Lordship Salvation | Heresy

Published by Papa Giorgio

Originally Posted March of 2026

As a point of order, I wish to note that while Lordship Salvation is called heresy by some (myself included), this does not mean that teaching a false doctrine mean one is unsaved. It just means they are gravely mistaken on said doctrine.

In an excellent start to an article, we see 12 quotes by leading pastors and teachers on the topic:

A. The problem:

On the one hand there are those who insist that salvation is God’s gift and that trust in Christ is the only requirement for salvation. On the other hand, there are respected pastors and theologians who teach that unless an individual submits also to the Lordship of Christ at the moment of salvation, he is not really saved.

B. The positions:

  1. Salvation by grace through faith alone:
  2. Curtis Hutson in his book, Salvation Crystal Clear, has a chapter entitled “Lordship Salvation, A Perversion of the Gospel.” He begins with the following warning: “Lordship salvation is an unscriptural teaching regarding the doctrine of salvation and is confusing to Christians.” Hutson calls Lordship salvation another gospel which contradicts the teaching of salvation by grace through faith” (p. 302).
  3. Charles Ryrie cautions that “To teach that Christ must be Lord of life in order to be Savior is to confuse certain aspects of discipleship and confuses the gospel of the Grace of God with the works of men.” (Balancing the Christian Life, p. 178).
  4. Lewis Chafer writes that Lordship salvation is a seemingly pious but subtle error that in addition to believing in Christ “the unsaved must dedicate themselves to the will of God” (Systematic Theology, III, 384).
  5. Zane Hodges clearly distinguishes between salvation and discipleship. Eternal life is free. Discipleship is immeasurably hard. The former is attained by faith alone; the latter by a faith that works (The Hungry Inherit. p. 114, underscore in the original).
  6. Lordship Salvation:
  7. J. I. Packer rejects the idea that all men “have to do is to trust Christ as sin bearer . . . they must also deny themselves and enthrone him as their Lord.” (Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, p. 89).
  8. Walter J. Chantry says that salvation without Lordship is impossible: “Practical acknowledgment of Jesus’ Lordship, yielding to His rule by following, is the very fibre of saving faith. It is only those who ‘confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus’ (Romans 10:9) that shall be saved . . . Without obedience, you shall not see life! Unless you bow to Christ’s sceptre, you will not receive the benefits of Christ’s sacrifice.” (Today’s Gospel Authentic or Synthetic? p. 60, underscore in the original). His words concerning those who preach simple faith in Christ are very strong: “This heretical and soul-destroying practice is the logical conclusion of a system that thinks little of God, preaches no law, calls for no repentance, waters down faith to ‘accepting a gift,’ and never mentions bowing to Christ’s rule or bearing a cross.” (p. 68).
  9. John R. Stott suggests “that it is as unbiblical as it is unrealistic to divorce the Lordship from the Saviorhood of Jesus Christ” (Eternity, Sept. 1959, p. 37).
  10. A. W. Tozer labels the view of salvation by grace alone a notable heresy and a false teaching (I Call It Heresy! p. 9,19).
  11. James Montgomery Boice calls the concept of salvation through faith alone A defective theology. This kind of faith is directed to one who is a false Christ (“The Meaning of Discipleship”, Moody Monthly, Feb. 1986, p. 34, 36).
  12. John MacArthur champions Lordship salvation in his recent book, The Gospel According to Jesus. He attacks dispensationalists in general and Chafer, Hodges, and Ryrie in particular for “wrongly dividing the Word of Truth” (p. 197). “No one can come to Christ on any other term” than full commitment (p. 197). In his book, The Parables of the Kingdom, MacArthur writes that “there is a transaction made to purchase salvation, but it’s not with money or good works. The transaction is this: You give up all you have for all He has” (p. 108). How does one receive salvation? “You give up all that you are and receive all that He is . . . A person becomes saved when he is willing to abandon everything he has to affirm, that Christ is the Lord of his life” (p. 109). Even in our Regular Baptist circles, Lordship salvation has become an issue.
  13. John Baylo equates the saviorhood of Christ with His Lordship. He holds that “saving faith properly understood always involves trusting Christ with one’s life. . . confidence in Christ to both save and manage one’s life . . . superficial faith never saved anyone” (Baptist Bulletin, February, 1987, p. 7).

This is the key paragraph in that article:

  • Being a Christian means following an invitation. Being a disciple means forsaking all. To confuse these two aspects of the Christian life is to confound the grace of God and the works of man, to ignore the difference between salvation and sanctification. The gospel of grace is Scriptural. The Gospel that adds the works of man to salvation is a counterfeit Gospel.

I just wish to note that the same people that talk to me about the “Reformation” [read here: new Calvinists] upholding the SOLAS is full of it. And is why I say TULIP rejects the SOLAS…. all of TULIP.

Lordship Salvation (“perseverance”) inserts a myriad of works related issues into the mix. So much so, J.VERN called it a heresy!

BTW, I became aware of the J. Vern video because of this presentation over at the BIBLE PLACE. However, this presentation by the Bible Place is the one that showed me how people get the kingdom age mixed up. It is longer, s be prepared to settle in:

RPT’s SCREED: The Gospel is good news. Lordship Salvation is not.

Vernon McGee, Charles Ryrie, and Chuck Smith all raised serious objections to Lordship Salvation, viewing it as a departure from the simplicity of the Gospel. Likewise, the modern neo-Calvinist emphasis on “perseverance” can place such an emphasis on continued obedience and performance that it begins to resemble the very works-based righteousness that Protestants traditionally criticize in Roman Catholicism.

Calvinists often speak of repentance primarily as turning from sin. But in the preaching of Jesus and the Apostles, repentance is fundamentally a turning of the mind and heart toward God—to turn away from whatever is keeping a person from believing the Gospel and trusting in Christ. If an atheist, for example, believes that evolution rules out the existence of God, he must repent of that unbelief and turn to Christ in faith. He must turn from the thing that is keeping him from believing and receive the gift of God accomplished for us at Calvary.

This does not mean that repentance from sin is unimportant, nor does it mean that a Christian who sins cannot come to Christ, confess that sin, and ask for forgiveness. Christians still sin, and Scripture repeatedly calls believers to repentance and confession. The issue is whether repentance from individual sins should be made a condition or basis of salvation itself. We do not have to successfully turn from every sin before we can come to Christ. We come to Christ because we recognize our need for Him and trust in what He has accomplished for us.

Once a person believes in Christ, his sins are placed upon Christ, who bore them on his behalf. But if our continued repentance from sin becomes part of what determines whether we remain saved, then assurance ultimately becomes tied to our own performance. Sin in a believer’s life can interfere with his or her fellowship with the Savior, but that is precisely why we have a Mediator. Rather than hiding from Christ because of our shame, we should bring our sin and struggles before Him. We do not need to hide in the garden and attempt to cover our shame with our own efforts. Christ has already provided the covering.

The Arminian can then say that a person’s failure to continue in repentance has caused him to lose his salvation, while the Calvinist can say that the same failure proves that the person was never truly saved in the first place. The two systems reach different conclusions, but both can end up making the believer’s continued performance central to determining the reality of his salvation.

Consider the rich young ruler as an example. Jesus told him to give up his wealth and follow Him. His wealth had become an obstacle between him and Christ, and he could not bring himself to turn from that obstacle and follow Jesus. The point is not that every person must literally give away all of his possessions to be saved. Rather, the account illustrates that something can stand between a person and faith in Christ. Repentance, in this sense, is turning away from the obstacle and turning toward Christ in faith.

The Gospel is not, “Clean yourself up, stop sinning, and then come to Christ.” The Gospel is that Christ has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. We turn to Him in faith, trusting in His finished work rather than our own. Repentance is not a work we perform to make ourselves worthy of salvation; it is the turning of the sinner toward the One who saves.

Another quote to make the point is this one:

  • It may even be said that Lordship Salvation throws a veil of obscurity over the entire New Testament revelation. In the process, the marvelous truth of justification by faith, apart from works, recedes into shadows not unlike those which darkened the days before the Reformation. What replaces this doctrine is a kind of faith/works synthesis which differs only insignificantly from official Roman Catholic dogma.

Zane C. Hodges, Absolutely Free: A Biblical Reply to Lordship Salvation (Corinth, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2014)

Pastor Andy Woods brought up a paper my Dr. Minirth? Here it is for the reader.

From what I hear through the grapevine (I live a stones throw away from Masters College and live in a town where everyone knows or went to at some point [church goers at least] to Grace Community) John MacArthur became frustrated with his congregation early in his career. He went on a sabbatical and got into the writings of the Puritans. This is where he started to align with the 5-points and his Lordship Salvation idea. And he obfuscated the Christians birthright.

And so, Johnny Mac brought that uncertainty of the Puritan’s salvation into his fold. More on the Puritans here:

Righteousness Laundering: In Their Own Words: