Christians", the term repentance does not mean to forsake or turn away from sin. This belief is not biblical and there is not one verse in the bible that teaches that turning from sin is necessary for salvation. Like faith repentance too is internal, therefore it is not a human work. A work is something external that is done or said, observable and measurable. But like faith repentance is something that happens in the inside, we can not see repentance as much as we can not see faith. Repentance is not a work.

In the bible, when read in context the word repentance means to change one's mind, this change can not be seen or observed outwardly. I believe it means more than just a recognition of who God is. Its the process by which one sees themselves for who they really are in God's eyes. Its the change of will, change of heart, change of what characterises a person's whole perspective of life. It is a complete change of mind about your very own self, what sin is, and what righteousness is. One recognises their sinful condition and are grieved by their sin. They then realise their need for redemption, thus embracing Jesus Christ by believing in Him for the salvation of the soul. That is what characterises true repentance. In fact salvation without true repentance is not possible, as seen in Acts 26:20, Luke 3:8 and Acts 3:19. There is no salvation without repentance. But the question to pose to the Lordship advocates is what is true repentance and what must a person do to be saved? Their answer is very different to what we learn in the scriptures.

Lordship theology has a complete different understanding as to what biblical repentance is, they believe repentance is a work, a turning away from sin. Turning away from sin happens after conversion, not before. Forsaking of sin is for saints through Christ by the power of the Spirit. Those who are dead in their sins can not turn from sin. If they try to, they are being heavy laden and all their good works are like filthy rugs before God. Good works are results of repentance not a condition for repentance. Turning from sin is a good work which is a result of a changed heart . The bible tells us that true repentance will result in a change of behaviour, but in no way are we told that a change of behaviour is in itself repentance.

We see that throughout the book of Acts that the gospel is a call to believe. This belief happens when one is granted repentance by the Lord. The gospel is not a call to stop sinning and turn to God. Never! It is impossible for such a thing to happen, salvation can never be of works. One thing I now know is that the gospel is simple. How simple? Simple enough for a four year old child to understand and believe. But can a four year old understand the gospel through Lordship theology? As a mother to a young child whose eyes was opened by God, I believe its impossible for my little one to even grasp a fraction of Lordship theology.

The problem with Lordship Theology is that one has to clean themselves up before they can consider turning to Christ. They can not just come to Christ as they are, instead sinners have to do something before they can receive grace. That is what " turn from sin and come to Christ" means. It means Christ is not sufficient, His work on the cross did not do it all, instead Lordshippers treat the grace of God as a cheap thing which is not good enough for salvation. In their attempt to prove that the road to life is narrow and a few find the way of salvation, they try to make the gospel as difficult as they can, sadly they do not understand that it is not our job to make the way narrow or strait. They know not the power of God, that He alone can make the vilest offender as white as snow. Only in Christ can we have victory over sin, prior to that all our good works are in vain.

For those who share their faith and love the truth, it is crucial and important to know what the gospel really is, one thing I can say without a shadow of doubt is that the gospel is not a call for sinners to turn away from sin and trust in Christ. This is a burden that none of us can carry, why put ourselves and others under the yoke of such bondage! The gospel is a call for sinners to turn to the living God, not by works, but by faith through Christ Jesus. Repentance and saving faith can not be separated, they go hand in hand. But we have to understand what it means to repent. Repentance is never a work, I believe it is a change of will and mind about what sin is and who we are before God, but the results of true repentance are good works, which is evident in the lives of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Glory to God!