The Danger of Teaching "Hyper-Lordship" Salvation
I believe that there is the heresy which I call as "Hyper-Lordship Salvation" which may get a person to be an overly nitpicking person. Now I just thought one of the reasons why Lordship salvation gets so much misunderstanding is because of the "Hyper-Lorship salvation" heresy which can teach the following heresies as I've observed and at times, I have even adhered to these heresies without examining myself:
Pastor Paul David Washer also mentions this fact of Scripture:
Pastor Washer himself also shows the fact that while Christians may not be be living a sinful lifestyle like drug dealing, bank robbery, sexual degeneracy but they can fall into states of hypocrisy because sinful humanity is laced with hypocrisy whether you like it or not. I just thought of how often Christians can end up compromising with sin. Now a Christian may refuse to join drug dealing or go on a shooting spree and kill himself, believing himself to be still saved but you cannot deny Christians as said, will still grieve the Spirit in them and that, the repentance they have is not perfect.
Concerning people who supposedly got saved by an "easy Gospel", now I don't deny some people got saved "in spite of that easy presentation" and "said the sinner's prayer" but they fully understood the Gospel. Now here's what Pastor MacArthur has to say about "counting the cost" as not everyone who got saved counted the cost before but ends up counting the cost later:
Which is to cut in short, Christians aren't perfect and that's what "Hyper-Lorship" can fail to see as sinless perfectionism is the extreme opposite of Antinomianism. Again, I did not expect persecution at the moment I got saved but after reading the Bible, I realized why the world hates the Gospel. Again, nobody is truly and fully conscious about the cost of following Jesus. True converts may at first question why they are persecuted and when they discover the truth in part or in whole, they accept it and though they may deny at first but later, they can no longer deny it when the time to pay the cost for following Jesus comes. Just think, Peter denied he was a follower of Jesus later could no longer deny his faith in Jesus.
As said, there is always a balance that needs to be maintained. If any person that a Christian know by their faith and works is a true believer, it's important to never expect sinless perfection from the person. Instead, it becomes the sacred duty of Christians to correct one another of their mistakes because we are all still growing. Matthew 18:15-20 encourages Christians to deal with sin among believers because as said, Christians may be saved from their sins but not completely, they got saved from sin, they are continuously saved from sin and they will be completely saved from sin. Christians have 1 John 1:8-9 and 1 John 2:1 that if they do stumble into sin, they have their Advocate, Christ Jesus and that it results to cleansing from sin and continual growth. Some Christians may grow slow so it's the Christian's responsibility to pray for other believers who are still struggling because not everyone grows at the same pace.
- When a person refuses to forgive, it automatically means you were not forgiven to start with
- If a person denies he or she is a Christian, they are not saved to start with
- If a person does a horrendous sin as of the moment, they are not saved to start with
- If they are having moments of disobedience, they are not saved to start with
The problem with hyper-Lordship salvation is that it demands sinless perfection. What about 1 John 1:8 that says if we say we have sin, then we have lied? While Arminians may say, "Hey you can't show me a passage in Scripture you can fall into sin and remain saved!", a hyper-Lordship salvationist may be quick to judge who is saved and who isn't. To refute the possible heresies I mentioned let us think of these situations:
- A Christian can fall into moments of unforgiveness but God does not leave it alone. A Christian may feel the very chastising hand of God, feel miserable and feel convicted by the Holy Spirit that they should forgive because they are forgiven.
- Peter denied that he was a Christian. Christians can be in so much fear to deny that they are Christians but they will eventually be bold because of God's chastising and empowerment.
- Remember that while a Christian may not be living like the rest of the world but we may forget that Noah got drunk, Abraham lied twice, Lot lived in Sodom, Jacob cheated his father, Samson was stubborn as a mule, David abused his power when it came to the issue with Bathsheba and Solomon compromised with heathen women. However we can see that they are set apart because Peter later took back what he said as a result of the fact he was saved, Lot although he was stupid enough to live in Sodom was vexed by the sins of the city (even if he may have compromised one way or another) and that whenever Christians sin, they should expect God to discipline them one way or another.
- Paul mentioned in Romans 7:14-25 that even when he was already saved, he still struggled with sin. As said, old sins are like asbestos poisoning. It does not disappear from the wretched state.
For John MacArthur, I am aware I was once a critic against him but later, I realized that he wasn't teaching works-based salvation the more I listened to his sermons. Now here's what he also mentioned in "The Introduction to Lordship Salvation":
Ninth, Scripture teaches that genuine believers may stumble and fall, but they will persevere in the faith (1 Cor. 1:8). Those who later turn completely away from the Lord show that they were never truly born again (1 John 2:19). In contrast, easy-believism teaches that a true believer may utterly forsake Christ and come to the point of not believing.
Pastor Paul David Washer also mentions this fact of Scripture:
PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. Those whom God has accepted in the Beloved, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end; and though they may fall, through neglect and temptation, into sin, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the Church, and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be renewed again unto repentance, and be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
Pastor Washer himself also shows the fact that while Christians may not be be living a sinful lifestyle like drug dealing, bank robbery, sexual degeneracy but they can fall into states of hypocrisy because sinful humanity is laced with hypocrisy whether you like it or not. I just thought of how often Christians can end up compromising with sin. Now a Christian may refuse to join drug dealing or go on a shooting spree and kill himself, believing himself to be still saved but you cannot deny Christians as said, will still grieve the Spirit in them and that, the repentance they have is not perfect.
To those who think I demand a perfect repentance, I don't. Listen to the video above by Pastor Washer. Pastor Washer here explains that the repentance that people have during salvation is not perfect. A Christian may have repented of unbelief because prior to conversion, they were struck with the reality of sin and the need to be saved. Old habits die hard that even if they may have abandoned a lifestyle of sin but they still sin. How is that possible? If Christians didn't sin anymore, Hebrews 12:5-6 would not be written at all! True repentance is not just once, but it continues as a result of salvation, not a requirement. I really hate it whenever people miss the point and sad to say, some of them are embracing people who have prolonged sin and disobedience as true converts when the lifestyle says otherwise.
I don't deny that I sin, my brother and sister in Christ sin but we do not indulge in sin. Stumbling is part of the DAILY walk with Christ. Just think, a Christian man may get some pleasure from sin due to the old nature but do expect later disgust not because they were caught but because of Holy Spirit conviction. I don't doubt that Christians can fall into a state of disobedience and carnality but it's not their lifestyle to remain in such a plane. There's a difference between at true believer who makes the mistake of committing sexual immorality vs. the person who is really sexually immoral. Again, David wrote Psalm 51 not to get saved again, he was asking God to restore unto him the JOY of his salvation, not his salvation but because he was a really saved, born again believer in Christ!
Now it's true indeed that lifestyle indeed shows who's saved and who isn't but remember, the Christian is a sinner saved by grace and that power against sin is but by the grace of God. Whether you like it or not, Christians will still sin, struggle with sin and even if they are showing signs of being truly born again like they don't enjoy the nightclubs, they don't do drug dealing, they aren't sexually immoral but they can still have the problems of compromise with sin.
So I have noticed that some people are taking what some preachers are saying out of context. Pastor Paul David Washer also makes a point that God is willing to forgive the sin in the believer. He has always been against sinless perfection and that he has emphasized in "The Shocking Youth Message" that, a Christian may stumble into sin but there is the difference of Holy Spirit conviction in them, that prevents them from being so sinful. Again, remember Christians can end up compromising with sin (remember Jehoshaphat the godly teamed up with Ahab the ungodly) that's why in 1 Corinthians 3, Paul chastised the compromising Christians in Corinth. They were called carnal not because they can be carnal indefinitely but only because they fell into a state of carnality.
Here's some words from Pastor MacArthur in his book "The Gospel According to Jesus" which has become controversial as a "works salvation" book when it isn't on the issue of "carnal Christians", he writes:
Christians can be carnal. That is, they can behave in carnal ways. But "carnal Christian" is not a plane of spiritual existence where one can remain indefinitely. Carnality is never spoken of by the Scripture as a perpetual state for believers. In other words while Christians can be carnal in their behavior, they are never carnal by nature. That is the distinction I have tried to make.
Concerning people who supposedly got saved by an "easy Gospel", now I don't deny some people got saved "in spite of that easy presentation" and "said the sinner's prayer" but they fully understood the Gospel. Now here's what Pastor MacArthur has to say about "counting the cost" as not everyone who got saved counted the cost before but ends up counting the cost later:
A person might be truly born again without explicitly counting the cost of following Christ but no one can be saved who counts the cost and is unwilling to pay it. Again, I am certain that no one understands the full implications of Christ's Lordship at the moment of conversion; in fact, none of us ever reach full knowledge of such spiritual realities in this life. But the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a true believer prompts some degree of surrender to Christ's authority at the inception of the new birth.
Which is to cut in short, Christians aren't perfect and that's what "Hyper-Lorship" can fail to see as sinless perfectionism is the extreme opposite of Antinomianism. Again, I did not expect persecution at the moment I got saved but after reading the Bible, I realized why the world hates the Gospel. Again, nobody is truly and fully conscious about the cost of following Jesus. True converts may at first question why they are persecuted and when they discover the truth in part or in whole, they accept it and though they may deny at first but later, they can no longer deny it when the time to pay the cost for following Jesus comes. Just think, Peter denied he was a follower of Jesus later could no longer deny his faith in Jesus.
As said, there is always a balance that needs to be maintained. If any person that a Christian know by their faith and works is a true believer, it's important to never expect sinless perfection from the person. Instead, it becomes the sacred duty of Christians to correct one another of their mistakes because we are all still growing. Matthew 18:15-20 encourages Christians to deal with sin among believers because as said, Christians may be saved from their sins but not completely, they got saved from sin, they are continuously saved from sin and they will be completely saved from sin. Christians have 1 John 1:8-9 and 1 John 2:1 that if they do stumble into sin, they have their Advocate, Christ Jesus and that it results to cleansing from sin and continual growth. Some Christians may grow slow so it's the Christian's responsibility to pray for other believers who are still struggling because not everyone grows at the same pace.