It's been more than once that I've been challenged as to my view of what has (unfortunately) come to be called "Lordship Salvation". The challenges haven't come here as of yet but I figured there is no time like the present to give an overview.
Those who know me realize I have a deep respect for Dr. John MacArthur. I attended his church while I studied at the campus there. As a matter of fact, he was the one who taught my hermeneutics class as well as segments of other classes. However, they had other excellent teachers there as well.
Dr. MacArthur has a way of speaking with clarity. He is a gifted pastor-teacher. While I have, many times, verbally defended my position in conversation form, for my present purposes let me post the following in the name of not "reinventing the wheel". Clearly, we live in a day that seeks to soft-pedal the Gospel. But what is the Gospel? What is saving faith? Just saying "Yes" to a list of doctrines? Read on...
Here's an excerpt:
"What does Romans 10:9-10 mean when it says if you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you’ll be saved. What Christ can you believe in if you don’t believe in the crucified and risen one? The same article says it’s just enough to present only the core truth, namely that whoever believes in Jesus Christ has eternal life. What Jesus Christ? Who was who and did what? That’s what this is intending to say in verse 6. You must believe that He is who He is in the fullness of His revelation. And if you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ as Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, then you’re affirming all of His ministry and His death you’ll be saved. The Gospel is that Christ died for our sins, was buried, raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and there are lots of phony Jesus and false Christs, aren’t there? Matthew 24:24 warns us. When Hebrews 6 says you must believe that He is, it’s telling us we must believe in the God of the scripture, the one who gave His son to die and rise again. Granted Old Testament saints didn’t have that full revelation but they were saved through faith based upon what God had revealed to them. If they didn’t have all we have, they believed all they had, and we believe all we have, and all we have includes Christ..."
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