Why Lordship Salvation Is Wrong

Pastor Ralph “Yankee” Arnold

If you've got a Bible, I want you to take it and turn to the book of First Corinthians in chapter two. First Corinthians chapter 2. Today's message is going to be, maybe a little difficult to follow. But I think if you stay with me, it'll be clear and simple enough. I realize also that there's also a possibility that some of you might be offended, so lock those doors . . .lol. Because I want to be honest with you. It makes a statement in First Corinthians chapter 2 in Verse 14, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." The things of God are spiritually discerned, and that's why he made the statement in Verse 13, "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." One verse explains the other.

We live in a time when many people cannot discern what's going on, even in our country. Nations around the world do not really understand, the things that God has laid out and what's going to happen in the future. We who know the Bible and know the truth, you have insight, you can discern better. But it's also amazing how many of God's children, that know the Lord, love the Lord, cannot discern certain things. And those are some of the things I want to share with you this morning. So hopefully I won't go too fast, but I want you to follow it, because it is so very important.

The title of the sermon today is: "Why Lordship Salvation Is Wrong?" You say: "What is Lordship Salvation?" Lordship Salvation is simply where people believe that you have to do works to be saved. To commit your life to Christ. So where salvation is not only trusting Christ, but also includes serving Christ. And you don't get one without the other. The only way you know you're really trusting Christ, is that if you are serving Christ. And if you're not serving Him, then it's evident you don't know Him. This is what is taught and this is why it is wrong.

I've preached all across this country. I've heard all kinds of things. I've been in a lot of Baptist meetings. And I've heard all kinds of terminology. I've heard a lot of Calvinism. The teaching that you must make Christ the Lord and the Master of your life in order to be saved, and that to determine whether you're really saved with true faith, is only by the works that you perform. So it sounds simple and easy to prove. Just look at your life and you'll know whether your saved or lost. And naming names is right. So this morning I'm going to name a few names.

And you say: "Is that honorable?" Well, if we look in the Scriptures you'll find that the Bible does name names! In 1st Timothy Chapter 1, Verse 18 it says, "This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;" Remember that the Christian life is a warfare! You're battling against the lusts of the flesh. You're battling against the Devil. You're battling against the world. You're battling against your own thoughts, that you have yourself. So it is a real battle, and the reason why it's so important to win this battle is because other people are counting on us to win the battle.

That's why he was singing this song. It's a beautiful song. "People need the Lord." We're the ones that are supposed to tell this Gospel News! In 1st Timothy Chapter 1, Verse 19 it says, "Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:" Remember this because this verse is very important to recall a little bit later. That some having good faith, a good conscience, and then put away their faith, have made shipwreck! In 1st Timothy Chapter 1, Verse 20 it says, "Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." Now we read about this also in 1st Corinthians Chapter 5, in Verse 1 down to about Verse 5, where God had to deal with an individual, and submit him unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. That's important to remember because we're going to look at that again.

So is it possible for God's people, not to persevere in the faith? Because you see the teaching of Calvinism and Lordship Salvation hinges upon that very truth, that is not a truth, but it is A LIE. 1st Timothy Chapter 4, Verse 1 says, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;" Now in Bible college we have a course called "Bible Doctrine." Also, we have another subject we call "Systematic Theology." It's 4 hours a semester, For 2 semesters. 8 HOURS! And that means it's taught four times every week. 4 HOURS! FOR A WHOLE YEAR! Just to understand doctrine, in the Scriptures.

You see, you don't love contrary to doctrine. You must know doctrine in order to correctly love. Because many people without knowing doctrine love the wrong things, and they don't even know why, or what they're doing. So that's why you cannot discern the doctrine of devils if you don't know the doctrines of God. Romans 16, Verse 17 says, "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned..." And join it, or avoid it? AVOID IT! So sometimes you have to be able to know truth, in order to discern error. So this morning, even though I'm going to share with you some of the thoughts of those who believe error, I'm also going to give you at the same time, THE TRUTH. So that you can see it.

And hopefully I will not cause any of you to believe the wrong doctrine. If you walk out these doors and you believe the wrong thing, after what I've taught, I hope you get a bad case of hiccups . . . lol. This is a very important thing to know. The Bible says in 2nd Timothy 2:15, "Study to show off..." . . . lol. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." So you study the Word of God, so you can rightly divide what God's Word has to say. And without knowing truth you cannot discern error! And this is why so many people use human reasoning, logic and making up a lot of their beliefs, but they portray it as though this is the Word of God, and God didn't say that.

2nd Timothy Chapter 2, Verse 16, "But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness." 2nd Timothy 2:17, "And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;" Now you're heard of "canker sores." This is talking about like gangrene. It gets on you and just eats at you and eats at you, and it can keep on until it totally destroys the Christian life. So you may be sound in the faith today, but if you tolerate error in doctrine, it will affect other doctrines that affects others doctrines that affects other doctrines, and can totally ruin your Christian life.

2nd Timothy 2:18, says, "Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some." See, according to Calvinism or Lordship Salvation, you're supposed to persevere in the faith, but we've already seen where it can be shipwrecked and it can be overthrown. And that people can teach error. As someone has famously said: "What difference does it make?" Anybody ever heard anybody say something like that? What difference does it make? Well she found out. It made a lot of difference . . . lol. I want to show you that there is a difference. We are often told according to the Bible that a man is saved by grace.

Now think about this. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works..." Now some people cannot understand: "What does that mean? "What does it mean when it says: "not of works?" And then he says in Titus 3:5 when he makes this statement. He says: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us," So no man, nobody, can be saved by their works. So forget works when it comes to salvation, going to Heaven; works have nothing to do with your eternal destination.

But you'll hear a lot of preachers tell just the oppossite. Now, this dangerous view is held by false teachers. Such as John MacArthur. Anybody ever heard of John MacArthur. R.C. Sproul. They're both on the same radio station that I'm on. They're on all across the nation and around the world. John Piper and all other Calvinists. This is what they teach! Now we're not going to cover the T.U.L.I.P. We're going to talk about some of the teachings that they have.

Calvinism! Now you've heard: "Black Lives Matter." "White Lives Matter" But with the Calvinists: "Some Lives Matter!" But isn't it true that ALL LIVES are supposed to matter. Why do we preach the Gospel to everyone? Because we believe that everyone matters. They're all important to God. Just because you might be offended, won't make you right. We have people right now that are now protesting around the country. Not because they're right, but because they're wrong! They're WRONG! Because you see, we have the right in America to protest, yes, but not to riot and do the wrong and the damage that's being done. And you'll notice that after some of the other elections, that the Republicans were not out there rioting. Because we believe in something a little bit better and stronger. We do believe in discipline. We believe that if we don't like it, we ought to go to the polls and vote, which is what we did.

Now, if you don't rightly divide, you'll wrong unite. And when people don't know what truth is, they can be easily led astray. And there's certain people who want to cause riots, and will take innocent people and make them part of it, and they have no desire to do anything wrong. It's just that their manipulated because that can't see what's being done.

What then are the distinctives of Lordship Salvation? What does Scripture teach that is embraced by those who affirm Lordship Salvation, that rejects the proponents of easy-believism." You have no idea how many times I have been ridiculed because I believe in that: "Cheap Grace," "Easy Believism." Well what do you want... Hard Believism?" I believe that it's easy for a person to trust Christ as Savior, if they understand the clear, pure Gospel. If you make it difficult for people to understand, yes, it's difficult to trust. But you make it simple and easy when Christ says: Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every educated, understandable, degree-oriented individual. Or does it say to: "Preach the Gospel to every creature"? That means even children should be able to understand the Gospel.

What right does any preacher have to make it hard and complicated and difficult for somebody to understand? The following are eight distinctives of a Biblical understanding of salvation and the Gospel.

You see:

"Unless grace has radically altered my behavior, it cannot possibly alter my destiny." (Alan Redpath)

Alan Redpath made this statement. These are a few quotes that people have made, and it sounds so spiritual, but it is just so wrong. Get it: "Unless grace has radically altered my behavior, it cannot possibly alter my destiny." So the only way you know your destiny has been changed (from Hell to Heaven) is, did it radically alter your behavior. So you have to look at your behavior, as the evidence, that your destiny has been changed. And that is wrong! That's using reason and logic, but it is not reality!

"Christ comes with a blessing in each hand—forgiveness in one hand and holiness in the other; and never gives either to any who won't take both." (Anonymous)

So if you want forgiveness, then you're going to have to have holiness. You have to take them both. Now if you're talking about, in order for me to go to Heaven, that when I trusted Christ as my Savior He forgave me of all my sins, and He made me pure and holy and I'm good to go. That's one thing! But that's not what they mean. Well what they're talking about, is if you accept His free gift of eternal life, you have to promise that you're going to serve the Lord and live a holy life. And if you don't live the holy life, you can't have this one. Eternal life is free, BUT, you also have to live a holy life, cause you can't have one without the other. Is that true or false? That's false!

So, it sounds so easy, but it's not...

"I fear it is sometimes forgotten that God has married together justification and sanctification." (J.C. Ryle)

Now, that sounds like s spiritual statement to make. But it all depends on exactly, well, what you're talking about. And in the context of how they use it, it's in that area of Lordship Salvation.

See, what is justification? That's where God declares you righteous. Well what is sanctification? Well, that He's made you holy and set you apart, and you get to go to Heaven. And that in your standing, my new position in Christ, yes, I have been justified... JUST IF I'D never sinned. I am made pure and holy and set apart. I belong to the Lord.

But see, they're talking about your life, and how you live now. Yes, you're justified, but also with that comes sanctification. You have to live a justified holy life, at the same time. This is why you have so many fruit inspectors. They're inspecting fruit. Well I know that person's not saved, because if they were really saved they wouldn't do that! Have you ever made statements like that? If they were really saved they wouldn't do that! Or if they were saved they would be: "blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." You're doing the same thing, and you've got some of the teachings of Calvinism coming into your mind, because it's not based on the truth. It sounds good. It sounds spiritual. It's not true.

All of this means you must take salvation by faith, while promising discipleship at the same time. So that means you have to not only accept this free gift, but promise God you're going to serve Him. And if you don't serve Him, He's going to take the gift back, or He never gave it to you, because you didn't really mean business. And I've heard so much this teaching over the years. I think: "Why can't they just make it simple, make it clear, and let what God says be the truth?" God says you're saved by grace, and grace alone, without works, period. Now I'm saved. Now there's a lot of things God may want me to do with my life. How God wants me to live. But it doesn't annul my birth. I'm still born into God's family. So,

"Justification and sanctification, gifts of grace, go together as if tied by inseparable bonds, so that if anyone tries to separate them, he is, in a sense, tearing Christ to pieces." (John Calvin's commentary)

Now, that sounds spiritual also. [It] Sounds so good, sound so deep. You can have justification and never live a separated life. That's just the truth. But that's by STATE. My STANDING in Christ, I have been justified and sanctified and set apart, and that can never change; and it has absolutely nothing to do with how I live my life. If you change it to mean that I've got to live a godly, holy life in order to go to Heaven, you don't understand salvation by grace. Grace means it has nothing to do with works. But when you add this element in there of works, then all of a sudden the only way that you can prove you're saved is that you have to look at your life. And it causes such turmoil.

You ought to see the emails I get since we started doing YouTube. And putting our messages up on the internet. I've got so many letters of people that have broke down and wept , and write me letters of how that they were under such bondage and couldn't understand it. And they said, "You made it so simple. You made it so clear. Now I know I have eternal life." Because if you have to look at your life to prove that you're saved, it proves that you're not. If you have to look at your life to prove that you're saved, it proves that you're not saved. Because your life is not that pure. It's not that perfect. And it's not that holy. It's not that godly. And you know it! And that goes for me too!

Truth. If a child does not obey his parents, does that mean he is not alive? See, they say: "Well if you don't obey than that shows you're not a Christian." Well if I don't obey my parents, that means I'm not alive? Isn't it possible to be a disobedient child? Isn't it possible for a child of God to be disobedient? Yes.

Sanctification doesn't just flow from justification, so that one produces the other. Both comes from the same Source. Christ justifies no one whom He doesn't also sanctify." (John Calvin's commentary)

So you have to get both or none. This is why they have to get into Lordship Salvation, [where] you have to make Christ the Lord and the Master of your life. That means you have to be so you become a servant. So that means you have to serve the Master in order to be saved. That's works for salvation. Because if you don't serve you don't get it. I hope that you get what I'm saying.

John Calvin also said:

"By virtue of our union with Christ, He bestows both gifts, the one never without the other."

In other words, you cannot have justification if you don't promise to live it in sanctification. So you can't have one without the other. Well, what do we teach here at Calvary Community Church? We teach that a man can be justified by faith without the deeds of the law. WITHOUT THE DEEDS OF THE LAW! You say, "How do you say that?" Because it says so in the book of Romans in chapter 3, in Verse 28. We're justified FREELY by His grace! No works can come into the picture. I am saved by grace.

You see, I was always under the impression—"Good little boys go to Heaven, and bad little girls go to Hell." Well, well I didn't know any good boys, and I didn't know any good girls either. I was under the impression if (you know), if I did all these good things, I would go to Heaven; doing these bad things, I'd go to Hell, and it would depend on how I was living. And I didn't know anything about Christ. What's the difference in what I believed without hearing the Gospel, than what they believe, though they call it the Gospel. If you're good, you go; and if you don't, you don't! It's the same message. It's a false message. It's works for salvation. And it is not what God said. And God never gave anybody the right to add one work to the Gospel.

If true, one should expect immediate changes in a new Christians life. If there are no results, it means there was no true faith. I wrote that based upon what they said.

"#1 CALVINISM: teaches that the Gospel calls sinners to faith, joined in oneness with repentance. Repentance is a turning from sin." (John MacArthur)
#1 TRUTH: The truth teaches, that the repentance for salvation is just "a change of mind; and that no turning from sin is required Heaven.

Do you see anything wrong with that? These were taken right out of John MacArthur's own testimony. All you've got to do is type in his name. [John MacArthur] teaches that: "The Gospel calls sinners to faith in oneness with repentance. Repentance is a turning from sin. It is a change of heart. But genuine repentance will affect a change of behavior as well." So if you really got saved, you had to repent of your sins, and if it was real they'll be the change. But isn't it sometimes true that we have children of God who don't serve the Lord, [who] don't turn from sin? If turning from sin was a prerequisite, then I can't be saved until I did. And then do I lose my salvation if I go back to it?

See, all these things can really mess up a person's mind, and it causes turmoil. because how then can you know for sure that you're really saved, if you have to prove it by your life? And who then makes the final determination. You've got to show that you're saved. Okay. But if you've got to show it, show it to who? Me? Show it to you? Show it to God, because God doesn't know? But who else is there? Well, "That's how you show that you're saved." To who? I don't know if any of you in here are saved. And when you get right down to it, you don't know if I am. True?

So we go by what a person tells us. But does God know the truth? God knows if I'm saved or not. You don't know. We believe it because you testify, you said you were. But I don't prove that you're saved because of how you're living. I go by what are you trusting in to get you into Heaven. That's what I want to know. If you come to church and you had your Bible up here, and you had on a three-piece suit; I know that person's saved! Well, what if they come in here looking like a bum. They haven't had a bath in three months; long hair, dirty all over, no shoes on his feet? Well, I know that he's not a Christian. Oh yeah, how do you know. He may have trusted Christ as his Savior and be living a more godly life than someone in a three-piece suit. Isn't that possible?

So you see, you can't tell. You go by, "What are you depending on to get you to Heaven." "Well I've been good all my life." Well you must be ready to go. No. Are you trusting Jesus Christ and Him alone as the One who got on the cross for your sins? Do you believe He did that for you? That's what you've got to look at. The truth teaches, that the repentance for salvation is simply "a change of mind." From unbelief to belief. If you're an unbeliever and you repent, what did you do? You changed your mind. You believed. From unbelief to belief. And that no turning from sin is required for salvation:

#1 CALVINISM: teaches that the Gospel calls sinners to faith joined in oneness with repentance. Repentance is a turning from sin . . . it is a change of heart, but genuine repentance will effect a change of behavior as well.
#1 TRUTH: The truth teaches, that the repentance for salvation is just "a change of mind; and that no turning from sin is required Heaven."

You see, that is what the Book teaches. You read the whole Book of John—the Gospel of John—and it's the Gospel tract that we use. I mean, if you want to tell someone how to go to Heaven, that's the best Book that we use. And yet you won't find the word "repent" mentioned one time in the whole Book. But you'll find the word "believe" (forms of it, by faith) about 90 something times. So are we against repentance? No. We just don't agree with them on their definition of repentance.

We believe that a man does not have to turn from his sins to be saved because, say it: "You have to turn from your sin to be saved." Alright, now tell the man: "What do you mean by that?" Alright, here's a man sitting right here. You won't to go to Heaven? Don't you want to go to Heaven? [man in audience raises his hand]. See there, yes... [then] "Turn from your sins!" Now, doesn't he have a right to know which ones? Or does he have to turn from all them? Most of them? The big ones? Well, who decides? Who is going to decide? His wife says he's never done anything wrong anyway.

See, you can't answer the question, because nobody can! "Well, you've just got to be willing to turn from your sins." You mean I don't have to really do it, just be willing to. "Okay, I'm willing." Well, how willing are you? Well when are you going to do it? "Well, I didn't say that I'm going to do it." Well, when does God save them, when He promises that He will. Or God waits until He actually does it, and then He saves him? Well when does He know? See, when we believe that all you have to do, is trust Christ as your Savior—He that believeth on me (present tense), right then, on the spot. When will I have everlasting life? When I believe it. Immediately! Now I know I'm going to Heaven. I know I have eternal life.

Now what about those people that they talk about Friday night soulwinning? What if you had to tell all those girls, you have to promise to be good? Be a goody little girl. Don't do anything wrong. How many of them do you think would understand? And they've got to change their whole total life. Well now you've got to spend another hour trying to tell them what sin is, and how bad it is, and you've got to be sorry and turn from it, and not do it anymore and you promised. Or is it better to just, you know: "God loves you. He paid for all your sins. All He wants you to do is believe He did it for you. And if you'll believe it, He'll give you as a free gift eternal life. And He'll never cast you out and never lose you. And since all your sins are paid, that's how you can know you're going to Heaven, because you can't go to Hell if there's no sins to pay for. He paid for all of them. Now why did He do it? Because He loves you so much.

Now, that's something you can have right now and know it. You add one work and you have mutilated the Gospel of grace. So the truth is repentance is, it's "a change of mind." See, they're saying that you have to change your way of life, and if you don't change your way of life, then they doubt your salvation, and that causes a lot of turmoil in a person's mind. You say: "Are you against people living right?" You listen to me long enough, you'll know that I'm not for people, and God's children, living in disobedience to God. I don't know of another preacher who tries to get people to serve the Lord, more than what I do. I've been around this country. But most of them are trying to get people to stop this, and stop that, and start this, but not to love the Lord. See, when you understand that it's by grace, you'll love the Lord. More than anything else in the world. When you can understand it. And that love is supposed to challenge and motivate us. But wouldn't it be wonderful if it did for everybody? But were all different individuals.

If Calvinism was true, Lordship Salvation was true, everyone who trusted the Lord automatically would change their life, and they'd all be on the same spiritual level, but they're not, 'cause it don't work, [it] doesn't work!

#2 CALVINISM: teaches that salvation is all God's work. Even faith is a gift of God, and that real faith therefore cannot be defective or short-lived but endures forever.
#2 TRUTH: teaches that faith cometh by hearing the Gospel. Scripture teaches that faith can be overthrown, shipwrecked, departed from and denied (I Timothy 1:13; I Timothy 4:1; II Timothy 2:12-13)

Now get what he says. [He] teaches that salvation is all God's work. Even faith is the gift of God. See anything wrong with that? Faith is not the gift of God! Salvation is the gift. Everyone has been given a measure of faith. Everyone, you can place your faith in Buddha, Muhammad or Confucius. You can place it in your good works. You can place it in this church to get you to Heaven. You can even trust me to take you there. You ain't going. But if you trust Christ, you can go! And he says that: "real faith therefore cannot be defective or short-lived but endures forever." So, I believe that one should trust Christ as Savior endures forever. Yes I do! But faith did not come from God. When the Bible says: "He that heareth my words and believeth on Him, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. You have to hear it!

Now, the Bible teaches that faith comes by hearing the Gospel. Scripture teaches that faith can be overthrown. We already read that verse. It can be shipwrecked. And you can depart from it. And it can be denied. But once you're saved, you're always saved! They're saying that that can't be true, but you can read these verses, and you'll find out, that it does happen. And people's faith can be overthrown. You mean I could have trusted Christ as Savior as a teenager, and 40 years has passed, and I've lived like the Devil, and I can still be saved? If you ever WERE saved, you still ARE saved. Your lifestyle has nothing to do with how much God loved you, and whether He saved you or not. He saved you because you trusted Him. That's all He required. Now, yes, as a child of God, if I served Him, I know He will bless my life. And so, I know that He can't bless disobedience; so therefore, I want obedience, because I want the blessings of God and not the chastening of my heavenly Father.

So I serve Him because I love Him. I want His blessings upon my life. I want to please the Lord. Not to be a child of God. Not to prove that I'm a child of God. It's because I am a child of God. That makes so much sense to me, because it's THE BOOK. And if you get away from teaching what exactly He says for salvation, and you try to put discipleship and mix the two together; that mixing law and grace together, and it won't mix!

#3 CALVINISM: teaches that the object of faith is Christ Himself. Faith therefore involves personal commitment to Christ. In other words, all true believers follow Jesus.
#3 TRUTH: teaches that saving faith is simply being convinced (persuaded) that what God says is true. True salvation is the decision to TRUST, not a commitment to serve. It does not include a personal commitment or promise to serve the person of Christ.

This is right out of their statement. All true believers follow, means this, for the Lord. And it involves a personal commitment, that you're going to serve the Lord. See, it sounds so spiritual, so holy, so godly. It is so wicked and deceitful. And you can listen, there's a lot of preachers on radio and television, that will not make it simple and clear. And there's people listening: "What he feeds me I will swallow" . . . lol. And they don't discern. They can't discern the error. You say: "What's the difference?" Heaven and Hell—that's the difference! Are you really trusting Christ, and Him alone to take you to Heaven, or are you trusting your works? And you look at your works and your performance, and not looking at what He did, but what you do. "Is there a difference?" Yes, there is a difference.

The truth teaches that saving faith is simply being convinced (persuaded) that what God says is true. True salvation is the decision to TRUST, not a commitment to serve. It does not include a personal commitment or promise to serve the person of Christ. I'm going to Heaven because I decided to trust Christ and what He did for me. That's how I know I'm going to Heaven, 'cause He said if I trust Him He'll take me there. And that's why I'm going there.

And I, years later, not too long after, I decided: "I'm going to serve the Lord." You see, ranch, a lot of times we get kids to trust Christ as Savior. And then we have camps, and we try to get kids to dedicate their life to Lord. Because you see, the two are different. You don't dedicate your life to be saved. Once you have trusted Christ as Savior, you're now a child of God, you're going to Heaven when you die, you have the free gift of eternal life. Now I want to try to challenge these kids to serve the Lord. But not to be saved. You don't put them together. They don't go together. It's not automatic! Otherwise nobody would have to be challenged and trained along the way. It does not include a personal commitment or promise to serve man or Christ. It sounds logical. It sounds good. But when you add that human element in there, and you start adding works to the Gospel, it becomes an accursed message.

God does not and will not save anyone who is adding works to the Gospel. That's why their decision is so important. Are you trusting Him and Him alone? And once you do, you have eternal life. Now you may not live like a saint, but in God's eyes because of your position in Christ, you are. Lets just pretend for a moment. Let's just pretend. Let's just pretend for a moment that I am the Son of God. I'm the Lord. Alright. Because I have lived such a pure, perfect, holy life, there's no fault in me. I don't have to die, 'cause I'm perfect.

You see, God has chosen Me, elected Me. I am His servant; and therefore, when you believe on Me, that I died in your place, that I did this for you, so because you are now in Me, God has chosen you in Christ. Because you're in Me, you are now one of the elect. Because you're in Me, you're now one of the chosen. And God has chosen all of us to live a good, clean, holy life. But that's our POSITION in Christ. But you are still here living in this world. And you're living in a physical flesh body. And you're going to fight battles that, you don't always win. But isn't it wonderful to know that my position in Christ never changed? For fifty something years my position in Christ has not changed, cannot change. He can never cast me out, never lose me. I am in Christ. Best thing in all the world!

#4 CALVINISM: teaches that real faith inevitably produces a changed life. Salvation includes a transformation of the inner person.

Sounds good. But is it automatic? If it's automatic, we've got a problem! Now, this is what he also says, John MacArthur:

The unbroken pattern of sin and enmity with God will not continue when a person is born again. Those with genuine faith follow Christ, love their brothers, obey God's commandments, do the will of God, abide in God's Word, keep God's Word, do good works, and continue in faith. (John MacArthur)

That's all together—John MacArthur. Do you see anything wrong with this? Now, I don't know how good your discernment is. But there's works involved all the way through this. And what are you looking at to know you're saved? What Christ did for me on the cross, or what I'm doing for Him in my life? What are you looking at? What's the determining factor? Is it you, or Christ? What you do, or what He did? How do I know I'm saved today? Because of what He did.

But for 55 years I've been serving the Lord, going to church, giving money, supporting missions, preaching across this country. But that's not where I put my confidence in. The reason I know I'm saved is because of what He did for me, not what I do for Him. Now, this is very important. The truth teaches this.

#4 TRUTH: teaches that Christians . . .

Romans 6:4, Should walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:4 says, Christians should walk in newness of life. See the word SHOULD. Is it "should" or is it "must"? Should walk in newness of life. Once you've trusted Christ as your Savior, and now you're a child of God, you SHOULD walk in newness of life. But isn't it wonderful that if you don't, you're still His child? You see, you got children? Don't you want your children to love you? Sure, of course! Do they have to, to be your child? Are they still your child if they're disobedient? Aren't you glad? Well, maybe not . . . lol.

The next verse, Ephesians 2:10. We always quote Ephesians 2: 8 and 9:

Ephesians 2:10, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

We should, walk in them. ...

Romans 15:1, "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves."

See, God's Word tells us all these things to do and not to do. But wait a minute, if Lordship Salvation is true, it ought to be automatic. Why would you have to tell anybody how to live? It ought to be automatic. But it's not automatic. "Well if you're really saved you'll do this." Well then why do you have to tell me, what to do, if it's automatic? Because it's not. And it does a lot of damage, to a lot of people, who are trusting in their works and how they live their life.

And I guess I wouldn't be surprised, if there's not people sitting here in this auditorium, that's never really thought this thing through. You've heard it all your life, and it comes natural to you, and it sounds so reasonable and so logical. If you really know about Christ, you're trust Him as you're looking at your life. "Well, Ray I know that I'm saved because, I mean, I give every week. I sing in the choir. I mean, I come faithfully. Therefore, it ought to count for something." NOTHING! ...

There is a lot of differences between SHOULD, OUGHT, MUST and AUTOMATIC.

Don't you agree with that? You see,

#4 TRUTH: teaches that Christians . . .

Teaches that the judicial aspects of salvation [e.g., justification (to declare righteous by God), adoption (Placed into the family of God by the new birth), and positional sanctification (Made pure and holy and set apart in Christ) are guaranteed for each and every believer at the moment one believes.]

In this life, practical sanctification and growing in grace is an option for every believer to make which requires a separate act (of choice) of dedication.

You see, trusting Christ as your Savior is a CHOICE. When you decided to allow the Lord to be the Lord and the Master of your life, it's a CHOICE. But I'm not doing this thing to be saved. I did this to be saved. And I may never do the other. So I decided to be a disciple, a learner, a follower of Christ. So important to understand this difference. You see,

#4 TRUTH: teaches that submission to Christ's supreme authority is not germane to the saving transaction.

This simply means that a person does not have to promise, submit, guarantee, how he or she is going to live. This would make my salvation subjective to my performance.

Although Jesus is the Lord, I do not have to serve Him to be saved or keep my salvation.

"If I don't perform, then I won't be saved." Forget all of those things. I don't have to submit, to promise, to guarantee—anything about my life. I am a sinner on my way to Hell and I deserve to go there! But He loved me and paid for my sins—ALL OF THEM! And all He wanted me to do, was the only thing I could do: "Will you trust Me as your Savior?" And I trusted Him as my Savior a few years ago. And I know that I have eternal life. And I know I'm going to Heaven. And I don't have to look at anything else except the Word of God. That's the only thing I have to look at, as the proof, the guarantee that I'm going to Heaven. God said so! He said He'd never cast me out, He'd never lose me! Now either that's true, or it's not true; and if it's not true, nobody knows where their going when they die, 'cause there is no other way of knowing unless it's totally free, and all by grace! Although Jesus is the Lord, I do not have to serve Him to to be saved or keep my salvation.

#5 CALVINISM: teaches that behavior is an important test of one's salvation. Obedience is evidence that one's faith is real. [This is what they teach!] On the other hand, the person who remains utterly unwilling to obey Christ does not evidence true faith.

So this is why they call it "Lordship Salvation." You must make Christ the Lord and the Master of your life in order to be saved. And so if you don't live like a Christian, that means you're not a Christian. So I have a couple questions I'd like to ask. They're good questions I think. ...

Galatians 5:19, "Can a saved man walk in the FLESH?"

Huh? Yes. Well that means that he can be disobedient, right? And if he's disobedient and he can walk in the flesh, how long can he walk in the flesh and still be saved; or at what point if he walks in the flesh too long, he's not really saved? And how do you know? Because they say if you're really saved, you might walk in the flesh a little bit, but for long. Okay, how long? And what do you use to determine?

In the Bible, we just had communion service last Sunday. First Corinthians chapter 11. We're talking about a Christian examining himself. ...

I Corinthians 11:30, "If a Christian dies because of sin, did he persevere?"

And he says for this cause many are sick and many are weak and many are dead. [He's] talking to believers. So if a believer is dead because of not having a clean life, and doing right, could he be a Calvinist? 'Cause see if your supposed to persevere in the faith, can a Christian die in sin? And if he dies doing something wrong, evidently he didn't persevere in the faith. True? So anybody who dies because of sin could not have been saved, right? You see how confusing [it is]? It's a can of worms.

Now,

#5 TRUTH: teaches that disobedience and prolonged sin are no reason to doubt the reality of one's salvation. You may doubt a person's love for the Lord, love for his neighbour, or love for spiritual things, because none of these things are required for salvation.

You may have trusted Christ 20 or 30 years ago. And you haven't lived like God's child one iota. Does that mean you're lost or saved? It doesn't mean anything. It means you didn't live right. And if you were saved, you're disobedient. If you're lost, it don't matter. You may doubt a person's love for the Lord, and his love for the neighbour, and love for spiritual things, because none of these things are required for salvation. You can doubt all of that. "Well I don't believe you love the Lord." That's good. "Well you don't love your neighbour." I don't have to love my neighbour to go to Heaven. "Well you didn't do anything spiritual." Don't have to to go to Heaven. What you have to do to go to Heaven is where you trust Christ as your Savior. Now, did you do that? Yes. That's what gets you to Heaven. None of these other things do.

Now get this last statement. I even put it in bold so you could see it clear:

TRUSTING CHRIST BY FAITH ALONE CANNOT BE REVEALED BY WORKS AT ALL . . . SALVATION CAN ONLY BE REVEALED BY WORKS IF WORKS ARE REQUIRED TO BE SAVED.

Are works required to be saved? No! No works of any kind, at any time. I'm going to Heaven because of the work Christ did for me. Now,

#6 CALVINISM: teaches that genuine believers may stumble and fall, but they will persevere in the faith. Those who later turn completely away from the Lord show that they were never really born again.

In other words, you may fall but you got to get up. So you just gotta make sure that you get up before you die, when you fall. So I asked a simple question. The last one on there. I just gotta jump to it, because I just can't control myself. Is it impossible for them to die when they are down, if they must die living in the faith? Because [they say] you've got to persevere in the faith to make it. Well you may fall but you'll get back up. So when you fall, that means you can't die because you're still in the faith. And you can't die without persevering. You say, "I'm confused." I am too. So are they!

But look at the statement

Those who later turn completely away from the Lord show that they were never really born again.

Show who? Themselves? Who did they show that they weren'treally saved? You! Because you were that inspector. Remember? You're looking at people's lives and telling them who's saved and who's lost. Well I know that Peter Amato is not saved. I saw him speeding down the road the other day! Is this true,

If this is true:

—How much time must they stay down to know they never were saved?

—How fast must they get up to know they really were saved?

—Is it impossible for them to die when they are down, if they must die living in the faith?

#6 TRUTH: THE SIMPLICITY THAT IS IN CHRIST! It is simple—you're a sinner, He's the Savior. You trust Him, He saves you.

Can you figure it out? Do you have any answers? They don't either. That's why it is totally a confusing mess. That's why he says, beware of those who try to get you away from the simplicity that's in Christ. THE SIMPLICITY THAT IS IN CHRIST! It is simple—you're a sinner, He's the Savior. You trust Him, He saves you. Duh! It's that simple. You add works to it and it's not true. It's the Devil's doctrine—teaches that God has chosen who goes to Heaven, and allows the rest to go to Hell without a God-given choice.

You see,

#7 CALVINISM: Calvinism teaches God has chosen who He wants to go to Heaven, and the rest of them, they don't have a choice. God compels the person to choose to believe on Christ.

So I asked the couple [some] stupid little questions in my little mind:

If this is true?

Could a man that is predestinated to go to Heaven, really be lost before he's saved?

Now let's take for example Peter Amato over there. I'm God. I have chosen before the foundation of the world before he was born, did any good or bad, I chose to save Peter Amato. He was born, when can he be lost? Christ came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. Okay, well when did he get lost? God's already chosen to save him, so he ain't lost. He's 10 years old, he ain't lost. 15 years old, he ain't lost. 30 years old, he ain't lost. Why? 'Cause God chose him before he was ever born to be saved. So when was he lost? It's dumb!

The next question:

Does a man that is predestinated to go to Heaven really need to hear the Gospel and believe? WHY?

If I've [as God] already chosen him to go to Heaven, why does he need to hear the Gospel? Why does he need to hear it? I've already chosen him to go to Heaven. He doesn't need to hear the Gospel. And he doesn't need to believe. What does it accomplish? The truth is still the truth, even if no one believes it; a lie is still a lie, even if everyone believe it! True? I heard somebody say: "You can't be sure of anything!" Really? Was that true? There's absolute no reason for a man that was previously chosen by God, to either hear the Gospel or believe on Christ, because hearing and believing has absolutely nothing to do with his final destination, if predestination is true. But it's not true!

Get these two statements. These are two good statements,

#8 IF LORDSHIP SALVATION IS TRUE:

They believe because they were chosen (Are they still chosen if they never hear the Gospel? What's the point?)

#8 TRUTH:

We were chosen because we believe (Therefore hearing the Gospel and believing on Christ is absolutely necessary.)

Is there a difference here? God has from the fountain of the world chosen to save everyone who believes. Therefore, hearing the Gospel and believing the Gospel is absolutely important. Because God has chosen to save all those who believe on Him. You see, they believe because they were chosen, so they don't need to hear it. They're already going to Heaven. He's already chosen them. But that's false teaching. We're chosen because we believe. God has chose to save every person that will trust Him.

Have you ever heard of John 3:16? How many of you have heard of John 3:16? Look at the verse! For God so lived THE ELECT? . . . lol. I mean, THE WORLD. That He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever I have chosen ahead of time? No, whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So the one's that don't perish and go to Hell, and the one's that go to Heaven, is those that believe, and it's WHOSOEVER!

Now, they can't take this verse at face value. They have to change it and make it say something that it does not say. This is why this message is so important, because it deals with Heaven and Hell. It makes a difference. It really makes a difference.

And so if I come by your car and you're listening to R.C. Sproul, and I hear you listening to John MacArthur, I'm going to flatten your tires . . . lol. And don't, don't you ever! Don't you ever send them one penny to stay on the air! Don't you do that. Because you're magnifying and projecting that message that they teach, that is not THE TRUTH.