48. A. W. Tozer, I Call It Heresy! (Harrisburg, Pa.: Chris tian Publications, 1974), 18 – 19.
The Gospel According to Historic Christianity
Can it be that we really think that we do not owe Jesus Christ our obedience?
We have owed Him our obedience ever since the second we cried out to Him for salvation, and if we do give him that obedience, I have reason to wonder if we are really converted!
I see things and I hear of things that Chris tian people are doing and as I watch them operate within the profession of Chris tian ity I do raise the question of whether they have been truly converted.
Brethren, I believe it is the result of faulty teaching to begin with. They thought of the Lord as a hospital and Jesus as chief of staff to fix up poor sinners that had gotten into trouble!
"Fix me up, Lord," they have insisted, "so that I can go my own way!"
That is bad teaching, brethren.48
Any doctrine that makes surrender to Christ's lordship optional is bad teaching. Clearly it is a departure from what Chris tians have always affirmed.
Thus "lordship salvation" is neither modern nor heretical but is the very heart of historic Chris tian soteriology. To label it as false teaching is foolhardy and thoughtless at best. To teach anything else is to withdraw from the mainstream of church teaching through the ages.
48. A. W. Tozer, I Call It Heresy! (Harrisburg, Pa.: Chris tian Publications, 1974), 18 – 19.
Appendix 3
Answers to Common Questions
ithin days after this book's initial publication, I began to receive mail from readers. In the first few weeks alone I answered more letters about this book than I had ever received on any other subject.
The mail kept coming. My staff and I continue to respond individually to all readers' comments and questions. Here are some responses that represent the issues most commonly raised:
If your view of salvation is correct, how can we lead people to Christ and off er them immediate assurance? You seem to be saying people need to seek assurance in their works.
First of all, I do not believe it is the task of the evangelist to "offer assurance." That is the Holy Spirit's work: "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom. 8:16).
Having said that, however, I do believe there is an immediate aspect to assurance, grounded in the promises of the gospel. How did the thief on the cross know he was saved? He had the Lord's own promise. We find many promises in Scripture that assure believers of their eternal destiny (e.g., John 3:16; 1 John 5:1). Those promises offer objective assurance to genuine believers. Even a brand-new believer can look to such promises and find a measure of assurance.
Other Scripture passages speak of subjective means of assurance. For example, 1 John 2:3 says, "By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments." This aspect of assurance grows and deepens as one walks consistently with the Lord. And Chris tians who persist in sin for a time forfeit this aspect of assurance for as long as they are grieving the Holy Spirit.
Both the objective and subjective means of assurance are spoken of in Romans 15:4: "Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance [subjective] and the encouragement of the Scriptures [objective] we might have hope."
Also it is important to understand what Scripture is teaching about subjective assurance. It is not that we seek assurance in our works, but that we gain assurance from sensing the Spirit's work in us. Again, it is the Holy Spirit who bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
Answers to Common Questions
We do not gain assurance by convincing our intellect that we are saved. True assurance is not an academic issue. There are no formulas that can bring it about. It is an important part of the lifelong growth process of the Chris tian life. For more detail, see my book Saved without a Doubt (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor, 1992).
You acknowledge that believers can and do sin for extended periods of time. How can such people know whether their sin is a temporary failure or proof that they are unsaved?
Obviously, even in Scripture we see that believers sometimes sinned grievously and over long periods of time. David is one example (2 Sam. 11 – 12; Ps. 51); Lot is another (2 Peter 2:7 – 9). Chris tians who sin in such a fashion should not expect to enjoy assurance, however. Of course, true believers do not lose their salvation when they sin (cf. Rom. 8:35 – 39), but even David testified that he had forfeited the joy of salvation (Ps. 51:12).
When believers sin, they dishonor Christ (1 Cor. 6:15 – 17). They grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30). They subject themselves to the discipline of a loving Father (Heb. 12:5 – 7). If they can continue in sin without experiencing divine discipline, something is terribly wrong: "If you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons" (v. 8).
Moreover, our Lord established a process for dealing with sin among believers:
If your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confi rmed. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer. Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst. (Matt. 18:15 – 20)
Notice that the discipline process Jesus outlined is specifically intended to answer the question of whether a person in sin is a true brother or an outsider. "If he listens to you [if he repents], you have won your brother" (v. 15). But ultimately, "if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer" (v. 17) — that is, regard him as an unbeliever and pursue
Appendix 3
him evangelistically. The Lord goes on to state that He personally mediates His rule on earth through this process (v. 20).
No one who persists in willful, deliberate sin and rebellion against the Lord should be encouraged with any promise of assurance. If you know someone like that who professes faith in Christ, follow the process of Matthew 18 and call that person to repentance. But do not encourage him or her with the promise of security. Such a person may be clinging to a false hope.
I love Christ, but I struggle constantly with sin in my life. Should I doubt my salvation?
No. The perpetual struggle with sin was even Paul's experience (Rom. 7:7 – 25). All of us struggle continually with sinful thoughts, sinful attitudes, sinful habits, and sinful desires. It is those who do not struggle — those who deliberately and eagerly revel in their sin — who need to have their false sense of security shaken.
If all Chris tians have already yielded to Christ's lordship, why did Paul write Romans 12:1 – 2, commanding believers to make a oncefor-all surrender?
Here is what Paul wrote:
I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifi ce, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual ser vice of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Those words in no way imply that the Romans had not yet submitted to Christ. The phrase "present your bodies" is an aorist-tense verb in the Greek text, and some have tried to argue that it speaks of a first-time, once-for-all surrender. That is an overly simplistic understanding of the aorist tense. It is more accurate to understand the sense of Paul's command as calling for decisive, deliberate, but continuous surrender. Romans 6:17 – 18 proves that Paul knew these believers had "obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered [to them]. Being then made free from sin, [they] became the servants of righ teous ness" (KJV). Obviously he was not now calling them to yield to Christ for the first time.
No one would argue that the command in verse 2 to "be transformed" negates the truth that these people were already transformed — new creations in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Similarly, in Ephesians 3:17, Paul prayed for the Ephesians that Christ would dwell in their hearts by faith. He was not implying that Christ did not yet dwell in their hearts by faith.
Answers to Common Questions
The simple teaching of Scripture is that faith, surrender, and the transformed life are not one-time events that never occur again. Believers are exhorted to have faith, surrender, and obey continuously. That does not mean they have never done those things before. In this life we can never have too many encouraging reminders to apply God's Word more diligently. God Himself uses such commands as means to assure our perseverance.
Why do you use language like "forsake everything," "death to self," and "unconditional surrender"? Th e absoluteness of those demands is intimidating. Aren't you afraid you'll turn people away from Christ?
Actually, it was Jesus Himself who said, "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33 KJV). And He said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23).
He also preached, "If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off . . . and if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off . . . and if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell" (Mark 9:43 – 47). And "I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. . . . He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me" (Matt. 10:35, 38). And "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26).
It was Jesus, after all, who first stated, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62).
We could go on and on quoting from Jesus' hard sayings, which He often preached to unbelieving multitudes but never offset with any qualification. Clearly He was insisting on wholehearted commitment. He did not soften His demands with words that would accommodate the halfhearted.
Our Lord was certainly not fearful that people would be turned away by such hard demands. He said, "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me" (John 6:37). Likewise, I am confident that those being drawn by the Father and convicted by the Holy Spirit will not be turned away by the straightforward truth of His Word.
You acknowledge that no one can obey perfectly. Doesn't that dampen the force of the demand for absolute surrender?
No one in the Old Testament obeyed Moses' law perfectly, either, but that did not diminish the standard of perfection established by the law.
The whole point is that the gospel calls for a response to Christ that is humanly impossible. To reduce the demands of the gospel so that anyone
Appendix 3
can respond with a nod of the head or a raising of the hand is the essence of easy-believism.
"Then who can be saved?" (Matt. 19:25). That is the right question to ask. "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (v. 26). Conversion to Christ is a supernatural, divinely wrought miracle. The response of faith is born in the believer's heart through the gracious quickening work of God. That does not occur until we acknowledge (1) that He has a right to demand whatever He wishes from us, and (2) that our inability to respond with absolute obedience is only because of our own sinful wretchedness.
Where in the Bible is it taught that all believers will be spiritually fruitful? Does this mean there is no room for failure in the Chris tian life?
Of course we all experience some degree of failure, but ultimate failure — returning permanently to unbelief and wanton sin — is not possible for true Chris tians. Romans 8:29 – 30 guarantees that every believer will be ultimately conformed to the image of Christ. The Spirit of God indwells each believer (Rom. 8:9). We have been made completely new (2 Cor. 5:17). And we are being transformed into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). Each of those truths guarantees that we cannot experience ultimate failure.
The inevitability of fruit-bearing is repeatedly emphasized in Scripture. The basic principle of creation, stated in Genesis 1:11, is that everything bears fruit of its own kind. Here are just a few verses that expressly underscore this truth:
Proverbs 12:12 — "Th e wicked desires the booty of evil men, but the root of the righ teous yields fruit."
Jeremiah 17:7 – 8 — "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit."
Matthew 3:10 — "Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fi re."
Matthew 7:17 – 19 — "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fi re."
Matthew 12:33 — "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit."
Answers to Common Questions
Matthew 13:23 — "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."
Luke 6:43 – 44 — "For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit; nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather fi gs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush."
John 15:5 — "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing."
Romans 7:4 — "Th erefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God."
One reader cited the thief on the cross as an exception to this rule. But that thief bore more fruit in a few minutes than many churchgoers bear in an entire lifetime. His repentance was manifested by a striking change in behavior. He did count the cost; he acknowledged that his cross was just and deserved. And he did bow to Christ's lordship; "Lord" is how he addressed the Savior. That dying thief was no example of inactive, fruitless faith.
You seem to blame dispensationalism for the defi ciencies of modern evangelicalism. Are you abandoning dispensationalism?
No. Dispensationalism itself is not to blame for easy-believism or antinomianism. Dispensationalism, reduced to its barest form, is simply the belief that God still has a future program for national Israel and that the promises of the Old Testament covenants are yet to be fulfilled literally.
Many fine dispensationalists of the past, including H. A. Ironside, Donald G. Barnhouse, and my mentor, Dr. Charles Feinberg, opposed trends of easybelievism in the movement. Unfortunately, fewer dispensationalists today are willing to speak out on these issues.
Legitimate dispensationalist distinctives have nothing to do with easybelievism. Nothing necessary to dispensationalism logically mandates the cheap-grace approach to the gospel; these teachings are a misapplication of dispensationalist teaching. I have tried to affirm what is right with dispensationalism while identifying some problems that the dispensationalist movement has unfortunately opened its doors to. But I have no intention of abandoning the dispensationalist distinctives that I am convinced are biblical.