I once thought I was an easy believist until I decided to do more research about what lordship salvation is truly about. It’s often said that lordship salvation means you need to stop sinning to be saved, add faith to works, etc. Instead, lordship salvation is all about distinguishing the fake converts from the true ones. I decided to raise Matthew 7:14-20 to talk about the fruit and the root. The Antinomian said, “What? Now you’re fruit inspecting!” The Antinomian (and no surprise, a supporter of the late Jack Hyles who turned out to be a reprobate) had wildly fantastic claims such as “Calvinists are Jesuits.” His basis was that John Calvin went to the same school as Ignatius of Loyola. So, if I went to the same school as a certain terrorist, does that make me a terrorist? Very bad logic there!
A definition of lordship salvation by Theopedia is this:
Lordship salvation is the position that receiving Christ involves a turning in the heart from sin and, as a part of faith, a submissive commitment to obey Jesus Christ as Lord. It also maintains that progressive sanctification and perseverance must necessarily follow conversion. Those who hold to the doctrine of perseverance of the saints see this not only as a requirement, but an assured certainty according to the sustaining grace of Christ.
The doctrine of lordship salvation has implications for evangelism, assurance, and the pursuit of holiness. The grace of God in salvation not only forgives, but transforms, and a lack of obedience or transformation in a person’s life is warrant to doubt that they have been born again. The grounds for assurance include not only the objective promises of God (like John 3:16), but also the internal testimony of the Spirit (Romans 8:16) and holiness the Spirit produces in our lives (1 John 2:3-4,19).
This can sometimes cause trouble. That’s why Heartcry Missionary founder, Pastor Paul David Washer, says, “Don’t expect a perfect repentance.” A person can be saved without perfected repentance, and full awareness of the lordship of Christ, but there’s repentance and awareness of who Christ is as the Lord of their lives. The submission, surrender, etc. are ongoing. Submission to be saved and a continued submission as a result of salvation. Ephesians 2:10 says that Christians are equipped unto good works. Titus 2:11-14 says God’s grace teaches good works. James 2:14-26 warn that any faith that doesn’t result in good works is a sham faith Yet, you have so many people today who insist a person can get saved and remain the same. When I ask them where is that in the Bible, they get personal and I was even wrongly labeled as a Jesuit coadjutor Hmmm, that just reminds me of supporters of the late Alberto Rivera Sr., who was nothing more than a fraud who even posed himself as a Baptist preacher at one point. The Hyles followers tend to engage in conspiracy theories so I’m not surprised some of them even wrongly accuse others of working for the Vatican, with zero proof whatsoever.
Yes, the context is about false prophets. A false prophet is known by one’s fruit. However, it doesn’t limit only the wolves in sheep’s clothing but also those who follow the false prophets. A rereading of the Old Testament prophetic books reveals that the followers of false prophets are also the rotten fruits of false prophets. If it was just solely the fruit of the prophet, why do you think Jeremiah 5:31 pretty much summarizes Jeremiah’s problem? The prophets prophesy falsely, the priests (pastors) bear rule by their means, and the people love to have it so. Do you see a connection? Any false teacher plants a false doctrine and produces a follower. A follower of that false teacher not only listens to the false teacher. A follower of that false teacher does wickedly as they’re taught. It’s just like why Israel was frequently in trouble whenever the people heeded false prophets.
Later, Matthew 23 talks about Jesus’ woes against the Pharisees. One of the woes also reveals that the converts of the Pharisees become a child of Hell worse than themselves. Today, we can observe it in religions of the world. For example, Roman Catholicism tends to produce a lot of parishioners even more sinful than the Pharisees of Rome. Sure, they’re not directly taught to be wicked. However, the wicked fruit often shows up more often than not. Another is how the Hyles community is so full of cover-ups, quarrelsome people, people who hardly have a sense of holiness, etc. A few examples across the Internet are Jacksmack77 and David “Tutty” Fleming–both diehard Hyles followers. It’s because Hyles was no preacher but a cult leader. Several followers of Rivera Sr. were later displayed to have much rotten fruit such as being quarrelsome and paranoid. Do you still think that the followers of the false prophet aren’t part of the rotten fruits of such rotten ministries?
A ministry is also known for its fruit. I read Acts many times and we see people turning away from sin. Sure, there are still a lot of other sins to deal with. However, 1 Corinthians 6:11 has Paul commending the believers saying, “And such were some of you.” Paul never said, “You are all still the same.” Corinth was a city full of immorality and the church there was in frequent peril. 1 Corinthians 7 even reveals some Christians have become unequally yoked with unbelievers. Paul’s ministry tossed sin away causing much trouble. Acts 16 even shows the story of Paul and Silas having been jailed for driving out the demon of a fortune teller. Acts 17 tells us that people burned away the wicked books. Nobody was ever sinning all the want. Instead, any ministry doesn’t just preach salvation but also results in sanctification as a result of salvation.
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