Salvation - Soteriology
- What do you think about "Lordship Salvation?"
- Can a Christian lose his salvation?
- How can a person truly know his is saved?
- What are the signs that someone is saved?
- Can a believer sin like a non-believer?
What do you think about "Lordship Salvation?"
There are various views about Lordship salvation. If the definition is that a person comes to Christ acknowledging Jesus as Lord, then this is valid. The problem arises with the false notion that the new convert must surrender his whole life to the Lordship of Christ. In some cases, the view includes the requirement that the new convert be in a constant state of progress toward holiness. Some would say true Christians are not perfect but progressing in holiness. When we come to Christ, we are dead in our sins and we are spiritually dead. This condition would preclude the ability to commit one's whole life to the Lordship of Christ. Our lives may be in the process of sanctification in ways that others may not see. The requirement of Scripture is that one must believe in Jesus Christ.
One of the primary passages used to prove Lordship salvation is Romans 10:9,10. "9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; 10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." Verse 9 alone would lead one to believe that the confession of Jesus as Lord is part of the conversion process. However, if you simply look at verse 10 you will conclude that belief results in righteousness and confession results in deliverance. These are sequential. One must first believe and that will result in justification, which is the declaration of righteousness by God as judge. Later he may declare Jesus as Lord resulting in deliverance from the wrath of God in time. The word "salvation" in verse 10 is the word "Sozo" in the Greek and means deliverance or salvation. We must look at the context to find the meaning, either deliverance from immediate danger or deliverance from condemnation. Belief results in righteousness. Confession results in deliverance from a life of sin and spiritual failure.
Turning back to chapter 5 it is clear that Paul is using "salvation" in terms of deliverance after one is actually saved. Romans 5:1,9-10 "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath [of God] through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Paul uses justification as the initial righteousness of the believer in verse 1 and in verse 9 and 10 he speaks of deliverance from the wrath of God. Note that the justification is completed in verse 1 and in verse 10 there is a future view of deliverance from God's wrath. This wrath is defined in chapter 1.
Romans 1:17 "for in it [the] righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'But the righteous [man] shall live by faith.' 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 for even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. 25 for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." The "righteous man" i.e. a believer is to live by faith..."for" the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness. This wrath is demonstrated in a life of lust and impurity. To live free of this wrath the believer must walk in faith. Paul culminates this teaching in Romans 10 saying that when we declare Jesus as Lord we properly put Christ as Creator to be worshiped and we are delivered from God's wrath.
If Lordship salvation demands that a believer live a certain lifestyle in order to prove salvation it misses the point that salvation is by faith. Yes, believers are called to good works, but there must be a submission to the Holy Spirit for this to be realized.
Can a Christian lose his salvation?
True salvation is not entered into by works or by some condition. Man believes and God saves. The work of salvation is wholly a work of God and cannot be earned or maintained by man. Man does not hang on to God but rather God holds on to the believer. Note the truth presented in Romans 8:35 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, 'For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
How can a person truly know his is saved?
There is a false test and a true test The false test is a standard or holiness set by man. The true test is the condition of faith in the heart. Look at the teaching of 1 John 5:11 "And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life." There are two kinds of people in verse 12 those who have life and those who have death. Those who have life are the believers in verse 13 who believe in the name of the Son of God. In verse 13 John says he writes this so you will know that you have eternal life, a present possession of eternal life. The word for "know" is "oida," in Greek, "meaning full comprehension". The question about knowing one is saved is "Do I believe in the name of the Son of God, that He died for our sins and He rose from the dead on third day?" This is the truth of the Gospel and when this is accepted as God's provision, a believer passes from death to eternal life.
What are the signs that someone is saved?
There are those who teach that if there is no demonstrable fruit then that individual can't be saved. The problem with this is that ignores the fact that the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of believers in ways that may not be clear to an observer.
If there is no desire for Christian fellowship, no desire to pray, no desire to study the Word of God and an pervasive commitment to sin. I would ask your self what you truly believe. If God is your savior and the Holy Spirit is present in your life, it will impact you. Even if you are committing sin there should be some conviction or I would turn to God in prayer and make sure that your faith is in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and in the resurrection.
One clear sign that you are saved is the chastisement of the Lord, i.e. discipline. If you are a child of God you will be disciplined by God. He loves you too much to let you live in sin. Hebrews 12:6 "For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives. 7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom [his] father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He [disciplines us] for [our] good, that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." Note in verse 8 that if you are not disciplined you are not a child of God. He chastens us for His glory and for our growth and good. This is truly a sign that you are saved-no longer do you sin with abandonment and live without discipline.
Can a believer sin like a non-believer?
Yes, believers can act and live like non-believers. Note Ephesians 4:17 "This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 but you did not learn Christ in this way." If a believer could not sin in this way, the warning here to avoid this action would be superfluous. Paul makes it clear that we believers should avoid becoming functional Gentiles (i.e. non-believers, as non-believers function in the futility of their minds in pursuit of every kind of impurity, with greediness). We, as believers, must walk filled by the Spirit as prescribed in the next chapter. In this way we will avoid walking in sin.
In Galatians 5 Paul describes the life of a believer walking in the flesh, in contrast with the life of a believer walking by the Spirit. This contrast is not between the saved and unsaved, but between two kinds of believers. As the student of the Word understands the implication of this passage, he will realize that a believer can be dominated by the flesh if "we walk therein". We should submit to the Spirit and we will have the fruit of the Spirit.