Lordship Salvation advocates do not call the theology of Zane Hodges, GES, and others in our movement, Free Grace Theology. They have coined a name that they believe better captures our view. They call our view “easy-believism”i or “no-lordship.” In this blog, I will consider the latter label.
The label “no-lordship” occurs, for example, in John MacArthur’s, The Gospel According to Jesus (e.g., 2008 edition, pp. 10, 13, 25, 30).
Names are important. Take the abortion debate. Both sides pick names that sound good and that make the other side sound bad. Who isn’t pro-life? Who isn’t pro-choice?
In a 2003 article entitled, “A 15-Year Retrospective on the Lordship Controversy” (see here), John MacArthur uses the expression “no-lordship” twenty times. Though Theopedia.com suggests that this name is neutral and not pejorative,ii that is clearly not the case, as this article by MacArthur shows.
In the article, MacArthur says that no-lordship doctrine ––
- distorts the Biblical concept of God’s grace,
- makes sanctification optional,
- “fall[s] into the error of works-salvation” because it turns “this aspect of salvation [sanctification] into a human work,”
- corrupts the doctrine of justification by faith alone,
- attacks the sovereignty of God, and
- promotes “the ancient heresy of semi-pelagianism—the belief that saving grace cannot be efficacious without the prior cooperation of human free will.”
There was, however, one statement MacArthur made with which I heartily agree:
Where you land on the lordship question will also have far-reaching implications for your views on assurance, faith, repentance, eternal rewards, human depravity, the role of the moral law, and a host of other crucial doctrines (italics added).iii
I will end by comparing the six issues (italicized in the preceding quote) raised by MacArthur as they are understood by Lordship Salvation (LS) and Free Grace Theology (FGT):
- Assurance: FGT says that you are certain of your eternal destiny as long as you continue to believe Jesus’ promise of life. LS says you cannot be sure until you die.
- Faith: FGT defines faith as “persuasion, being convinced.” LS defines faith as “repentance,” “surrender,” “commitment,” and “lifelong perseverance.”
- Repentance: FGT teaches that repentance is not a condition of everlasting life. LS teaches that repentance is one of many aspects of saving faith.
- Eternal rewards: FGT promotes eternal rewards as an important motivation in the Christian life. LS either ignores or greatly downplays eternal rewards since LS requires lifelong doubts about one’s eternal destiny.
- Human depravity: FGT teaches that spiritually dead people can respond to God’s drawing by seeking after Him (Matt 7:7-11; John 5:39-40; Acts 10; Acts 17:27). LS teaches that spiritually dead people are unable to respond to God in any way; hence, regeneration must precede faith.
- Moral law: FGT says that one is justified by faith in Christ apart from works of the law. LS says that one is justified by faith in Christ, but that faith is never alone, but is always conjoined with good works.
Keep grace in focus and you will not lose your assurance of salvation by adopting Lordship Salvation teaching.
i According the subject index of the 2008 edition of The Gospel According to Jesus (p. 296), easy-believism occurs on thirteen pages.
ii Theopedia.com says, “Non-lordship salvation is a neutral term for easy believism, the ‘popular slogan for the view that one simply has to believe in order to be saved and that there is no corresponding need for a committed life of Christian discipleship.’” See here.
iii The very next sentence is however, bothersome: “Almost no aspect of soteriology is left untainted by the errors of no-lordship doctrine.”
