By Mike Lii¹

Introduction

Free Grace theology is unified around the concepts that (a) salvation is by faith in some truth about Jesus and (b) this salvation, when received, can never be lost (eternal security). However, Free Grace theologians do not all agree upon (1) the truth about Jesus that must be believed in order to be saved and (2) whether this truth includes the concept of eternal security.

This article describes two different systems of Free Grace theology. These two systems differ on whether eternal life is an essential part of the saving message and whether one is 100% assured of eternal life by believing the saving message.

While in the Bible the term gospel simply means “good news,” this article will use the term to refer specifically to the good news of the saving message of Jesus.

This article will define the terms eternal life and everlasting life with the Biblical definition of “a guaranteed life with Jesus forever that can never be lost.” In other words, the terms eternal life and everlasting life include the concept of eternal security.

What Are Focused Free Grace and Flexible Free Grace?

We find two essentially divergent positions under the banner of Free Grace theology. This article will distinguish between these two positions with the terms Focused Free Grace and Flexible Free Grace.

A. FOCUSED FREE GRACE AND FLEXIBLE FREE GRACE DEFINED

The difference between these two positions comes down to the answers to two questions regarding the content of the gospel and assurance:

1. Content: What must I believe to be saved?
2. Assurance: Am I assured of eternal life when I believe the saving message?

For Focused Free Grace, the answer to the first question is: You must believe in Jesus’ promise of everlasting life to all who believe in Him for it. The answer to the second question is: Yes, there is always assurance of eternal life when believing the saving message. Because of the content of the promise that is believed, one who is currently believing this promise currently knows for sure that he has everlasting life. Otherwise, one is not believing. In other words, assurance of eternal life is of the essence of saving faith.

Flexible Free Grace answers the first question as follows: You must believe in Jesus, but you do not need to believe in Jesus for eternal life. For Flexible Free Grace, there is flexibility as to whether to include everlasting life in the saving message.

Flexible Free Grace answers the second question this way: Assurance of eternal life is not always present when believing in Jesus, because of the flexibility in whether to include eternal life as part of the gospel. Under Flexible Free Grace, there can be people who are currently believing in Jesus—which results in eternal life—but who are currently unsure of whether they have eternal life. In other words, assurance of eternal life is optional for saving faith.

Therefore, we find two essentially different views within Free Grace theology. Focused Free Gracers consider everlasting life an essential part of the gospel, and assurance of everlasting life as the essence of believing the gospel. Flexible Free Gracers view the issues of eternal life and assurance of eternal life as optional in both presenting and believing the gospel, resulting in flexibility regarding the gospel message.

Essential Difference in Whether Eternal Life Must Be Included in the Saving Message

A. FOCUSED FREE GRACE: TWO NON-NEGOTIABLES OF THE SAVING MESSAGE

At the GES National Conference in 2000, foreshadowing the issues this article raises, Zane Hodges made the following remarks on the non-negotiable content of the gospel:

There are two non-negotiables here.

Number one, no salvation anywhere for anybody apart from the name of Jesus. Now by that, we’re talking about the Jesus of the New Testament. Not Jesus Espinoza, who lives in the barrio in Los Angeles. We’re certainly not talking about Mr. X, in whom we have believed, and oh, we discover later that it’s Jesus. No, in this age you have to believe in Jesus, the Jesus of the New Testament. That’s one non-negotiable.

The other non-negotiable is that you must believe that He guarantees eternal salvation or that He gives everlasting life. Dr. Charles Ryrie used to say, “If you could lose everlasting life, it has the wrong name. It’s not everlasting.”

So the two non-negotiables are very simple: Number one, the Jesus of the New Testament must be the focus of a person’s faith, and the person is believing that the Jesus of the New Testament provides and guarantees his eternal destiny”² (emphasis added).

Hodges describes two non-negotiables as the content of the saving message:

1. Believe in Jesus of the New Testament
2. for the free gift of everlasting life (in other words a life that can never be lost).

These two non-negotiables are the focus or “bullseye”³ of the Focused Free Grace gospel and are consistent with Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well:

If you knew the gift of God [non-negotiable #2] and who [non-negotiable #1] it is who says to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water (John 4:10).

Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that she needs to know two things. First, she needs to know who it is who is speaking to her: Jesus, the Giver. Second, she needs to know the gift of God: eternal life. The saving message, which may be summarized as, “Believe in Jesus for eternal life,” is taught throughout the Gospel of John using these two non-negotiables (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47; 11:25-27).

B. FLEXIBLE FREE GRACE OMITS THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE AS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE SAVING MESSAGE

In Hodges’ 2000 GES conference message, he was aware of an early form of Flexible Free Grace and warned about it:

Subsection number one is, “Believe that Jesus died on the cross.”

In recent years, I have become aware of a way of presenting the gospel invitation that kind of bothers me. I believe I have heard it from my earliest years, and I admit it really didn’t bother me for a long time. Now it does. I have heard people say this, “In order to be saved, you must believe that Jesus died on the cross.”

In the context of this discussion today, I mean that this is their summary of the requirement of faith. This is not just one item, okay?

You say, “How does a person get saved?”

They say, “Believe that Jesus died on the cross.” Whenever I hear that nowadays, I get extremely uncomfortable”⁴ (emphasis added).

Why was Hodges extremely uncomfortable with this presentation? Believing that Jesus died on the cross as the only essential element of the gospel leaves out non-negotiable #2, the gift of everlasting life.

For Flexible Free Gracers, believing in Jesus does not mean believing that He guarantees eternal life to all who believe in Him for it. Instead, for Flexible Free Gracers, believing in Jesus can mean believing some other truth about Him. By dropping the gift of eternal life from the gospel message, the result is a message insufficient to save, even when believed. Flexible Free Gracers view eternal life as an automatic by-product, rather than an essential part, of believing in Jesus. They therefore see flexibility in whether or not to include eternal life as part of evangelizing.

This is, at heart, the difference between the Focused Free Grace and Flexible Free Grace positions. For Focused Free Gracers, everlasting life must be part of the saving message. For Flexible Free Gracers, everlasting life may be an unnecessary addition to the gospel.

This essential difference directly impacts not only whether one is assured of everlasting life when believing, but many other areas of the doctrine of salvation as well. It also determines who needs to be evangelized. Since those who believe in Lordship Salvation or works salvation believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and rose again, Flexible Free Grace proponents see no need to evangelize them. Focused Free Grace people witness to anyone who is unsure of whether, simply by faith in Jesus, he has everlasting life that cannot be lost.

Essential Difference in Whether One Is Assured of Eternal Life When Believing the Saving Message

A. FOCUSED FREE GRACE: ASSURANCE OF ETERNAL LIFE IS OF THE ESSENCE OF SAVING FAITH

If you are not assured of eternal life, then you are not believing what Jesus has promised. Recall Jesus’ famous promise to Martha:

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26, NKJV)

If someone is currently believing what Jesus says here, then that person has to be sure that he has eternal life. Such a person believes that when he dies, he shall live. Further, if one believes, there is a sense in which he will never die. Assurance of eternal life is part and parcel of believing this promise. If someone is unsure, then they are currently doubting what Jesus has promised.

Due to the content of Jesus’ saving message, assurance of eternal life will always be present when one is believing the saving message. Therefore, for Focused Free Grace:

Assurance of eternal life is of the essence of saving faith.

B. FLEXIBLE FREE GRACE: ASSURANCE OF ETERNAL LIFE IS OPTIONAL FOR SAVING FAITH

When there is flexibility regarding whether eternal life needs to be included in the gospel, then assurance of eternal life becomes optional for saving faith. For Flexible Free Gracers, assurance is not always present when one believes in Jesus.

Flexible Free Gracers’ gospels do not have to include eternal life, so their gospels do not need to provide 100% assurance when believed. If one does not need to be assured of an eternal salvation, then one need not be assured that Jesus has done anything at all for oneself.

For Flexible Free Gracers, John 3:16 may be misunderstood as follows:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have does not need to know that he has everlasting life in order to have it (original text struck through and added text in bold).

Flexible Free Gracers believe there are people who currently believe in Jesus and, as a result, have eternal life without being either aware or sure of it. They offer two explanations for this:

1. One can believe in Jesus without being sure of having eternal life, since believing means an act of the will or a decision.
2. Believing in Jesus means believing some other Biblical truth about Jesus rather than believing in Him for eternal life.

For many Flexible Free Gracers, the saving message may be summed up as:

Believe that Jesus is God and the Savior who died on the cross for sins and rose again.

There is no need to mention or have any understanding of eternal life.

If Jesus’ deity, death, and resurrection are the bullseye or summary of the saving message, then the purpose statement in John 20:30-31 may be misunderstood as follows:

And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is God the Christ, the Son of God and that He died on the cross for sins and rose again, and that believing you may have life in His name (original text struck through and added text in bold).

[Article continues in the next issue of Grace in Focus as we examine some of the consequences of omitting from the gospel the issues of everlasting life and the assurance thereof.]

____________________

Mike Lii is a finance attorney. He and his wife, Letitia, a member of the GES board, and their son, Payton, live in Dallas and serve at several Free Grace churches. Mike and Letitia also run the Zane Hodges Library online (zanehodges.org).

__________

¹ This is an abridged version of an article that is available in The Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, Spring 2024.

² Zane C. Hodges, “How to Lead People to Christ – Part 2,” Filmed [2000]. YouTube Video, 10:20. Posted 2009. See https://youtu.be/MRX9Q6xrnLg, 6:55-8:15. Accessed April 18, 2022.

³ The author wishes to credit Diane Boring for the term bullseye in reference to the essential elements of the Focused Free Grace gospel.

⁴ Zane C. Hodges, “How to Lead People to Christ – Part 2,” Filmed [2000]. YouTube Video, 10:20. Posted 2009. See https://youtu.be/MRX9Q6xrnLg, 8:35-9:30. Accessed April 18, 2022.