One of the things that ministers do on a regular basis is read books! One of my favorite times of the year is November, not because of Thanksgiving (I prefer cow to bird, personally—Turkey is the vanilla ice cream of the food world—bland, bland, bland, unless, of course, you dress it up with bacon and stuffing, then it’s ok). I love November because its theological book season! November is the month when publisher.

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The gospel writer Luke recounts the time in Christ’s earthly ministry when he sat down for a great feast with a large company of tax collectors. The religious leaders, with great grumbling, asked Jesus’ disciples why he would be eating with sinners like tax collectors.
Aware of their complaining, Jesus responded, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32). Jesus’ response is shocking and provocative.

Let’s observe some of the sins that identify the sinners that God saves to understand the shock value that the Pharisees experienced. God saves adulterers, perverts, murderers, pedophiles, traitors who betray and sell out Christians (like tax collectors), witches, sorcerers, and homosexuals, but He does not save the honest person, the faithful spouse, the one who sacrifices his life to save another, the religious church member, or the loving parent because of their good efforts.

This is a shocking, almost revolting statement of Jesus, isn’t it? As Paul noted in 1 Corinthians 6:11, with regard to these sins, “Such were some of you.” God does not save good, upstanding people. God does not let self-righteous people into His holy kingdom because humanity’s best efforts are actually filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6).

As to the matter of entrance into God’s kingdom, all humanity is equally condemned. There is no scale for God’s acceptance. There is only the righteousness of God and the self-righteousness of the flesh, which is rubbish to God. All of it.

Then what value does honesty and faithfulness provide? Ecclesiastes observes that both the do-gooders and the evil-doers end up in the same place – the grave (9:2). So, as to the pragmatic end, there is no benefit. As to the horizonal perspective, there is a temporary benefit for our neighbors in that we show love by being honest, kind, and sacrificial. 

But, as to the vertical dimension, with regard to God, Philippians 3:7-9 reminds us that it is all rubbish.

So, how do we explain God’s salvation of sinners, if he doesn’t save the righteous? The reformers delineated this apparent paradox whereby God saves sinners by describing Christians as sinner-saints.

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Though the Lordship Salvation doctrine (hereafter LS)  has many distinguishing characteristics, the one I want to address is its view of the gospel and the unbeliever’s response to it.

What Is The “Lordship Salvation”

Doctrine?In brief, LS regularly teaches that unbelievers must submit to Jesus the Lord. They call sinners to yield to Christ’s authority. “Surrender” is a key to unlocking the essence of LS. They often include the call to discipleship, “the gospel.”

One popular LS Internet site states,

The gospel that Jesus proclaimed was a call to discipleship, a call to follow him in submissiveobedience, not just a plea to make a decision or pray a prayer … Scripture teaches that Jesus is Lord of all, and the faith He demands involves unconditional surrender… Surrender to Jesus’ lordship is not an addendum to the biblical terms of salvation; the summons to submission is at the heart of the gospel invitation throughout Scripture. (emphasis added)

Certainly, most proponents of LS have admirable desires and motives. They properly see the problem of a temporary faith and assess it rightly. They notice and call out the morass of carnal, corrupt false professors of nominal Christianity. Cultural “Christians” are legion, and they perceive the need for deceived “Christians” to truly believe Jesus. They, with John Bunyan, in The Pilgrim’s Progress, warn, “Then I saw that there was a way to hell, even from the gates of heaven, as well as from the City of Destruction!” LS teachers accurately caution people from a 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 deception. I appreciate the LS desire for false converts to truly believe and to awaken sinners to their peril. I applaud their concern over a false, spurious faith that does not save (a demonic faith--James 2:19). I agree with their call for Christians to live holy and faithful lives. I also commend LS teachers because they do teach sola gratia, repentance as a gift of divine grace, the person and work of Jesus, the need for holy living and much more.

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We would expect those outside the Augustinian mainstream of the Western church to object to the teaching of doctrine of predestination (i.e., the doctrines of election and reprobation) since they reject the doctrines. The reader might be surprised, however, to learn that there have been those within the Reformed tradition who have held that the should not be taught. In On The Bondage of the Will (1525) Luther stoutly defended the doctrine of predestination against Erasmus. Calvin wrote a treatise defending the doctrine of predestination in 1543 against Albert Pighius in The Liberation and Bondage of the Will and in 1555 Beza defended the propriety and spiritual usefulness of teaching the doctrine. Of course the Remonstrants did not think that the doctrine should be taught, even though they made their case from within the Reformed church, because they no longer believed it. We have already seen that the Remonstrants rejected the doctrine of unconditional election. They also rejected the doctrine of reprobation as it was taught in the Reformed churches. In the Opinions of the Remonstrants (13 December 1618). In their “Opinion Regarding the First Article Dealing With Predestination” they confessed,

1.1 God has not decided to elect anyone to eternal life, or to reject anyone from the same, prior to the decree to create him, without any consideration of preceding obedience or disobedience, according to His good pleasure, for the demonstration of the glory of His mercy and justice, or of His absolute power and dominion.

1.2 Since the decree of God concerning both the salvation and perdition of each man is not a decree of the end absolutely intended, it follows that neither are such means subordinated to that same decree by which the elect and the reprobate are efficaciously and inevitably led to their final destination.

To be sure, the Remonstrants clouded the issue by addressing only the minority Supralapsarian position (that the elect and reprobate are considered as potentials and not as created and fallen) and not the majority infralapsarian position (that the elect and reprobate are considered as created and fallen) among the Reformed. Clearly they rejected unconditional election. When they say the decree of perdition (reprobation) is “not a decree of end absolutely intended, they rejected both the infralapsarian and supralapsarian positions. Remember, Arminius himself rejected both in favor of so-called middle knowledge. On this see the earlier essays in the series.

The delegates to Synod however, who came from across Europe (the French delegates were forbidden by the French crown to attend) and the British Isles reflected the consensus that, indeed, it is encouraging to believers to know that God has loved and chosen them, not for anything in them or done by them, and therefore he will not abandon them. This is a great comfort in the midst of spiritual trials, doubt, and struggle.

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This past weekend the city of San Diego celebrated Gay Pride Day, supported by tax-funded civil agencies announcing their support. It seems like a good time to think again about one of the central symbols adopted by the Gay Rights movement, the rainbow.

This last Friday is already designated as one of the most historic victories in our nation’s history as a divided Supreme Court on Friday ruled that same-sex couples can now marry nationwide.  This landmark opinion, as it’s being described, now opens the door for all gay and lesbian couples to have legally recognized marriages in all fifty states.  As soon as the announcement was made, gay and lesbian couples swarmed the streets with victory cries. In short order, President Obama unequivocally spoke of the decision as a victory for America.  Within just a few hours, America itself seemed to be enveloped with the symbol of gay pride: the rainbow.

Within the last twenty four hours, the rainbow has appeared everywhere.  I’ve seen pictures of the White House painted with the colors of a rainbow.  Silicon Valley companies are implementing all sorts of creative ways to use the rainbow as a sign of victory for the decision. Facebook has declared a celebration allowing members to add a rainbow filter to their profile picture to make clear those who support the decision.  Twitter has added a rainbow heart icon with the hash tag: Love wins. From Google to Starbucks to At&T, the rainbow has become the new flag for America, from sea to shining sea, America is now draped with the rainbow.

The rainbow was popularized as an official symbol of the gay community in the early 1970s. The accepted designation for each color of the rainbow is believed to have originated when a San Francisco artist, Gilbert Baker designed the gay pride flag as having six stripes, each one having its own meaning: red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for art, and violet for the human spirit.

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Sometimes Christian parents struggle with how to talk with their children about difficult subjects. They don’t want to burden their children unnecessarily. Death is one of the subjects that is difficult for parents to discuss. But the principles here apply to all difficult subjects. The general rule is to speak the truth in love without overwhelming your child with more information than is necessary.

1. Tell the truth.

Sometimes, out of love, parents want to shield their children from the difficult parts of life. But parents love their children best when they tell the truth quickly and plainly. God’s law is the very definition of love, and God’s law teaches us not to lie but to tell the truth (Col 3:9; Eph 4:15, 25). Titus 2:4 says that mothers are to “love … their children.” It’s loving to be truthful. Never hide the truth from your children.
Parents should use biblical words like “death” and “died,” when they explain what happened. They shouldn’t merely say, “Uncle Steve went to be with Jesus.” They need to be clear, and say something like this: “Uncle Steve died, and his body will return to the dust of the ground, just like the Bible teaches. Death is sad. It came into this world because Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. Unless Jesus comes back, we will all die one day.”
Another important way to tell your children the truth is to let them see your grief. Don’t hide your grief from your children. Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus (Jn 11:35). Christians rightly grieve because of death; so, allow your children to see you and join you in your sorrow. Talk to them about your loss. Tell stories, and let them share how they are feeling with you.
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​Dr. Fesko presently serves at Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson, MS) as Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology.  He is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. He has served in church planting, pastoral ministry, and teaching for more than twenty years. Views expressed here are his own.