Dave sent me an article (originally a Facebook post) entitled “Salvation Is Not Unconditional” by Dr. Robert Gagnon (see here). Gagnon says that salvation does have a condition.
Gagnon’s second paragraph starts out great: “One has to believe the gospel.” If by the gospel he means justification by faith alone (Gal 1:6-9), then he is correct. One must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved from eternal condemnation.
However, I chopped off the end of that sentence. Gagnon’s full sentence is: “One has to believe the gospel, which is more than intellectual assent to the truth.”
Okay. What is believing the gospel if it is more than intellectual assent? He continues:
It is a holistic life reorientation that inevitably leads to Christ’s Spirit being the controlling influence in our lives (see Gal 2:19-20). That’s the view of Jesus, Paul, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, the writer of Hebrews, the writer of Revelation, 1-2 Peter, and James. In short, the entire NT. To argue otherwise is a false gospel.
He goes on to say that salvation is a process that is not finalized until we have persevered in good works until death. He cites 1 Cor 15:2 and Gal 6:9. He says, “Those who ‘slack off’ (relax their efforts, give up, grow weary of doing what is right) do not reap a harvest of eternal life” (parenthetical material his).
Interestingly, Gagnon does say that “salvation by grace is completely undeserved, unmerited.”
How would you respond to what he is saying?
I have two points of agreement and four points of disagreement.
Agreement 1. Salvation from eternal condemnation is conditioned upon faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Agreement 2. Salvation from eternal condemnation “is completely undeserved, unmerited.”
Disagreement 1. Faith in Christ is intellectual assent to the truth. When the Lord Jesus Christ asked Martha, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26b), he was asking whether she was convinced that what He had just promised was true (John 11:25-26a). He was not asking whether she had experienced “a holistic life reorientation” that had led to the Holy Spirit controlling her life.
Disagreement 2. The faith-alone message is not a false gospel. The faith-plus message is the false gospel. See John’s Gospel and the Book of Galatians. Saying that one must persevere in good works in order to gain entrance to Christ’s kingdom is contrary to the entire Bible.
Disagreement 3. The present-tense salvation of 1 Cor 15:2 that requires holding fast to Paul’s gospel is not salvation from eternal condemnation. Compare the past-tense salvation in Eph 2:8-9. Believers are already saved from eternal condemnation. But believers need to hold fast to Christ’s death and resurrection in order to remain spiritually healthy, which is what 1 Cor 15:2 is talking about. See this blog for more details.
Disagreement 4. Galatians 6:7-9 does not teach that regeneration will occur if a believer perseveres in good works until death. Three times in the NT everlasting life is spoken of a possible future reward (Matt 19:29; Gal 6:7-9; 1 Tim 6:11, 19). If we do not grow weary while doing good, we will reap—the language of work and reward—an abundant experience of everlasting life. See this blog by Ken Yates and this article by me for more details.
John 3:16 is crystal clear. So are over a hundred other faith-alone verses in the Bible. The condition of everlasting life that can never be lost is simply faith in Christ. The moment a person believes in Him for everlasting life, he is saved once and for all.
So how do people get this wrong? Tradition. Most traditions teach some form of works salvation. Notice that Gagnon’s key verses are 1 Cor 15:2 and Gal 6:9. (He also cites Gal 2:20 and Rom 11:20-22.) He does not focus on the Gospel of John. (He doesn’t even mention any verses from John’s Gospel.) Instead of going to clear texts to understand the saving message, he goes to unclear texts. He is not alone. Most do that.
It is our job, if we have the opportunity, to point people to the clear texts and pray that they believe (John 5:39-40; Acts 16:14).
