5. Charles C. Ryrie, Balancing the Christian Life (Chicago: Moody, 1969), 170.
The Gospel According to Jesus
must be on guard lest we embrace a message so profoundly altered that it bears no resemblance to the biblical message.
And I am aware that "lordship salvation" has already been labeled by some of its opponents as "another gospel."5 With that in mind, I have not undertaken this study lightly.
But after years of grappling with the issues and seeing the confusion that surrounds the gospel, I cannot keep silent. The doctrine of salvation is basic to all we teach. We cannot confidently point people to the way of life unless we get the gospel right.
My prayer is that this study will not be just another voice in an already confused dialogue. I want it to be a genuine step for all of us toward a clear and precise understanding of the eternal gospel (cf. Rev. 14:6). I for one want to understand in its fullness the gospel Jesus taught, so that I might be a more faithful and effective communicator of the way of life (cf. Acts 5:20).
5. Charles C. Ryrie, Balancing the Chris tian Life (Chicago: Moody, 1969), 170.
Part 1
Today's Gospel: Good News
or Bad?
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What Does Jesus Mean When He
Says, "Follow Me"?
esus is Lord (1 Cor. 12:3). That is the single, central, foundational, and distinguishing article of Christian ity. It is also the first essential confession of faith every true Chris tian must make: "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved" (Rom. 10:9). The belief that someone could be a true Chris tian while that person's whole lifestyle, value system, speech, and attitude are marked by a stubborn refusal to surrender to Christ as Lord is a notion that shouldn't even need to be refuted. It is an idea you will never find in any credible volume of Chris tian doctrine or devotion from the time of the earliest church fathers through the era of the Protestant Reformation and for at least three and a half centuries beyond that. The now-pervasive influence of the no-lordship doctrine among evangelicals reflects the shallowness and spiritual poverty of the contemporary evangelical movement. It is also doubtless one of the main causes for evangelicalism's impoverishment. You cannot remove the lordship of Christ from the gospel message without undermining faith at its core. That is precisely what is happening in the church today.
Jesus' teaching and ministry always kept the issue of His lordship at the center. As we survey His earthly life and ministry in this book, you will see the pattern quite clearly. He never once shied away from declaring His authority as sovereign Master. He proclaimed it to disciples, to enemies, and to casual inquirers alike — refusing to tone down the implications of His demand for unconditional surrender. So the true gospel according to Jesus is a message that cannot be divorced from the reality of His lordship. When Jesus called people to follow Him, He was not seeking companions to be His sidekicks or admirers whom He could entertain with miracles. He was calling people to yield completely and unreservedly to His lordship.
A Word about Words
The expression most often translated "Lord" in the English New Testament is the Greek word kurios. It speaks of someone who has power, ownership, and