Dr. Couch, help me out on the issue of Lordship salvation. Can you refute my thinking on the subject?
ANSWER:
I do not have enough hours in the day to take the time to refute the mistakes in that first
"book" that came out about Lordship salvation! The "author" consistently does not tell the truth,
takes cheap shots and uses faulty logic. He sets up straw men and misrepresents the issue.
On one hand, he says salvation is by grace alone, and then he turns around and adds works to getting saved.
I will give just two illustrations where his reasoning is so bad! He writes:
- Saving faith is more than just understanding the facts and mental
acquiescing. He writes this because he tries to charge those who do not
believe his view of lordship salvation that they only argue for "mental
acquiescing" of the gospel only! Where did he get that? I have never
heard any Evangelical argue that all one does is just "agree with the
facts about salvation" in order to be saved! One must appropriate the
work of Christ at the cross and believe "He died for me personally!"
- He then writes The [anti-lordship people] assume that because Scripture contrasts faith and works, faith must be incompatible with works. Here this author uses smoke and mirrors. He has just fooled the reader. Works ARE incompatible with saving faith, works follow saving faith; they are not the cause of salvation! The way he said this is intellectually dishonest! He then adds: The lordship people set faith in opposition to submission, yieldedness, or turning from sin, and they categorize all the practical fruits of salvation as human works. I have never heard anyone in all my years of ministry that would agree with him! When I trusted that Christ died for all my sins, I was TURNING FROM SIN! After POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION comes EXPERIENTAL SANCTIFICATION. Submission, yieldedness, turning from sin in the walk, always SHOULD follow the profession of faith in Christ. But it usually does not in an absolute way because there is the growing up that the believer goes through in learning to walk with Christ.
Again, this author sets up a false reasoning. (Works have no place in
salvation. And "all practical fruits of salvation are human works!" What
is he talking about?) When one says he believes that Christ died for
his sins, he means all of his sins. At that moment there is certainly a
salvation "submission," "yieldedness," and a turning from sin. I have
never seen anyone do anything else! But this author is not saying what I
am saying. He believes that Lordship salvation will mean that almost
all Christians will walk nearly perfect in their Christian experience.
one second after belief in Christ, the issue is making and living for
Christ as the Lord! But this author writes:
- "True salvation wrought by God will not fail to produce the good works that are its fruit." Oh, really? Does he mean "Never fail" in the absolute sense? If he does not he needs to explain himself, but he does not! What about all of the verses in Paul’s letters that speak of the believer’s walking carnal? Did I miss something? Who wants to say they are living perfectly? If they don’t does this mean that were not "truly saved"?
I have 200 hundred misquotes by this author all dog-eared in his book.
His writing is a sham and illogical, if you read it slowly and
carefully. He wrote one of the poorest "biblical" books I have ever
seen.
I do not understand why there is confusion about this issue. Take a
concordance and look up "faith, believe, belief, trust," just in the
book of John! I believe the count is about forty verses that say
something like: salvation by faith only.
Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch
