The Great White Throne Judgment

By Justin Edwards

‘ Their worm does not die

       And the fire is not quenched.’ - Mark 9:48

We are clearly living in perilous times. With the threat of terrorism and war looming around the globe and economies on the verge of collapse, with the fallen state of the church and the vast push toward global religious unity, and with Israel facing elimination by the impending nuclear build-up of Iran, no doubt the world is on the brink of the end of the age. We are rapidly approaching the end of God's purpose for the human race. So what does that mean for you? Do you think about eternity?

At the 2008 Resolved Conference, Dr. Steven Lawson delivered a terrifying depiction of what Scripture calls the "judgment of great day" (Jude 1:6). This day is just on the horizon and is known as the Great White Throne Judgment (mp3 and video found at the end of this post). Revelation 20:11-15 tells us of that great and terrible day of the Lord: 

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God,  and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

This is the same lake of fire that will be the final abode of Satan and his angels, where 

they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. - Revelation 20:10

All the world will be on trial at this final judgment. The perfect justice of Holy God will be realized for every hardened and impenitent heart who has stored up the wrath of God their whole life (Romans 2:5). Every unrepentant sinner who refused to kneel at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ will be condemned to an eternal hell because they loved darkness rather than light (John 3:18-19). This is the highest court of the universe and there will be no court of appeals. If you find yourself before this pure and powerful throne of terrifying purpose, you will be faced with no sympathetic judge, you will never see one drop of mercy, there will be no grace, you will have no advocate, there will be no mistrial, no sentence overturned, verdicts are final, there will be no parole, and there will be no escape. You will be facing none other than the Lord Jesus Christ whose eyes of flaming fire will pierce the darkness of your soul. The day you thought would never come will be the realest day you will have ever lived. You will be facing absolute holiness and inflexible justice, and when it is over, you will face absolute judgment.

The very Righteousness you refused to yield to will be the very standard by which you are condemned. You ignored Christ, cursed Christ, blasphemed Christ, put off Christ, or played games with Christ, and you will face not a gentle, lowly, and merciful God who will overlook your sin, but you will find yourself in the hands of an angry God who will unleash the fury of His wrath upon you (Zephaniah 1:15). People from all backgrounds will face this judgment, whether they be Hitler, Stalin, or the most notorious sinners you can imagine, but likewise your regular Joe American - your neighbor, your coworker, whose life amounted to very little in the big scheme of things. Or Joe might be the successful business executive, doctor, or lawyer, or your friendly firemen, policemen, or medic. You might ask what could Joe possibly have in common with Adolf Hitler? Sin. The sin of unbelief. The sin of pride. The sin of rebellion. All of which will keep both Hitler and Joe from the grips of a merciful God.

Dr. Lawson details five groups of people who will stand before the Great White Throne. Are you one of these?

Out and Out Sinner. This person sinned violently against God and all but spat on the face of Christ. He hated God, church, and the Bible. This person hated any form of morality and lived a life of open, shameless sin. We see these types of people in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Of course, ever born again believer used to be among the unrighteous, but according to verse 11, we have been washed, justified, and sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God. Yet, your hatred for God affords you the eternal wrath of God.

Self Righteous. This person believes they are so good and so moral, that the Gospel is only for the thief and the prostitute, but "not me". You are "good enough" in your own morality. You are a Pharisee and you think you are better than others. Luke 18:9-14 might be your life's story. And because of your moralistic self-righteousness, you cannot see that you too fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). You hope your self-righteousness will be good enough to enter heaven, but you will be found wanting as

   There is a way that seems right to a man,
      But its end is the way of death._ Proverbs 14:12

Religious Cult Members.  These are men who followed other men or women such as Mohammed, the Dali Llama, Joseph Smith, Sun Myung Moon, the Virgin Mary, or any other religious leader instead of the Lord Jesus Christ. They failed to recognize and affirm that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no man goes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). There is only one road, one narrow gate, one God and one Mediator. Because you denied the name of Christ (Acts 4:12), you will find yourself as an enemy under His feet for

at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2:10-11

Procrastinator.  This person acknowledges Jesus as the Son of God and even knows they are living a lifestyle of sin, but they have yet to submit their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They have merely believed in a list of facts about the Savior, but the pride of life, their love for the world, and delight in the works of the flesh is too much for them to give up (Galatians 5:19-21). They might say, "one day I'll make things right" because they are having too much fun and taking too much pleasure in living a rebellious lifestyle against a holy God (1 John 3:4-9). They are not willing to forsake everything to be the disciple of Christ (Luke 14:33) because that would mean they would have to give up their sin, their money, their material possessions, and their worldly lifestyle (1 John 2:15-17). But they say "one day I'll live for Christ", "one day I'll accept Him as Lord," but sadly, that day never comes.

Do not boast about tomorrow,
      For you do not know what a day may bring forth.- Proverbs 27:1

Do you not know that now is the acceptable time and today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2)? Should you continue to put salvation off, you will find yourself before a God who

is a just judge,
         And God is angry with the wicked every day.
 ¹² If he does not turn back,
         He will sharpen His sword;
         He bends His bow and makes it ready.
 ¹³ He also prepares for Himself instruments of death;
         He makes His arrows into fiery shafts.- Psalm 7:11-12

Lost Church Members. These may be the greatest tragedy of all. These folks are they whose names are in the member roles of the local church, they pay their tithes, and they give to the poor. They never miss a Sunday or the Sunday lunch that follows. They are attached to church but not Christ. They profess to know Him, but they do not possess Him. They have a form of godliness, but deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5). They also

profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

They will hear on that terrible day, "Depart from Me, I never knew you" (Matthew 7:23). They never took the time to examine themselves to see if their faith was genuine (2 Corinthians 13:5), they are lukewarm and have need of nothing (Revelation 3:17), they have created a god in their own image and are false converts trying to serve two masters (Matthew 6:24), and because they merely went along with the crowd and never experienced a unique and personal relationship with Jesus Christ, they will perish at the wave of His hand.

Might you be in any of these categories? Is there a chance you, as the reader, might see the righteous judgment of God?  Does your lifestyle bear the fruit of faith, or does it bear the fruit of unrighteousness? Rest assured, God has been keeping an accurate and precise record of every action, thought, word, and deed of every unsaved person from the beginning of mankind. Nothing will be hidden on that day, for

      God will bring every work into judgment,
      Including every secret thing,
      Whether good or evil. - Ecclesiastes 12:14

There is no fooling God. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:35-37

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Do you now stand justified, or will you stand condemned? Are you trying to hide from God?

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. - Hebrews 4:13

You must know that God demands justice for every single sin ever committed by every single person who has walked the earth. God will overlook no sin, and your sin will either be punished and pardoned in Christ or you will be punished for your sin in hell for all the ages to come. Do you not know the reality of your sin? Your sin is killing you now, and it will be the cause of eternal death and separation from the grace and mercy of God forever (Romans 6:23).

If you die unrepentant, there are no second chances and there will be no hope for you. Jesus will tell you,

‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. - Matthew 25:41

If you do not humble yourself before the Lord and recognize and confess your sinful condition before Holy God, if your heart does not grieve of your offenses against God and lead you to repentance, and if you never find yourself thirsting for the righteousness of Jesus Christ, woe unto you for that Great Day will come upon you like a thief in the night ready to devour you by fire (Matthew 5:22). In truth, you should have "a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries" (Hebrews 10:27). You will be separated from the just and be cast into the furnace of fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:50). You will suffer the vengeance of eternal fire (Jude 1:7). You will be cast alive into the lake of  fire burning with sulfur and brimstone (Revelation 19:20). You will find yourself in an unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:12), the Lord's vengeance will be upon you for not obeying His Gospel, and you be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).

On that day, every soul who rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and thought hell to be a place for parties and reunions, who thought God would not be there and believed hell to be owned by Satan, will realize Hollywood lied to them. Hell is not hell because God is not there, hell is hell because God is there. Matthew 10:28,

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Dear friend, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God (Hebrews 10:31). While you hope that God will just overlook your sin on that day, the very sin that nailed Jesus to that old rugged cross and the very sin that stirred the cup of wrath God Himself poured out on His own Son (Isaiah 53:4-10), do not be so foolish to believe God will simply dismiss your case. Should you not repent and submit your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, the only thing you should expect is to stand hopelessly naked before the righteous throne of a just Judge. Your sentence of death will never end and you will be the object of God's wrath forever and ever. 

By the grace of God I pray that you are trembling at the holiness of the resurrected Lamb of God who sits at the right hand of His Father in heaven, glorified in majesty waiting to unleash His judgment upon the earth (Revelation 5:1-14). Know that

  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
      And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. - Proverbs 9:10

Should you be asking how might you avoid this great and terrible day in the Court of Divine Justice, Jesus Christ is calling you to walk through the narrow gate that leads to eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14). You must humble yourself before God (James 4:10) and pray for mercy (Luke 18:13). Recognizing your wretched condition, cry out to God to save you from your sin (2 Corinthians 7:10) and to give you a new heart that desires to serve Him (2 Corinthians 5:17). Be willing to forsake everything for the Lord Jesus Christ, even your own life (Luke 14:26), and call upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved (Romans 10:9-10, 13). Now should you be given new life by faith and repentance, you will find yourself resting in the grace of God for all eternity. You will be a joint heir with Christ, for

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. - Ephesians 1:13-14

But should you delay and fail to go through that narrow gate, your conscious will not fade as you remember every time you refused to repent, including the day you read this letter. Do not delay any longer, lest God be glorified in your destruction.

Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 18:3

Please watch or listen and pass these critical messages to your loved ones:

The Great White Throne Judgment mp3

Blessed Purity

By Justin Edwards

I have been meaning to listen to Dr. Steven Lawson's message from the 2009 Resolved Conference, "Blessed Purity", for quite some time now, but just last week finally got around to do so - and I'm so thankful I did. Over the last several months I have had the opportunity to read and listen to some great messages on the Beatitudes of Matthew 5, but I must say this may be the most important I have heard to date.  By the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, we see the spiritual evolution from the broken sinner to the sanctified saint. While Dr. Lawson goes through each beatitude with fine exegetical precision, his focus of this message is the 6th beatitude in Matthew 5:8,

  Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.

We must understand it is only the pure in heart who will see God. It is only they who will enter through the Narrow Gate, it is only they who will enter into the King's court, and it is only they who will inherit eternal life. Those who bear the religious facade, whose repentance is superficial and rooted in worldly sorrow, whose hands are unclean and whose hearts are impure, not only will they not see God, but they will face His everlasting wrath should they die with hearts of stone. Are you the former or latter?

Dr. Lawson begins with the four spiritual laws by which we may be saved and are found in verses3-6. Matthew 5:3,

  Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Only those who recognize their spiritual bankruptcy before a Holy God will enter the kingdom of heaven. We must realize we have broken the Law of God and fall short of His perfect standard. There is no one righteous and it is only by the perfect righteousness of Christ Jesus that we may be justified before God. Jesus only came to save sinners, therefore it is only those recognize themselves as such who may be saved.

Matthew 5:4,

  Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.

Only those who are broken and sorrow over their sin will be comforted by the grace of a merciful God. But this is not just any sorrow as we see in 2 Corinthians 7:10,

For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

It is godly sorrow, the kind of sorrow that pierces the soul for offending God, that leads to the Peace that passes all understanding. Understanding and grieving over the depths of our sin produces in us the desire to put on the yoke of Christ, which, though this yoke be easy, leads us to walk in practical righteousness. These then, are the meek of Matthew 5:5:

  Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.

Only those who humbly submit their lives to the Master shall inherit the earth. These who grieve over their sin and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ are in a right position to be instructed, directed, and guided by the One leading them in the Shepherd's yoke. They are gentle and lowly in heart and yield themselves to the authority of King Jesus. As they surrender themselves to this King, they hunger and thirst for the King's righteousness. Matthew 5:6,

  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.

The lowly, poor and broken spirit cry out to the only righteousness that will clothe them perfection. While our righteous works are but filthy rags, the righteousness of Christ is faultless and is the Rock by which we must build our foundation. The righteousness of Christ is the narrow gate we must each pass through, and those whose pride pave the way through the broad gate of self-righteousness and idolatry (creating a god in their own image) will only find destruction through its passage.

Those who pass through the narrow gate by the sovereign grace of God will continue to be poor in spirit, they will continue to weep when they sin against God, they will continue to be meek, and they will continue to thirst for the righteousness of Christ. Not only that, but they will continue to be pure in heart as God continues to set them further apart from the world. The moment we are justified by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit begins a work in us that He will see to completion. This work is the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit through sanctification. Those who undergo this refinement by fire are the pure in heart, and they are most blessed for they will see God.

The heart is our very soul and the most important thing in us before God. I challenge you to conduct a word-search of "heart" to see just how often it is referred to in Scripture.  Our heart is where our motives, affections, and will reside. It is where we resolve to work in step with the Holy Spirit to be conformed to the likeness of Christ.  When God sets us apart by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, He calls us to continue to separate ourselves from the world (1 John 2:15) and present our bodies as living sacrifices to Him (Romans 12:1). In reference to a pure heart, the Apostle Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:22,

Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

A pure heart is only possible by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:4-5,

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, ⁵ not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

 
In Titus 2:11-12 we see the grace of God that brings salvation teaches

...us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age...

1 John 3:3 tells us,

And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Those with pure hearts have been washed and renewed by the Holy Spirit. They have been covered by the grace of God that brings forth saving faith, which results in the pursuit of godliness, righteousness, faith, love, and peace. In short, God's work of justification must yield His work of sanctification. Only those with pure hearts will be sanctified, and only those who are sanctified will see God.

I cannot possibly share all of my notes from Dr. Steven Lawson's message here due to length. But you will find an outline of the remainder of Dr. Lawson's message below where he hones in on the heart:

1. Priority of the heart
2. Purity of the heart
3. Problem of the heart
4. Purifying of the heart
     a.Wash in the Word (Psalm 119:11, Ephesians 5:26)
     b. Bathe in the blood (Psalm 51:2, 1 John 1:9)
     c. Submit to Spirit (Romans 1:4, 2 Corinthians 3:18)
     d. Pray for purity (Job 14:4, Psalm 51:7, 10)
     e. Run with the righteous (Proverbs 13:20, 1 Corinthians 15:33)
5. Privilege of the heart
     a. We see God in creation (Romans 1:20, Psalm 19:1-4)
     b. We see God in providence (Romans 8:28)
     c. We see God in Scripture
     d. We see God in Christ (John 14:9-10)
     e. One day we will see God face to face (Revelation 22:4)

What is the condition of your heart?  Do you continue to justify your sins against God? Do you continue to live a lifestyle that is totally contrary to the nature of God? Do you love the world? Does sin have dominion over you? Are you proud? Do you have need of nothing? If asked about your spiritual condition, would you say, "I'm ok, don't worry about me"? Dear friend, it is only those who habitually confess and repent of their sin, who hate the things God hates and love the things He loves, who love His Word and His Church, who are not controlled by their flesh nor slaves of sin, who have humbled themselves before the Lord and donned the yoke of Jesus Christ, who have been justified by the righteousness of Christ and purified by His Spirit - only these will see God.

You will never see God if your heart is still one of stone. You will never see God if your heart is impure and your hands unclean. You must have a heart of flesh, and you must be poor in spirit, you must be broken over your sin, you must be meek, and you must hunger and thirst for the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You can only be these things if you have been given eyes to see and ears to hear. No amount of outward religious activities or deeds will make you pure. Purity only comes from the inward work of the Holy Spirit. You must be washed - you must be born again! Cry out to God and plead with Him to save you and He will!

Don't you want to see God? He will not only save you from His wrath, but He will save you from your sins. You must be set apart. You must be pure. Turn to Him today and be healed so you can see Him face to face.

Dr. Lawson's message, Blessed Purity, can be viewed in the video below or downloaded for your mp3 player here: Blessed Purity mp3

  Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
         Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
         Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
         Nor sworn deceitfully. - Psalm 24:3-4

The Unrivaled Supremacy of Jesus Christ

By Justin Edwards

Dr. Steven Lawson delivered a powerful message exegeting Hebrews 1:1-4 at the 2007 Resolved Conference titled, The Unrivaled Supremacy of Jesus Christ.

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

This supreme Lord of all lords and unrivaled King of all kings is worthy of our supreme devotion, radical allegiance, and unwavering loyalty. I pray this message helps give you a glimpse of the matchless supremacy of Christ and leads you to worship Him with your life.
 

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. - Romans 12:1

Please click to listen: The Unrivaled Supremacy of Jesus Christ

'Lordship Salvation' - It Will Cost You Everything

By Justin Edwards

Having now twice-listened to Dr. Steve Lawson's It Will Cost You Everything in full, I must say this is undoubtedly the most important message one might ever hear. Some of you have seen the epic-like video excerpt of Dr. Lawson's message put together by I'll Be Honest (HERE), and if you have yet to listen to the complete message from the 2007 Resolved Conference, then you must do so when you get the chance. No doubt this is one you will want to share with as many people as possible.

Why is this message so important? Dr. Lawson presents the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the call to supreme devotion to Him like I have never heard before. He powerfully declares the cost in following Christ by resounding the words of the King Himself - and contrary to what the modern message teaches, discipleship will cost us everything.

This article will serve as an introduction of sorts as I cannot possibly address every issue revolving around this doctrine. Lord willing, future posts will cover this topic in more detail and I hope this write-up will be a point from which we can discuss this issue with the common goal to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.

I share this message and write this blog with a humble heart and knowing what it might cost me. What has now become known as "lordship" salvation (thus coined by opponents) has become an extremely controversial and divisive doctrine over the last few decades. Many of you reading this will have never heard of the Lordship of Christ, much less the phrase "lordship salvation". I myself was not familiar with it just over a year ago, although my studies and understanding of salvation at the time indeed showed acknowledging and subjecting one's self to the Lordship of Christ was an essential element of saving faith.

So why is this so controversial? Why is it that brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ are at such odds with this doctrine? I wholeheartedly believe my brothers and sisters who disagree with me and this doctrine do so because there is a misunderstanding of what "lordship" salvation means. I have seen "lordship" salvation and those who teach it be accused of teaching works-based salvation or they might suggest it borders works-righteousness. I have seen some accuse the adherents to this doctrine to teach one must be completely repentant or change their lifestyle or behavior before they can come to the cross and be saved. And most unfortunate, I have seen "lordship" salvation be declared heresy and those who teach it declared to be heretics.

To suggest the latter is to condemn these teachers and place an anathema  (a curse of damnation) on them (Galatians 1:8-9). Some of these accusers of heresy are within the Body of Christ, so what can we conclude from these accusations? To be frank, there is a grave ignorance of what this doctrine teaches, and most importantly, what Scripture clearly teaches to be the call to salvation. Yet others who cry heresy are not part of the Body of Christ, and by placing an anathema on this Gospel, they place an anathema on themselves by rejecting the Gospel according to the Lord Jesus Christ and by preaching a gospel that is powerless to save.

Obviously, I am not able to discuss this topic at great length in a single blog piece, but I hope to explain a few things and encourage you to search your hearts and the additional resources I will provide so that you can judge these things for yourselves. It is important to go directly to the source to see if what is being taught is Scriptural instead of relying on others who may still be confused and perhaps ignorant of the issue. One thing is certain: "lordship" salvation is not a new doctrine. It has been around since the Lord Jesus Christ set His terms of salvation and has been carried through as church orthodoxy since then (excluding the centuries leading up to and including the Dark Ages). The only reason why it is controversial now is because the modern message has polluted and diluted the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Fundamentally (to the fault of misunderstanding or ignorance), to reject "lordship" salvation is to reject the teachings of the greatest theologians and preachers of church history, notably since the Reformation. If you believe in the Gospel as taught by Martin Luther, John Calvin, the Puritans, Jonathan Edwards, Matthew Henry, George Whitefield, John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon, J.C. Ryle, B.B. Warfield, R.A. Torrey, W.H. Griffith Thomas, Leonard Ravenhill, A.W. Pink, and A.W. Tozer, then you believe in the Gospel according to the doctrine of lordship salvation. If you are a born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, even if you did not understand the full implications of His lordship or have never heard the term before, you submitted to His Lordship on the day of your salvation. It is impossible to be justified by God without submitting to His authority over your life. You cannot accept Him as Savior but reject Him as Lord. This idea is absurd really, and is the result of the modern message plaguing the church in the last century.

What is known as "lordship" salvation is either the Gospel or it is not. It is either a work of God or a work of man. If it is a work of man, then salvation requires works. If lordship salvation teaches works-based salvation or if it is works-centered, and indeed it does not and is not, then it is heresy. If it is heresy, then those who teach it are heretics. If they be heretics, then the godly men above are heretics, so too are John MacArthur, Paul Washer, Al Mohler, John Piper, Phil Johnson, Alistair Begg, James MacDonald, Ray Comfort, Steve Lawson, Kirk Cameron, David Platt, Justin Peters, Todd Friel, Jack Chick, Mike Ratliff, Ken Silva, and James White. Now, I ask you: what do you truly believe? If you are to be consistent in your accusations against what is known as "lordship" salvation, then you must also be willing to declare all of these men heretics. Are you willing to do that? If you are not, then I urge you to study this doctrine closely, lest you continue to declare biblical truth heresy, even if out of ignorance. 

What else can explain the potential millions of church goers who have not been born again? These Christians-in-name-only continue to live a lifestyle of habitual sin or depend on their own righteousness to be justified. These false converts have a false assurance of salvation simply because they rely on a one-time response to an altar call, said a prayer once to "ask Jesus into their hearts", they might go to Bible study, they may have filled out a "decision for Christ" card, or they think by doing stuff they are making God happy. But they have never come into right relationship with Christ by submitting to His authority to rule and reign in their lives. No doubt God can and will save people despite the message they responded to, but the danger of the repentant-less message of "cheap grace" or "easy-believism" is that it gives people a false security in salvation. It leads people to believe they are saved when they are desperately lost. And oftentimes, as illustrated in Jesus' Parable of the Sower, many fall away from faith because their "decision" to be saved was based on an emotional high or a desire to be saved from their troubles or for their felt-needs to be met. This rash decision led to a shallow root, and the only explanation for why these fall away or that they never go on to bear fruit or be sanctified is that they never counted the cost and they never submitted their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Let it be clear - salvation comes by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. No amount of gold, no amount of good works, no amount of anything can earn your way to heaven. We are justified by faith alone, and it is only by the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we gain access to the Father in heaven. Moreover, salvation is a sovereign work of God, and because it is His work in Christ through the regenerated, surrendering to the Lordship of Christ is no more a work of the believer than is faith and repentance. The Holy Spirit will bring about repentance, sanctification, and submission to the Lordship of Christ in all who truly have faith in Jesus.

Coming under the Lordship of Christ is merely responding to the call of Jesus to be His disciple. Subjecting yourself to the Lordship of Christ is coming to saving faith. It is committing your life to Him. It is surrendering your life to God. It is being born again. The Bible makes no distinction between being a believer and a disciple - they are one in the same. Contrary to popular and modern teaching, one does not become a believer then at some point down the road become a disciple of Christ. Discipleship is not a call to some higher level of Christianity. It is Christianity and it is based on the work of Christ and our following Him. When one is born again, they become a follower, or a disciple, of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We see the call to discipleship (the call to salvation) most emphatically by Jesus Christ Himself in Luke 14:25-35. In verse 33, we see that following Christ will cost us everything,

So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

What is He saying? You might ask, "I thought salvation was a free gift from God"? It is, most certainly! Jesus Christ humbly submitted Himself to the will of the Father and went to the cross. There, God transferred our sins to the innocent Lamb of God and God crushed His own Son under His wrath. Jesus Christ atoned for our sin through His shed blood on the cross, and God showed the world He accepted this as payment in full by raising Him from the dead three days later. There is nothing more we can contribute. It is finished. He has already paid the price for you. It is free.

But it will cost you everything. How can something be free yet be so costly? It's simple - while Christ has already made the payment for your soul, the only way you can receive this gift is to totally commit your life to Jesus Christ. Does that mean no one can be saved unless they consciously count the cost to follow Christ at the time of conversion? Here is John MacArthur on the matter:

A person might be truly born again without explicitly considering the cost of following Christ, but no one can be saved who counts the cost and is unwilling to pay it. Again, I am certain that no one understands the full implications of Christ's lordship at the moment of conversion; in fact, none of us ever reaches full knowledge of such spiritual realities in this life. But the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a true believer prompts some degree of surrender to Christ's authority even at the inception of the new birth (Source).

Going back to Luke 14:26, this is what Jesus says,

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

Jesus is not saying you must hate anyone, but compared to your love for Him, it would seem like you hate them, even your own life. Christ says it in another way in Matthew 10:37,

He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

Of course, you cannot love someone you do not know, so by submitting your life to Christ, you are vowing to follow after Him to know Him, to love Him, and to live for Him. In Luke 14:27, Jesus says,

And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

The cross is a symbol of death. By carrying your cross, you are proceeding with the death march to execution. Jesus says in Luke 9:24,

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 6:7

For he who has died has been freed from sin.

We must die before we can live. Unless we are crucified with Christ, we cannot walk in newness of life. There can be no resurrection unless there has been crucifixion of the old life. Jesus will not begin in you until you end. You must be broken in your sins (2 Corinthians 7:10), and you must submit to Him as Lord of your life (Romans 10:9-10), for He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and He demands your allegiance. By acknowledging that He is Lord, you are fundamentally professing and trusting that He is God and He alone has the power to forgive your sins and save you from eternal destruction. Nothing short of the Sovereign Lord can do this.

You must go through the Narrow Gate (Matthew 7:13-14). Only few enter through this gate because only few are willing to lay their lives down for the Lord Jesus Christ. Only few are willing to forsake everything for Christ. Only few are willing to submit to the rightful rule of the Lord over their lives. Only few desire to pursue God, to be conformed to His image, to be transformed, to obey Him, and to become holy as He is holy. And Jesus knew how easy it was to just be a part of the crowd, so much so that He raised the bar by demanding total commitment. He did not manipulate decisions or induce the crowd. He did not sugar coat His message or soften the requirement. He asked for nothing less than complete surrender.

As Dr. Lawson says, these terms of salvation are nonnegotiable, absolute, fixed and set, and unalterable, and they are the same for all of us. He calls for radical submission and surrender or we cannot be His disciple. Christ must be worth more to us than anything else. We must consider Him more valuable than everything else as we see in Matthew 13:44-45. We must surrender our will, and we will continue to surrender our will for the rest of our lives. He is asking for supreme devotion. We cannot serve Christ and ourselves. He calls for absolute allegiance to Himself, even though we will never hit that mark perfectly nor might we understand the full implications of this surrender on the day of salvation.

The One who died on the cross and offers you life has made the conditions of surrender. We do not get to choose how we come to God for salvation. We must not let the myth of the modern message cloud what Christ has demanded. We must come to the understanding that God will not justify those He will not sanctify. He always finishes the work He started (Philippians 1:6), and it starts when, by the grace of God, we submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. As we too often see, those who make easy decisions for Christ, without having counted the cost of being a disciple, are not able to finish and go all the way. God does not finish the work because He never began in that person's life. And it is because they refused to humble themselves, confess their sinfulness, and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

This salvation will cost you everything. It will cost you popularity and maybe even promotion. It will cost you an easy life and you will have to discipline yourself. You will have to say no temptation, no to the world, and break from the crowd - even if no one else follows. You will have to be willing to suffer persecution, and it may even cost your life. And here is the bottom line as Dr. Lawson puts it,

You must transfer ownership of all that you are and all that you have to all that He is...your life is no longer your life, it is His life. Your time is no longer your time, it is now His time. Your possessions are no longer your possessions, they are His possessions. Your future is no longer your future, it is His future. Your treasure is no longer your treasure, it is His treasure. And you have transferred all that you are and all that you have to all that He is. That's what it means to meet His terms of peace.

It is the end of yourself. And when it becomes the end of you, God will give you rest, free from the bondage of sin and from the bondage of the world:

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. - Matthew 11:28-30

You may not have understood all of this when you were born again. But do you see a progression in your life since you made a profession of faith? Have you seen the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in your life? Do you now have the desire to obey Him and follow in His steps? Have you examined yourself as instructed by the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 13:5)? Many of us can affirm these truths in ourselves and are thus submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. But others, who fail to see a change in themselves after they made a profession of faith, at the least cannot claim assurance, and at worst, cannot truly claim salvation.

If that is you, do ever wonder why you profess to be a Christian but have no genuine and intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you wonder why you don't like to fellowship with other believers? Do you wonder why you don't have a burning desire to know and love God more by studying His Word? Do you wonder why your prayer life is basically non-existent? Do you wonder why you have nothing to show for your faith? Do you wonder why you have no desire or make any effort to share your faith? Do you wonder why you are just like your unbelieving friends? Do you wonder why you love the things of the world, but have no evident love for Jesus Christ other than you saying so? Do you wonder why your life is continuously marked by a habitual lifestyle of sin? You must examine yourself, and I ask you to please do so by listening to the most important message you will ever hear: It Will Cost You Everything.

Because this blog piece attempted to address two issues, opponents of lordship salvation and a call to examination, I was unable to speak at length on either issue. No matter where you are, including those who wish to further subject themselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, please take the time to listen.

To my brothers and sisters who are in disagreement with this doctrine, I hope and pray this has opened up the door for discussion and we can work this out together. I pray that God will be glorified in our search for the truth and coming to a biblical understanding of salvation. It is imperative that we have the Gospel right. Should I be in error in anything I have shared or presented, I pray the Lord reveals this to me.

If you would like to learn more about this doctrine and how it is presented in Scripture, I challenge you to read John MacArthur's The Gospel According to Jesus.  You may also find the following to be beneficial in understanding what this doctrine actually teaches:

The Lordship Controversy (stream or download mp3).

Common Questions about Lordship, Part 1

Common Questions about Lordship, Part 2

Lordship Salvation

A 15-Year Retrospective of the Lordship Controversy

Other Resources on Lordship Salvation from Grace to You

Lordship Salvation (short video from James White)

I ask anyone who opposes Lordship Salvation to take a look into these resources, especially Dr. Lawson's message and MacArthur's book. I would love to continue this discussion as necessary with the goal to edify one another and bring glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ. Until then, I leave you with this from A.W. Pink in 1937 on the failure of modern evangelism:

The terms of Christ's salvation are erroneously stated by the present day evangelists. With very rare exceptions, he tells his hearers that salvation is by grace and is received as a free gift. That Christ has done everything for the sinner and nothing remains but for him to believe, to trust in the infinite merits of his blood. And so widely does this conception now prevail in orthodox circles, so frequently has it been denned in their ears, so deeply has it taken root in their minds that for one to now challenge and denounce it as being so inadequate and one-sided as to be deceptive and erroneous, is for him to constantly court the stigma of being a heretic and to be charged with dishonoring the finished work of Christ by inculcating salvation by works...

Salvation is by grace, by grace alone. Nevertheless, divine grace is not exercised at the expense of holiness. It never compromises with sin. It is also true that salvation is a free gift, but an empty hand must receive it and not a hand which still tightly grasps the world. Something more than believing is necessary to salvation. A heart that is steeled in rebellion against God cannot savingly believe. It must first be broken. Only those who are spiritually blind would declare that Christ will save any who despises authority and refuse his yoke. Those preachers who tell sinners that they may be saved without forsaking their idols, without repenting, without surrendering to the lordship of Christ are as erroneous and dangerous as others who insist that salvation is by works and that heaven must be earned by our own efforts (Source).

Kirk Cameron on Evangelism

By Justin Edwards

Kirk Cameron closed the inaugural Resolved conference in 2005 with a powerful message on evangelism. Whether or not you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ or just eager to be encouraged and equipped to obey the Great Commission, then please take the time to listen to this mp3.

Every born again believer is called to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth. This calling is not reserved to only international missionaries. We are all charged with this mission to make Christ known, and if you find yourself lacking in this area and are ready to make a change, you can begin here.

We must all be zealous for good works, and the greatest of these is sowing seeds to the lost. The Harvest is near - let us be diligent in sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ in these final hours.

Kirk Cameron - Evangelism mp3 download