The debate between “lordship” and “free-grace” theologians is, at the core, a debate about the nature of saving faith. Authors John MacArthur and Zane Hodges both defend their antithetical views as being faithful to Biblical and Protestant theology and excoriate each other for departing from both. The first half of this paper will provide a brief evaluation of each author’s view of saving faith and its relation to repentance, lordship, discipleship, works, perseverance, and assurance. The second half of the paper will give a response to the lordship debate, with special emphasis on providing a better overall model for characterizing the nature of true saving faith.
Saving faith. True saving faith is more than simply “accepting and affirming the truth of who [Jesus] is – God in human flesh – and believing what he says. Real faith has at its heart a willingness to obey.” 1 An important illustration of this is found in the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price (Matt. 13:44-46). MacArthur notes: “Both parables make the same point: a sinner who understands the priceless riches of the kingdom will gladly yield everything else he cherishes in order to obtain it.” 2 Thus, “the kingdom of heaven is only for those who perceive its immeasurable value and are willing to sacrifice everything else to acquire it.” 3 In sum, saving faith is “nothing less than a complete exchange of all that we are for all that he is.” 4
Repentance. Implicit in the command to believe the gospel is the command to repent. Indeed, “The gospel according to Jesus is first of all a mandate for repentance,” 5 which is “a change of purpose, and specifically a turning from sin.” 6Repentance is not a separate act from faith, but rather faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin: “Repentance means turning from sin, and faith means turning to the Savior – one turning.” 7 Only those who are willing to acknowledge and repent of their sin can be saved. 8 In the end, “No message that eliminates repentance can properly be called the gospel, for sinners cannot come to Jesus Christ apart from a radical change of heart, mind, and will.” 9
Lordship. Those unwilling “to give Christ first place in their lives” are ineligible for salvation. 10 Confessing “Jesus is Lord” is more than simply affirming His deity. 11 It is affirming and submitting to His “dominion, authority, sovereignty, and the right to govern. If those ideas are implicit in the phrase “confess . . . Jesus as Lord’ (Rom. 10:9), then it is clear that people who come to Christ for salvation must do so in obedience to him – that is, with a willingness to surrender to him as Lord.” 12 Unlike the rich young ruler who turned his back on the demands of Christ the Lord (Matt. 19:16-22; also Luke 14:33), we must at least be willing to surrender all. 13 “So-called faith in God that does not produce this yearning to submit to his will is not faith at all. The state of mind that refuses obedience is pure and simple unbelief.” 14
Discipleship. MacArthur writes: “Forsaking oneself for Christ’s sake is not an optional step of discipleship subsequent to conversion; it is the sine qua non of saving faith.” 15 There are no believers who are not disciples: “Every Christian is a disciple. . . . Disciples are people who believe, those whose faith motivates them to obey all Jesus commanded.” 16 “The call to Calvary must be recognized for what it is: a call to discipleship under the lordship of Jesus Christ. To respond to that call is to become a believer. Anything less is simply unbelief.” 17 To refuse the call to discipleship is tantamount to disbelieving the gospel.
Works. Works are the ultimate test of salvation and the inevitable result of genuine faith. 18 In the Parable of the Soils (Matt. 13:3-9, 18-23), only the productive soil represents a believing heart because “fruit, not foliage, is the mark of true salvation.”19 The metaphor of the Vine and the Branches (John 15:1-8) supports this conclusion: “The identity of the healthy, fruit-bearing branches seems clear – they represent genuine Christians. It is the nature of the Christian to produce fruit. . . . The inevitable result of genuine salvation is good works.” 20 On the other hand, “Judas (as well as all false disciples) represents the barren branches.” 21 A true believer abides in Christ and is therefore fruitful, whereas a false professor, as evidenced by his lack of spiritual productivity, will be condemned to hell with all unbelievers. For “everyone God redeems is willing to work for him…. That is the way salvation is. Faith is shown by works (James 2:24).” 22
Perseverance. A believer will persevere in faith and good works because true faith is an unfailing Divine gift wrought in the heart of repentant, surrendered sinners. 23While Christians can temporarily behave in carnal ways, “carnality is never spoken of by Scripture as a perpetual state for believers. In other words, while Christians can be carnal in their behavior, they are never carnal by nature.” 24 The Christian can never go fully “dormant” in his spiritual life: “We may sin (1 John 2:1) – we will sin – but the process of sanctification can never stall completely.” 25 So-called believers who do not persevere to the end “only prove that they were never truly saved.” 26 Conversely, “A real disciple… may fail Christ but will never turn against him. A true Christian might temporarily fear to stand up for the Lord but would never willingly sell him out.” 27 In sum: “Endurance is the mark of those who will reign with Christ in his kingdom.” 28
Assurance. Assurance is anchored in the experience of sanctification: “Genuine assurance comes from seeing the Holy Spirit’s transforming work in one’s life, not from clinging to the memory of some experience.” 29 And for one who does not experience such transformation “there is no reason to think genuine salvation has taken place.” 30 According to lordship theology, “Faith obeys. Unbelief rebels. The direction of one’s life should reveal whether that person is a believer or an unbeliever. There is no middle ground.” 31 Therefore, “No one who persists in willful, deliberate sin and rebellion against the Lord should be encouraged with any promise of assurance.” 32
Saving faith. True faith is “receiving the testimony of God. It is the inward conviction that what God says to us in the gospel is true. That – and that alone – is saving faith.” 33 The word believe means just that: “The reader most certainly would not understand this word to imply submission, surrender, repentance, or anything else of this sort.” 34 Faith, then, very simply “is taking God at His Word. Saving faith is taking God at His Word in the gospel.” 35 As in the case of Martha and the woman at the well, the act of believing the “saving facts” of the gospel, or appropriation, “is the means by which both regeneration and justification become permanent realities for the believer.” 36 By appropriating saving facts, the believer entrusts his eternal destiny to Jesus Christ. 37 That alone is saving faith.
Repentance. Repentance is not a necessary component of saving faith, primarily because John’s explicitly evangelistic gospel never mentions the word repentance. Hodges triumphantly declares this fact as “the death knell for lordship theology. Only a resolute blindness can resist the obvious conclusion: John did not regard repentance as a condition for eternal life. If he had, he would have said so. After all, that’s what his book is all about: obtaining eternal life (Jn 20:30-31).” 38 This fact alone should remind us that “faith alone (not repentance and faith) is the sole condition for justification and eternal life.” 39 Instead, “The call to repentance is the call to enter into harmonious relations with God.” 40 It is “all about the sinner finding spiritual health. It is all about the sinner ‘sitting at the table’ – having fellowship – with God.” 41 Once the sinner believes and has appropriated the gift of eternal life, then repentance is the means by which he enters into a harmonious relationship with God: “Harmony – fellowship – between a sinful humanity and a forgiving God must always be based on repentance, just as justification must always be based on faith alone.” 42
Lordship. While “submission to the lordship of Christ is not in any sense a condition for eternal life, it is crucial to the manifestation of that life. Indeed, to live as a disciple is to live under the lordship of our Savior.” 43 Calling on the name of the Lord “is a Christian activity, not a formula for being saved from hell.” 44 Concerning the pivotal “lordship” passage in Romans 10:9-13, “the salvation Paul has in mind…is broader in scope than simply salvation from eternal damnation. Instead it embraces the whole range of spiritual and personal deliverances which a risen Lord is able to bestow on those who call upon Him for it.” 45 Paul’s admonition to a bold public confession of Christ has to do with spiritual victory, the ‘saving of the saved.’” 46
Discipleship. It is God’s desire and Christ’s admonition to believers that we all become disciples, or learners. 47 Moreover, the call to discipleship entails the inestimable cost of laying down our own lives (Luke 14:26-33). There is a dichotomy between salvation and discipleship: “Can anyone really imagine that Luke 14:26 is really saying the same thing as Revelation 22:17, ‘Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely’?” 48 The water of life, the gift of salvation, is entirely free. Discipleship, on the other hand, is costly. Therefore, the two are not the one and same calling. Although it is optional, “obedience is utterly essential if one wishes to reap the blessings God’s truth can bring to us.” 49 A Christian who never takes up the cross of discipleship will never truly experience the depth of the riches of Christ. Nevertheless, Hodges warns: “We need always to keep the issue of the gospel separate and distinct from the process of spiritual education.” 50
Works. While not an inevitable result of salvation, “yet works do have a role in the Christian’s experience after spiritual birth and justification.” 51 “God wants us to walk in good works. Whether we do so or not depends on the many biblical factors which are relevant to spiritual development.” 52 Nor should works serve as validation of true faith: “How strange that in our day and time we have been told so often that fruitlessness is a sure sign that a person is unsaved. Certainly we did not get this idea from the Bible.” 53 Spiritual barrenness is not necessarily a indication that a person is lost. “Rather, the Bible teaches that unfruitfulness in a believer is a sure sign that one is no longer moving forward, no longer growing in Christ. It is a sign that a Christian is spiritually sick, and until well again, cannot enjoy spiritual success.” 54 Fruitlessness certainly reveals that something is wrong, but it in no way suggests that the unfruitful person had never appropriated the gift of everlasting life. While faith appropriates eternal life, obedience brings temporal blessing and friendship with the Savior. 55
Perseverance. The Christian will not necessarily lead a victorious life nor will he necessarily continue to believe in Christ: “Of course, our faith in Christ should continue. But the claim that it absolutely must, or necessarily does, has no support at all in the Bible.” 56 A person is saved because he appropriated faith, not because he continued in faith. 57 And just because the Bible calls us to endure in faith and works, “The simple fact is that the New Testament never takes for granted that believers will see discipleship through to the end. And it never makes this kind of perseverance either a condition or a proof of final salvation from hell.” 58 So while the initial act of appropriation which ensured eternal life should result in spiritual victory to the end, “it is simply a theological illusion to maintain that a Christian who has embarked on the pathway of discipleship could never abandon it.” 59
Assurance. Objectively, assurance is rooted in the truth of God’s promises. 60 Subjectively, assurance comes from confidence in the reality of one’s inward conviction of the truth of the gospel: “In short, if I do not believe that I am saved, I do not believe the offer that God has made to me. . . . a person who has never been sure of eternal life has never believed the saving message of God.” 61 All who have ever drunk from the living waters can be confident in the unconditional love of God. 62
| MacArthur – “lordship salvation” | Hodges – “free-grace” | |
| Saving Faith | full surrender to Christ; complete exchange of all that we are for all that He is | inward conviction of the truth of the gospel; appropriation |
| Repentance | complete change of heart, mind, and purpose and willingness to obey necessary for salvation | only required for post-salvific harmony and fellowship with God; not required for salvation |
| Lordship | calling on the name of the Lord is submitting to His supreme authority and necessary for salvation | calling on the name of the Lord is a Christian activity which results in deliverance from temporal trials |
| Discipleship | all true believers are disciples | not all believers are disciples |
| Works | inevitably accompany salvation; theevidence of true faith | inevitably accompany God’s blessing; not necessarily evidence of true faith |
| Perseverance | divinely guaranteed for all believers | not all believers will continue to believe |
| Assurance | Rooted Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work | rooted in promises of God and confidence that one has appropriated those promises |
Though John MacArthur and Zane Hodges both make important points in defending their respective viewpoints, with all due respect I find the presentations of both leaving much to be desired. What seems lacking from both is the proper soteriological paradigm to help keep extreme elements of their views in check. And while the evangelistic encounters that Jesus and the apostles had with the rich young ruler, the woman at the well, Zacchaeus, Nicodemus, Mary and Martha, Cornelius, the Philippian jailor and others are inerrant and inspired narratives that reveal important biblical truths, none should be considered paradigmatic for a study of the nature of saving faith. That role is reserved exclusively for the patriarch Abraham, “the father of all those who believe” (see Rom. 4:11-12, 16, 23; Gal. 3:7-9). 63 My response, hence, will focus on an exposition of the saving faith of Abraham and its subsequent relevance to the lordship debate.
The first three chapters of Romans tell us three basic things about mankind in general. First, man is hopelessly lost in sinful depravity. Second, even given the highest ethical standards by which to govern his life, man is helpless to do anything about his depravity. Third, man can find justification by God one way and one way only: by faith in Christ, the model of such faith being the patriarch Abraham, who “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” For one to overcome his hopeless and helpless condition, he must exercise the same quality of saving faith that Abraham exercised when he believed the promises of God. Furthermore, in leading up to 4:21, Paul draws an analogy between the hopelessness and helplessness of mankind in general with the personal hopelessness and helplessness that Abraham experienced in his peculiar situation. In other words, Abraham typifies not just saving faith, but also the conditions that necessitate the exercise of that faith. A summary of that analogy is shown below:
| CONDITION: | Abraham | Mankind in general |
| hopelessness | 4:18 | 3:10- 18, 23 |
| helplessness | 4:19 | 3:20 |
| saving faith | 4:3, 22 | 3:21- 22; 28; 4:24 |
Hopelessness. Paul argues forcefully in the first three chapters of Romans that Jews and Gentiles alike are all sinners deserving of the wrath of God. This argument climaxes in 3:10-12: “There is none righteous, no not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” The argument is conclusively summarized in 3:23: “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Mankind, Jew and Gentile alike, created for glory and fellowship with God, is instead hopelessly lost in sin and depravity. Abraham typifies this hopelessness because he was given a promise of glory that he simply could not fulfill. Abraham was not only childless, he and his wife Sarah were past the age of bearing children (Rom. 4:19; Heb. 11:11-12). They were literally hopeless (Rom. 4:18).
Helplessness. As Paul wrote in Galatians 3:21, “If there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.” Neither nature’s law nor the Mosaic law can make a man righteous: “For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law” (Rom. 2:12). All men are sinners estranged from God, and the law, though holy and just, is impotent to reconcile us to God for it is “weak through the flesh” (7:12; 8:3). Simply put, “By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (3:20). Man, even given the loftiest ethical standards, is utterly helpless to remedy his depraved condition, for the law only reveals the depth of his depravity and despair (7:7). Likewise, as mankind is helpless to overcome the bondage of sin, Abraham was helpless to have a natural born child through Sarah. Scripture says that his body was as good as dead (Heb. 11:12) and that in claiming the promises of God “he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb” (Rom. 4:19). Like sinful man with no resources with which to satisfy the wrath of God, Abraham was impotent to bring the child of promise into the world.
Saving faith. After initially introducing the doctrine of justification by faith in Romans 3:21-22, Paul proceeds to anchor this cardinal doctrine in the historical record of the saving faith of the patriarch Abraham, who “believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Rom. 4:3; Gen. 15:6). Paul also affirms that it was “not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Rom. 4:23-24, emphasis added) Thus, the quality of faith exercised by the patriarch is the same quality of faith that must be exercised by the sinner. But what does Romans 4:3 mean when it says: “Abraham believed God?” A comparison of 4:3 and 4:21 reveals the answer:
| Romans 4:3 | Abraham | “believed God” | and it was accounted to him for righteousness |
| Romans 4:21 | Abraham | “was fully convinced that what God had promised He was also able to perform” | and it was accounted to him for righteousness |
Very simply, Paul defines the nature of Abraham’s faith as being “ fully convinced that what God had promised He was also able to perform. ” That is saving faith. But what does it mean that Abraham was “fully convinced”? It means that despite every human reason for not expecting to receive the promised heir, yet because of his confidence in the “would-ness” of God (what He had promised) and the “could-ness” of God (His power to fulfill the promise), Abraham simply took God at His Word “without wavering through unbelief” (Rom. 4:20). The wording of 4:19, that he “did not consider his own body…and the deadness of Sarah’s womb,” suggests that he did however carefully consider the nature of the One who gave him the promise. In addition, we can identify three more important elements within the phrase, “Abraham believed God.”
1. Who was it that Abraham believed? Paul says that Abraham believed God, “who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Rom. 4:17). During the time period from his initial call to his justification, Abraham learned numerous truths about God, including His goodness (Gen. 12:2-3 – “blessing”; 15:1 – “Rewarder”), His approachability (12:8 – “he called on the name…”), His sovereignty (14:22 – “God Most High”), His protection (15:1 – “Shield”), and His glory (Acts 7:2). And immediately prior to his salvific encounter with God in Genesis 15, Abraham had a profound encounter with Melchizedek, the Christ-like priest of God Most High. Indeed, coming from a pagan background (Josh. 24:2) to this rich knowledge of the one true God, one could say that Genesis 12-14 represents a worldview change for Abraham, preparing him to be the “father of all who believe” (Rom. 4:11).
2. What was it that Abraham believed? Galatians 3:8 says that the “gospel” was preached to Abraham, referring to the promises of Genesis 12:1-3. Abraham received “good news from heaven” about something God wanted to do in his life. But what was the content of that gospel? Considering only the revelation that Abraham had up until Genesis 15:6, the promise that Abraham believed included these elements: 1) God would make him a great nation (12:2); 2) In him all the families of the earth would be blessed (12:2-3); and 3) God would make him exceeding fruitful (15:5). Up to and including chapter 22, the promise is expanded to include the following: 4) Abraham would have kings as descendants (17:6); 5) his descendants would possess all the land of Canaan (17:8); and 6) his descendants would possess the gate of their enemies (22:17). In other words, the content of the promise of Genesis 15:4-5 that Abraham believed unto justification in 15:6 was a promise that had no explicit reference to justification. Instead, what Abraham believed unto justification were promises related to glorification . The significance of this point will become more evident as we proceed.
3. Why was it that Abraham believed? While we do not know the motive of Abraham’s heart, we can say this: Abraham believed because he wanted to believe, not because he was forced. The doctrine of free will teaches this and Genesis 15:2 is strongly suggestive of this. All the elements leading up to the climatic moment in Genesis 15:6 would be senseless without the implication that Abraham desired the fulfillment of the promises. The fact that he believed those promises makes it clear that he submitted to the fulfillment of those promises and ultimately to the God who guaranteed their fulfillment. By believing God and His promises, Abraham was in effect saying to God, “Thy will be done.”
Having seen the basic elements involved in the saving faith of Abraham, we are now ready to explore how that model pertains to gospel preaching today. The Abrahamic model expounded above demonstrates the existence of objective and subjective preconditions necessary for one to exercise saving faith. Objectively, the doctrine of depravity, with the hopelessness and helplessness it entails, and the historical and redemptive facts of the gospel must be true for salvation to be necessary and possible. Subjectively, a person must come into agreement with God about the truth of his own depravity and embrace with saving faith the promises of the gospel. The objective issues fall under apologetics and are assumed true for the current purposes. The subjective issues require more examination.
Recognition of Hopelessness. One must recognize his sinful, estranged condition in order to be saved. Like the humbled tax-collector of Luke 18:9-14, one must be “fully persuaded” that he is an estranged sinner deserving nothing but wrath from a holy and righteous God. The proud Pharisee, in startling contrast, self-righteously thanked God that he was free from the guilt of such sinful activity. In sum, one who rejects or doubts the reality of his own sin, the pervasiveness of its personally corruptive effects, or the wages of eternal death it necessitates is not one who is “fully convinced” of his hopeless condition.
Recognition of Helplessness. Furthermore, one must recognize that self-effort is completely worthless, and in fact, an affront to God. The Pharisee of Luke 18 not only boasted of the sinful things he avoided , but also the righteous things he did. As long as a person persists in “seeking to establish his own righteousness,” he is demonstrating a willful ignorance of his impotence to live up to God’s standard of perfection and thus is not presently prepared to exercise saving faith (Rom. 10:2-3).
Embracing the gospel. Finally, one must believe that Jesus Christ alone is the answer to his problem (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). One must minimally embrace the gospel message that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3; see also Rom. 4:24). That involves accepting the historical truth and also the redemptive purpose, that Jesus “was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification” (Rom. 4:25). Embracing the gospel involves being fully convinced of the purpose of God (to deliver sinners from the bondage of sin) and the power of God (through the resurrection of Christ). And like Abraham, there are three important elements involved in believing God unto righteousness.
1. Who do we believe? No one can embrace the truth of the Son of God as revealed in the Word of God unless they have at least implicit knowledge that there is a God. And like Abraham who believed in God as the Source of existence and life (Rom. 4:17), we must minimally believe that God is the Creator against whom we have sinned and that He has provided deliverance from sin by raising His Son from the dead (1 Cor. 15:13-14)
2. What do we believe? God’s New Testament promise is not simply that He provides forgiveness of sins to the believing sinner but that He wants to “conform us to the image of His Son,” bringing “many sons to glory” (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10). His promise does not end with justification, but rather, those “whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:30). The promise is not merely to “get the sinner into heaven,” but also to “get heaven into the sinner” (Gal. 4:19). The “easy-believism” model, when it concerns the content of the evangelistic message, tends to ignore the ultimate purpose that God has for the sinner in order to “safeguard” the simplicity of the gospel. The “lordship” model, on the other hand, saddles the sinner with the demand that he willingly take up the yoke of lordship before he can even receive the promise of redemption. The Abrahamic model, however, proclaims the gospel as a promise of glorification , which, when viewed against the backdrop of man’s utter depravity, underscores the need for sanctification . And when the gospel message of God’s ultimate purpose is mixed with the sinner’s faith, it results in justification .
Perhaps an analogy would be helpful. Imagine a rich and noble prince who desired to find a bride for himself among the poor and uneducated class, wanting to reveal the glory of his grace in making a completely free offer to an undeserving girl of his choosing. But not only did he want to marry the girl, he wanted to transform her into a glorious princess who would reflect his own goodness and grace. She would not only have to accept his free offer of marriage, but also accept his ultimate purpose for her. If the prince was a free-grace teacher, he might tell her all about the free offer of marriage, but fail to warn her about the radical transformation that he desired for her, a disingenuous offer indeed. If he was a lordship theologian, he might demand that the girl repent of her poor and ignoble ways and commit to not returning to them in order that she could be wedded to him. The Abrahamic model, however, tells her about the promise of glory and freely offers it to her. By accepting the free offer of glory, she is aware of what the prince desires to do and subsequently submits to his purposes for her life. If she was “fully persuaded” that what the prince had promised he was also able to perform, then he would marry her and at the time of his choosing begin the process of transformation. She would legally become a princess as soon as she wed the prince (justification), but would not have the full character of a princess (glorification) until the process of transformation (sanctification) was complete. But she would know before she chose to receive the engagement offer what the prince ultimately wanted for her. This analogy is consistent with the biblical teaching about Christ’s love for His bride, the Church (see Eph. 5:22-33; Rev. 19:6-9)
3. Why do we believe? God cannot force free choices. God cannot coerce a loving response to His offer of salvation. Nevertheless, God lovingly persuades the sinner to believe because unless one desires to be delivered from his sins he will never exercise true saving faith. But we must personally want the stumbling blocks to belief removed so we can be delivered from our sins (Mk. 9:43-48). Like Abraham, the sinner who hears God’s promise of full and final deliverance from sin and responds, “Thy will be done,” is the sinner who is exercising saving faith.
Saving faith defined. Defining saving faith is the first step in trying to resolve a debate like lordship salvation. Considering the Abrahamic model herein proposed, the following definition of saving faith emerges, based on an amplification of Romans 4:21: Being fully persuaded , despite the hopelessness of our depraved condition (Rom. 3:9-19, 23; 4:18) and our helplessness to effect an escape from that condition (Rom. 3:20; 4:19; Heb. 11:12), that what the all-powerful, life-giving God (Rom. 4:17; Gen. 18:14) has promised , namely, full and final deliverance from sin (glorification) wholly apart from any human effort (Rom. 3:20-28), He is also able to perform because of and through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ (Rom. 4:24-25). Simply put, in order to exercise faith unto salvation, a sinner must recognize his own depravity (Luke 18:9-14) and his inability to justify himself by works of the law (Rom. 3:20). Furthermore, he must be fully persuaded that God’s righteousness in Christ (Rom. 10:3-4) is sufficient to fulfill the promise of salvation and personally and freely desire to see that promise realized in his own life.
Repentance. God has commanded “all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). Hence, there is no reason to contend, like Hodges, that repentance is only for the spiritual health of the believer. Repentance is necessary for salvation, but not primarily from sin as MacArthur argues, but from unbelief . Saving faith involves repentance simply because being “fully persuaded” in the promises of God presupposes a previous condition of not being “fully persuaded.” Repentance and faith are related via the law of non-contradiction. There are only two relationships a sinner can have in regards to Christ: either the sinner has saving faith in Christ or the sinner does not have saving faith in Christ. And to have saving faith in Christ is not the same as to not have saving faith in Christ. Therefore, when a sinner exercises saving faith in Christ, he by that very act “repents” of the previous state of not exercising saving faith in Christ. 64 God’s call to repentance is the call to believe. 65
Submission. One would search in vain for any demands of lordship-style submission made on Abraham’s life until Genesis 17:1, well after he was justified by faith in 15:6. 66 The lordship-style requirement for pre-salvific commitment is akin to requiring the sinner to pledge obedience to the first commandment before he can be saved. But God’s promises to Abraham were according to grace, not law (Rom. 4:13-16). However, though demands for commitment and obedience came after justification, by “believing God,” Abraham did not merely “appropriate” salvation; he willfully submitted to the purpose of God. God’s purpose for the sinner is to conform him to Christ. That process begins by the sinner’s act of submission to the righteousness of God found only in Christ and the testimony of God concerning His Son (Rom. 10:3-4; 1 Jn 5:9-13). As the patient submits to the benevolent knife of the surgeon, so the sinner submits to God’s gracious deliverance from sin found in Christ alone through faith alone..
Works. As previously noted, God did not explicitly demand obedience from Abraham until Genesis 17:1, after he had already been justified by faith and assured by the covenant. But in 17:1, God commanded Abraham, “I am Almighty God; walk before me and be blameless.” The realization of that demand came to a climax in Genesis 22, when God told Abraham to offer Isaac on the altar. James writes: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God” (2:21-23). Several things should be noted:
1. James is referring to a one-time work of faith , not a consistent life-style of works of the law. Many have sought to use this passage to prove that our lives must be consistently characterized by works in order to be justified before man. But James refers to one act, not a lifestyle of acts. And the work that Abraham did was not a work of the law, but a work of faith. No where did the law command such an action and Paul explicitly says that “by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Rom. 3:20). A life-style of works is commendable, but for saving faith to be validated it is not compulsory. Further, as Ryrie observes, there is chronic difficulty in trying to quantify the quality of one’s faith. 67 The quantity and duration of one’s works is not incontrovertible evidence of one’s salvation (Matt. 7:21-23) . But Abraham-like works of faith reveal that one does indeed know the true and living God.
2. Genesis 22:12 makes it clear that Abraham’s offering of Isaac validated his faith before God. While Abraham was justified by faith, his faith, so to speak, was justified by works. Abraham was so genuinely persuaded in the promise and power of God that he simply concluded that if necessary, God would raise up Isaac from the dead (Heb. 11:19). Abraham knew that God did not promise him just one son, but an innumerable company of descendants. He was fully persuaded about that promise, therefore he knew that God would either spare or resurrect Isaac. Similarly, Job suffered like no other man so that Scripture could exemplify his patience (5:11). Paul, the chief of sinners, was redeemed so that in him might be displayed the depth of the mercy and longsuffering of Christ (1 Tim. 1:15-16). Abraham, the one who miraculously received the son of promise, was commanded to offer him on an altar so that God could exemplify in him, under the duress of an extreme demand, the character of true saving faith. His was no mere intellectual assent; nor was it simply “appropriation.” Abraham’s faith was nothing short of “full persuasion that what God had promised he was also able to perform.”
3. Abraham did not initiate this validation of his faith; it was initiated and orchestrated by God. Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2). He will personally initiate the sanctification process (Phil. 2:13). We do not have to struggle to validate ourselves. Nevertheless, God will test us in the time and fashion of His choosing. And in that time the true character of our faith will be revealed (1 Pet. 1:7).
4. The demand of Genesis 17:1 is akin to Christ’s demand that we follow Him in discipleship. Notice that this demand takes place after justification (15:6). But if the demand of 17:1 is realized in the testing of 22:1, in what way can the offering of Isaac have any application to the New Testament believer? Jesus did say, after all, that the children of Abraham would do the works of Abraham (John 8:39). It is patently obvious that God is not calling Christians to validate their faith through literal human sacrifices. The point is this: we are not called to offer our sons , but rather to offer our selves (Rom. 12:1). A disciple must be willing to forsake all and follow Him (Luke 14:33). But no one can forsake all without first forsaking self. And as Abraham was called the friend of God when he did not blink at His radical demand, so we too are Christ’s friends if we do whatever He commands us (John 15:14). The radical demand on the Christian’s life of which Jesus is speaking, and which is also captured in Romans 12:1 is this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37,39). The offering of ourselves as a living sacrifice is the supreme act of loving devotion to the God who provided the sacrificial Lamb for our sins committed against Him.
Perseverance. Abraham’s saving faith was a persevering faith. For him to not persevere would simply reveal that he was never fully persuaded in the ultimate realization of the promises. Moreover, his perseverance in the faith was crucial to those promises being fulfilled. Scripture says that though the promises were given by grace, they were obtained by patient endurance (Heb. 6:15). True saving faith will persevere, though it will not do so without times of spiritual degeneration. Abraham, after he believed God unto righteousness, at times still persisted in depravity by degenerating into self-effort and self-preserving fear.
1. Degeneration into self-effort. Abraham, after God had promised that the son would come from his own body (Gen. 15:4), resorted to self-effort in heeding the voice of Sarah and trying to produce the heir through the bondwoman Hagar (16:1-16). This was not indicative of a failing faith but a frail believer. Nevertheless, the results were disastrous. Paul uses this narrative to contrast the bondage of the law to the liberty of the gospel (Gal. 4:21-31). And he chides his readers for degenerating back into a gospel of self-effort, which is really no gospel at all (1:7, 3:3). Believers are in the constant danger of trying to achieve the promised glorification through a self-centered sanctification. Rather, just as we have received Christ by faith, we are to walk with Christ in faith (Col. 2:6). Scripture consistently exhorts us to press forward in the work of sanctification. But that work is not a result of self-effort, but of self-denial. It is not a work of the flesh, but a work of the Spirit. But it is nevertheless a work in which we actively and cooperatively trust the Lord to fulfill in us His ultimate desire to make us holy and without blame in His sight (Col. 1:28-29).
2. Degeneration into self-preserving fear. Abraham twice sold out Sarah his wife in order to save his own hide (Gen. 12:10-20; 20:1-18). In so doing, he forced his wife’s complicity, lied to Abimelech, and endangered the lives of countless others. In the New Testament, Peter is the quintessential coward who lied to save his own life, even while selling out his Lord. But obviously Peter’s failure is not a sign of a failed faith but a frail believer. Christians indeed are never immune to the temptation to preserve self; hence, the consistent call to deny self (e.g., Matt. 16:24).
Degeneration into sin aside, Christians will persevere in faith. True faith, when tested, will be shown to be genuine (1 Pet. 1:7) because saving faith, even if implicitly, is trust in God to fulfill His promise of glorification. But genuine faith does not imply perfect faith at any stage of sanctification. Genuine faith is simply a faith that, when tested, proves itself to be “fully persuaded that what God has promised He is also able to perform.”
Assurance. Our assurance is objectively rooted in the irrevocable promises of God and guaranteed by the sealing of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:3-12). Subjectively, however, our assurance is rooted in two things. First, we must know for certain that we have exercised the quality of faith that Romans 4:21 describes. Without a truthful confession of faith, we cannot have assurance (1 Cor. 12:3; 1 Jn. 2:22-23). Second, our hearts are assured before God when we recognize in us, through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, a genuine love for God and man that is demonstrated in our lifestyle (1 Jn. 3:18-19). John writes that there are three ways that love is manifested: if we keep His commandments (2:3), if we practice righteousness (3:10), and if we love the brethren (3:10). To “keep” God’s commandments does not imply perfect obedience but general submission to the rule of God. As a seaman “keeps the stars” to navigate the seas, so we “keep God’s commandments” to navigate our lives. If we practice righteousness we are loving the brethren, for our fellow man is the immediate benefactor of the well-lived life of a Christian. On the other hand, if we are truly His and are manifesting neither love for God nor love for man, then our Heavenly Father will chastise us unto holiness (Heb. 12:7-11). If we are not chastened, then we are not sons and should have no comfort of assurance.
Though much more can be and needs to be said about the particulars of this topic, by sketching the Abrahamic paradigm I hope to have shed light on the character of true saving faith, and what its relation is to repentance, submission, works, perseverance, and assurance. In doing so, I find elements in my view common to both the lordship and free-grace position, but total affinity to neither as both resort to soteriological extremism to safeguard “the true gospel.” I find instead that an exposition of the biblically-endorsed model of saving faith can be a safeguard against such extremism and helps form the framework for positively resolving this crucial debate.
1:John F. MacArthur Jr., The Gospel According to Jesus: What Does Jesus Mean When He Says “Follow Me?”, rev. and exp. ed., (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 52.
2:Ibid., 142.
3:Ibid., 145.
4:Ibid., 142.
5:Ibid., 72.
6:Ibid., 178.
7:Ibid., 119.
8:Ibid., 73, 97.
9:Ibid., 183.
10:Ibid., 85.
11:Ibid., 233-4
12:Ibid., 233.
13:Ibid., 95. For a rebuttal of MacArthur’s insertion of the word “willing,” see Charles C. Ryrie, So Great Salvation: What it Means to Believe in Jesus Christ (Chicago: Moody Press, 1997), 76.
14:MacArthur, 192. See also 94.
15:Ibid., 142.
16:Ibid., 221.
17:Ibid., 36.
18:Ibid., 132, 53.
19:Ibid., 132.
20:Ibid., 168.
21:Ibid., 166.
22:Ibid., 154.
23:Ibid., 81, 105.
24:Ibid., 280.
25:Ibid., 39.
26:Ibid., 105.
27:Ibid., 112.
28:Ibid., 188.
29:Ibid., 29.
30:Ibid., 103.
31:Ibid., 194.
32:Ibid., 275.
33:Zane C. Hodges, Absolutely Free: A Biblical Reply to Lordship Salvation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989), 31.
34:Ibid., 28-29.
35:Ibid., 32.
36:Ibid., 106-107.
37:Ibid., 39-40.
38:Ibid., 148.
39:Ibid., 144.
40:Ibid., 145.
41:Ibid., 149.
42:Ibid., 151.
43:Ibid., 172.
44:Ibid., 195.
45:Ibid., 196.
46:Ibid., 198.
47:Ibid., 67.
48:Ibid., 68.
49:Ibid., 121.
50:Ibid., 87.
51:Ibid., 73.
52:Ibid.
53:Ibid., 118.
54:Ibid.
55:Ibid., 125, 173, 176-7.
56:Ibid., 63.
57:Ibid.
58:Ibid., 80.
59:Ibid., 82-83.
60:Ibid. 205.
61:Ibid., 50-51.
62:Ibid., 18, 118.
63:All Scripture quotations from The Holy Bible, New King James Version (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982).
64:See Norman L. Geisler, “A Moderate Calvinist View,” in Four Views on Eternal Security, ed. J. Matthew Pinson (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 105-6, fn. 42.
65:Ryrie, 88-90.
66:Michael Eaton, No Condemnation: A New Theology of Assurance (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1995), 50-66.
67:Ryrie, 41-45.