30.Ultradispensationalists take Chafer's methodology one step further.
13.In addition, all the professors of the Master's Seminary are dispensationalists. None of us supports any of the positions antinomians that Doctor Gerstner claims are common among the dispensationalists.
14.Scofield, The Scofield Reference Bible, 1003.
15.Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, 8 vols. (Dallas: Seminary Press, 1948), 7:219 (emphasis added).
16.There.
17.Lewis Sperry Chafer, Grace (Wheaton, IL: Van Kampen, 1922), 344.
18.There.
19.Ibid., 124 (emphasis added).
20.Galatians 3 also clarifies that it was never God's intention for the justice would come through the law nor that salvation could be earned by means of obedience (see especially vv. 7, 11). The law acted as a tutor to bring people to Christ (v. 24), for that reason even in the Old In the Testament, people were saved through faith, not because of the obedience to the law (cf. Romans 3:19, 20).
21.Lewis Sperry Chafer, "Dispensational Distinctions Denounced" Sacred Library (July 1944), 259.
22.Chafer, Systematic Theology, III:1199.
23.Ibid., III:1213.
24.Ibid., III:1216.
25.Ibid., III:1214.
26.Ibid., IV:229.
27.Ibíd., IV:210.
28.Ibíd., IV:189.
29. Ibid., IV:228-229.
30.Ultradispensationalists take Chafer's methodology one step further.
go ahead. Upon observing that the apostle Paul said that the church was a mystery that "in other generations was not made known... to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy Apostles and prophets by the "Spirit" (Eph. 3:5), they conclude that the era of the church did not begin until this point in the ministry of Paul, so they abrogate the entire New Testament excepting the letters of Paul from prison.
Appendix 3
VOICES OF THE PAST
Zane Hodges claims that lordship salvation is pushing the church. back to the Middle Ages. He makes this plea:
It could even be said that salvation through lordship casts a veil of darkness. about the entire revelation of the New Testament and in doing so the wonderful truth from justification by faith, apart from works, retreats into the shadows, something similar to what those who darkened the days before the Reform. What replaces this doctrine is a certain type of synthesis of faith-works that it only differs insignificantly from Roman Catholic doctrine (CL).
In another part, Hodges writes: "Let's put it clearly: salvation by the Lordship holds a doctrine of saving faith that is in conflict with the from Luther and Calvin, and what is more important, with the Word of God (CL, emphasis on the original).
The masters of the denial of lordship often claim to be the heirs of the Reform and many, echoing the repeated accusation that salvation through lordship is "paving the way back to Rome," they mention selected quotes from the great reformers about the themes of faith and security to then make the illogical suggestion that the the theology of the denial of lordship is "comfortably aligned with Calvin, Luther and many of his successors . 1 It is extremely difficult to understand how someone familiar with the literature of the Reformation could make such a statement. The writings of Luther and Calvin are full of material that explicitly argues against many of the same errors as the theology of denial of he has adopted lordship. Nowhere in his writings do we find support. for the idea that a justified person can remain without sanctification. That is a matter on which the reformers had much What to say. Why don't we let them speak for themselves?
What Luther says about justification by faith
The discovery of Martín Lutero of the biblical truth about the justificación por la fe dio inicio a la Reforma. Fíjate en la manera en que Luther combats the notion that true faith can coexist with a permanent pattern of living in sin:
The true faith we speak of cannot be manufactured by our our own thoughts, because it is only a work of God in us, without no assistance on our part. As Paul says to the Romans, it is a gift and a grace from God, obtained by a man, Christ. So faith is something very powerful, active, dynamic, effective, that renews a person all at once and the regenerate, it directs you to a new lifestyle and a new character for may it be impossible not to do good continuously.
Because just as it is natural for a tree to bear fruit, it is equally so that the it produces good works. And just as it is unnecessary to order the tree to Produce fruit, likewise there is no order given to the believers as it says Pablo [1 Thess. 4:9], nor is an exhortation necessary for them to do good, because they will do it for themselves, freely and without limitations (just as for themselves they sleep, eat, drink, get dressed, listen, talk, go and . They are coming.
Whoever does not have this faith speaks, albeit vainly, about faith and works and does not he allows himself to know what he says or where he is heading because he has not received. They turn their lies around and apply the Scriptures that speak of faith and the works to their own dreams and false thoughts (which is pure work human), while the Scriptures attribute both faith and good works not to us but only to God.
Aren't these people perverted and blind? They teach that we cannot do a good work by ourselves and then in their presumption they start to act and they attribute the most important of all of God's works, faith, to produce it themselves mismos a partir de sus propios pensamientos perversos. Es por eso que he dicho what we should stop expecting from ourselves and pray to God for faith just like The apostles did in Luke 17:5. When we have faith, we need nothing. more because this brings with it the Holy Spirit, which then not only us teaches us all things, but also firmly establishes us in it and us lead through death and hell to heaven.
Pay attention now that we have given these answers that the Scriptures they contain these passages referring to the works concerning these dreamers and his faith is invented: man cannot become good through his works, but rather one must check and see the difference between false faith and true faith, because where faith is correct, it produces good, but if it does not do good then it will be certainly a dream and a false idea. Therefore, just as the fruit on the tree does not
makes the tree good, but nevertheless it shows externally and testifies that the tree is good, as Christ said: 'By their fruits you will know them.' So we must also learn to know faith by its fruits.
Thanks to this, you will see that there is a big difference between being good and being known as good, or well between becoming good and demonstrating and showing that If it is good: faith does good, but works show that faith and goodness are. correct. Thus, the Scriptures speak directly, as prevails among the ordinary people, just like when a father tells his son: 'Go and be merciful, good and friendly with this or that person." He does not command him to be merciful, good and friendly, but since he is already good and merciful, he requires that he should also show it and test it externally towards the poor with his action, so that the goodness he has in himself is also known to others and benefits them utility.
We should explain all the passages of the Scriptures referring to works. that God wishes therefore to let the goodness received in faith be expressed and be demonstrate, and become a benefit for others) so that false faith may arrive to be exposed and uprooted from the heart. God does not grant His grace to anyone to that it remains inactive and produces nothing good, but so that it produces results, and by being publicly known and externally tested, attract to all towards God, as Christ says: "Let your light shine before others men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven the heavens" (Matt. 5:16). If it were not so, it would only be a buried treasure and a light hidden. But what benefit is there in them? Yes, goodness then not only become known by others, but we ourselves ensure that be honest, as Peter says: 'Therefore, brothers, make every effort even more' "Make your calling and election sure" (2 Pet. 1:10). Where works do not they manifest, a man cannot know if his faith is the right one; yes, it could be sure that your faith is a dream and that it is not as correct as it should be. That's how it was how Abraham came to have certainty of his faith and his fear of God, when he offered to his son. As God told Abraham through the angel: 'Now I know that You fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only one." (Gen. 22:12)
Then remain in the truth: man is justified internally. only by faith without works in spirit before God, but is justified by works externally and publicly in front of men and of himself, being thus a honest and pious believer of heart. That which you could call public or external justification is merely the fruit, the result, and the proof of the justification in the heart, because man does not become just before God, but it must be just before him first. Thus, they can call fruit of the tree to the public good or external of it, which is only the result and the test of its internal and natural goodness.
That is what Santiago refers to when he says in his epistle: "Faith without works is dead." "dead" (2:26). That is to say, if the works do not manifest, it is a sure sign that there is no faith there, but an empty thought and a dream that is falsely called
fa... To the extent that works naturally follow faith, as I have said, not it is necessary to organize them, so that we learn to distinguish between false faith and the true . 2
What Calvin says about the nature of faith
John Calvin vigorously defended himself against those who "sought" make "hateful" the doctrine of justification by faith saying that those who [condemned] the good works... and that [they turned away] men of the same He wrote: "we [admit] that faith and good works 3
they are necessarily interconnected and go hand in hand . Calvino debated with a 4 Catholic cardinal on this same topic:
So if you want to understand how faith and good works are things inseparable, look at Christ... where there is no desire for holiness and innocence, neither Christ nor his Spirit can be. And where Christ is not, There is neither justice nor even faith, which cannot take Christ as justice. without the Spirit of sanctification . 5
Calvin attacked the definition of faith from the scholastic movement of the Church. Roman Catholic, therefore, according to the scholastics, there exists a type of 'faith' that does not it has a transformative effect on the feelings or behavior of those who 'believe' and that exists in people who have no desires for holiness nor either amor por Dios. Calvino se sintió claramente ofendido por esta explicación y he wrote the following diatribe against this error:
First of all, we must refute the vain distinction so common in schools of theology, according to which there are two kinds of faith, one formed and the other unformed. Because they imagine that those who are not moved by any fear of God, nor they have any feeling of pity, yet they do not cease to believe everything that is necessary to achieve salvation. As if the Holy Spirit, by illuminating our heart so that it believes, would not bear witness to our adoption! Without embargo they, against the authority of all Scripture, very proudly give the name of faith to this empty persuasion of all fear of God. There is no reason to dispute more about its definition of faith; it is enough just to define it as it is presented in the Word of God. This will clearly show how They grunt more than they speak when it comes to faith.
I have already addressed part of it; I will present the rest at the appropriate time. For now, I only affirm that one cannot imagine a greater nonsense than this delirium of theirs. they intend for it to be accepted as faith a consent by which it is admitted as
truth how much is contained in the Scripture without paying any attention to God. Now, first of all, it should be considered whether each one achieves faith by their own effort and diligence, or if it is the Holy Spirit that bears witness to us our adoption. And so they do nothing but babble like children, when they ask whether the faith informed by charity that is added is one and the same faith or a different one. be different and new. It seems here that they, by speaking this way, have never properly considered the singular gift of the Holy Spirit, by which faith us it is inspired. Because the principle of believing already contains within it the reconciliation with the way in which man approaches God. If they considered well what St. Paul: 'With the heart one believes for righteousness' (Rom. 10:10), they would stop fantasizing with that vain quality that, according to them, makes up faith. Even if we did not have otras razones, sería suficiente para poner fin a esta distinción, saber que el the assent we give to God lies in the heart more than in the brain; more in the affection that is in understanding. Such assent cannot be given without good affective disposition; at least as the Scripture shows it.
But there is still another clearer argument. However, faith comes to Jesus Christ, as presented to us by the Father, and he is not presented to us solely for justice, remission of sins and reconciliation, but also for sanctification and source of living water, no one will ever be able to know it and believe in it as it should, without achieving at the same time the sanctification of the Spirit. Or, of a clearer way: the second in the knowledge of Christ, and Christ cannot be known without the sanctification of his Spirit; therefore it follows that none One can separate faith from good emotional disposition...
Although we concede, for the sake of teaching, that there are many kinds of faith. when we want to demonstrate the knowledge that the wicked have of God, not we recognize and admit with Scripture a single faith for the children of God.
It is said of Simon Magus that he believed, although he soon let his true colors show. incredulity (Acts 8:13,18). The testimony given to us of his faith does not we understand, like some, in the sense that he just pretended to believe in word, without having any faith in his heart; rather, we affirm that Simon, moved by the majesty of the Gospel, to a certain extent he gave it credit, and from in such a way he recognized Christ as the author of life and salvation, that he voluntarily accepted it as such.
It is also said in the Gospel of Saint Luke that for some time they believed. those in which the seed of the Word was choked before it reached to bear fruit, or else, that it dried up and rotted before it had taken root (Luke. 8:7, 13,14). We do not doubt that these, moved by a certain taste for the Word, the they desired, and felt its divine virtue; in such a way that they not only deceive others with their hypocrisy, but also to their own hearts. Because they are convinced that the reverence they give to the Word of God is equal to the piety, for they believe that the only impiety consists in vilifying or belittling openly the Word.
Well, this reception of the Gospel, whatever it may be, does not penetrate until the the heart does not remain fixed on it. And although at times it may seem that it has thrown roots, however they are not living roots. Does the heart of man have so many nooks of vanity, so many hiding places of lies, it is covered with such vanity hypocrisy, that many times deceives oneself. Understand, therefore, the who boast of such appearances and simulacra of faith, who regarding this do not they have no advantage over the devil (James 2:19) ... However, it should be noted to the faithful who examine themselves diligently and humbly so that, instead of from the certainty they must possess, may no feeling of carnal security.
The reprobates only have a confused and temporary feeling of grace. There is besides another thing, and that is that the reprobates never experience more than a confusing feeling of God's grace, so that they rather perceive the shadow that the body or substance of the thing. Because the Holy Spirit does not seal more properly than in the chosen ones, the remission of sins, in order that they have a particular certainty and take advantage of it. However, it can be to say with all reason that the reprobates believe that God is favorably disposed towards them, because they they accept the gift of reconciliation, although in a confused manner and without a proper resolution. Not that they share the same faith and regeneration as the children of God, but under the cloak of hypocrisy it seems they have the same principle. of faith that they. I do not deny that God enlightens their understanding to the point of to make them aware of grace; however, it distinguishes this feeling that it gives them from testimony that imprints on the hearts of the faithful, in such a way that those they never get to enjoy the firmness and true effectiveness that these enjoy. fact is not shown for this reason favorable to the reprobates, as if they had been freed. from death taking them under his protection, but only shows them to the he presents his mercy. But only to the chosen does he grant the grace of
to plant the living faith in their heart so that they may persevere until the end . 6
The Puritans and the theology of the Reformation
Zane Hodges believes that the English reformers altered and corrupted the doctrine of justification by faith, according to him, by expanding the definition of faith of the early reformers. To the teaching of the Puritans about faith and the security calls it "a tragic stain in the history of the Christian church" and says that it is the basis of 'salvation through lordship': 'In the world of English speaks, this radically altered concept of the saving faith can can be described with some justice as Puritan theology. Salvation by the lordship, in its more commonly known contemporary form, simply popularizes the puritanism from which it is an heir
In a note regarding this point, Hodges notes that a list of quotes that I included in The Gospel According to Jesus Christ as an appendix supports strongly in Puritan sources and reiterates his accusation that 'the theology Puritan, especially in the area of faith and security, does not reflect in absolute the doctrine of Calvin himself, in addition to constituting a marked alejamiento del pensamiento de la Reforma" (CL).
But as I have suggested before (see chapter 10, note 6), Hodges is exaggerating the difference between Calvin and the Puritans. No group of theologians defended justification by faith more intensely than the English reformers and, as the quotes I have already presented show, no one was more convinced of the works of authentic faith than Luther and Calvino.
Although Luther, Calvin, and the Puritans might have expressed differences in the way of describing faith and obtaining security, everyone agreed that it is inevitable for sanctification to happen to continuation of the justification. None of them would have tolerated the the concept that true believers will not persevere in justice or of that authentic faith may fall into inactivity or permanent disbelief. Regarding this, the defenders of the theology of denial of lordship modern ones are quite deceived.
What J. C. Ryle says about justification and sanctification
Bishop J. C. Ryle, although he lived in the 19th century, was an English clergyman of Puritan tradition. In his time he recognized all the emerging trends that Upon our arrival, they have led to the theology of denial of the lordship, to which he responded with his emblematic work The Holiness (1879). Today, it continues to be an effective response to the error of denial of lordship and, in several ways, it is the definitive work on this subject.
Ryle, in harmony with all Puritan and Reformed theology, despised the the concept that justification and sanctification could be separated, or of that sanctification could be optional in the believer's experience true. I considered justification and sanctification as different but inseparable. He wrote:
What are the similarities between justification and sanctification?
a. Both come equally from the free grace of God: believers are justified or sanctified exclusively as a gift of yours.
b. Both are part of the great work of salvation that Christ carried out by his people by virtue of the eternal covenant: Christ is the source of life, from which flows the forgiveness and holiness; Christ is the root of it all.
Both are found in the same people: those who have been justified are always sanctified and in reverse. God has united them and it is impossible to separate them.
Both start simultaneously: at the moment someone begins. to be a justified person also begins to be a sanctified person. Perhaps I don't feel it this way, but it is a fact.
Both are equally necessary for salvation: there has never been anyone who he will reach Heaven without a renewed heart —in addition to having received forgiveness—, without the grace of the Spirit —in addition to the blood of Christ—, without a conformity with eternal glory, in addition to the accreditation for it. One is so necessary. like the other.
These are the points at which justification and sanctification coincide. Now let's reverse the direction and see how they differ.
a. Justification is the act of considering a person just by virtue of another; this is, of Lord Jesus Christ. Sanctification is the act of converting a person in just internally, even if only to a very slight degree.
b. The justice we obtain through our justification does not belong to us, but rather it is the perfect and eternal justice of Christ our Mediator, which is imputed to us and the one we appropriate through faith. The justice we obtain through the sanctification belongs to us: imparted and worked in us by the Holy Spirit but interspersed with a strong dose of weakness and imperfection.
c. In justification, our works have no place, and the only thing necessary it is pure faith in Christ. In sanctification, our works are immense importance, and God asks us to fight, watch, and pray, that we let's strive and work for her.
d. The justification is a complete and finished work, and the person remains fully justified at the moment one believes. Sanctification is, in terms comparatives, an imperfect work that will never reach perfection until let's reach Heaven.
e. Justification leaves no room for growth: a person is so justified at the moment she first comes to Christ by faith as it will last for all eternity. Sanctification is an eminently work progressive and leaves room for continuous growth as long as the person lives.
The justification especially refers to our people, our position in the eyes of God, and our liberation from guilt. Sanctification makes special reference to our natures and to the moral renewal of our hearts.
g. Justification grants us access to Heaven, and provides us with the courage to to enter into it. Sanctification prepares us for Heaven and to enjoy this when we reach it.
h. Justification is God's act with respect to us, and it is difficult. for others to discern it. Sanctification is the work of God in us, and it is it is impossible to hide it from the eyes of men in its external manifestation.
I present these distinctions for the consideration of all my readers, and I ask them that they weigh them carefully. I am convinced that one of the great causes of the twilight and the discomfort that many people feel well-intentioned in religious matters is their habit of confusing and not differentiate justification and sanctification. It can never be emphasized enough. it is about two different things. It is clear that they are inseparable, and everyone who participates in one of them must participate by force of the other; but never, never, we must confuse them, and we must never forget the distinction between them . 7
What Charles Spurgeon says about holiness
Charles Spurgeon was an English Baptist in the Puritan tradition. No one he preached more powerfully than him against the concept of "receiving Christ" like Savior" and at the same time despise his lordship. "Truly I tell you, They cannot have Christ as their Savior unless they also receive Him. "as Sir," said Spurgeon Pages of material from the could be cited. 8 Spurgeon's preaching to unmask the teaching of denial lordship.
Spurgeon joins the Puritans and the reformers regarding the concept that practical sanctification is an essential evidence of justification. Preaching about Matthew 22:11-14, Spurgeon said:
Holiness is always present in the faithful guests of the great King, because 'without holiness no one will see the Lord." Too many professing individuals console themselves with the idea of They possess the accused justice, although they remain indifferent to the work. sanctifying of the Spirit. They refuse to wear the garment of obedience and reject the white linen which is the righteousness of the saints, by which they reveal their will own, their enmity against God and their lack of submission before His Son. Such men can say what they want regarding justification by faith and the salvation by grace, but in their hearts they are rebels, they do not wear the wedding dress much more than the boastful ones that so intensely they condemn. The fact is that if we long for the blessings of grace, we must
let's commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the rules of this without so many reservations . 9
In another context, Spurgeon said:
Christ did not come so that they can continue in sin and escape from his punishment; he did not come to to prevent the disease from being fatal but to eliminate it completely. Many people think that when we preach salvation we are referring to saving ourselves from go to hell. We are not referring [only] to that, but to much more: we preach the salvation from sin; we say that Christ can save man, and with that we we refer to the ability to save him from sin and make him holy, to make him a new person. No one has the right to say "I am saved" if they continue in the sin as before. How can you be saved from sin if you still live in it? The a man who is drowning cannot say that he has been saved from the water while it keeps sinking into it; the one who suffers in the cold of winter cannot to say that one has been saved from the cold while still freezing in the icy wind. No, men, Christ did not come to save you from your sins, but to save you for his. sins; He did not come to treat their illness so that it would not kill them, but to to allow it to remain a deadly disease and yet distance it from you and you from her. Christ Jesus came to heal us from the plague of sin, to to touch us with his hand and say "I want, be clean" . 10
Spurgeon attacked an emerging variety of the doctrine of denial of lordship in a sermon from 1872:
There are some who wish to receive Christ as Savior, but do not want to. accept as Lord. They will not communicate their intentions so clearly, but like actions are more eloquent than words, that's what their behavior is practically speaking. How sad it is that some talk about their faith in Christ, but that this is not demonstrated in their works! Some even speak as if they would understand what we mean when we talk about the covenant of grace, but Unfortunately, there is no good evidence of grace in their lives. if you have very evident proofs of sin (and not of grace) in abundance. No I can conceive that it is possible for no one to receive Christ as their Savior but I do not eat, Lord. One of the first instincts of the redeemed soul is to fall at the feet from the Savior and cry out with gratitude and worship: "Blessed Master, you bought me with your precious blood, now I am yours; only yours, completely yours, yours forever. Lord, what do you want me to do?" The man who is truly saved by grace does not need to be told that he is under the solemn obligation to serve Christ because the new life within him tells him so. Instead of to consider it a burden, he willingly and joyfully submits, body, soul and spirit, to the Lord who has redeemed it, for he considers this to be his service reasonable. As far as I am concerned, I can honestly say that the moment in when I knew that Christ was my Savior, I was ready to tell him:
I am yours, only yours,
I fulfill my duty with pride, And in all my ways and my works Only your praise will I see now. Help me confess your name, To bear your cross and shame for mankind. Following you will be my only desire, Even if I only receive reproaches and no comfort.
It is not possible for us to accept Christ as our Savior unless he also becomes our King, because a large part of salvation consists of that we may be saved from the dominion of sin, and the only way we can to be delivered from the authority of Satan is to submit to the lordship of Christ... If Was it possible for sin to be forgiven and for the sinner to continue living such? like before, it wouldn't really be saved . 11
American evangelicalism and the theology of the denial of dominion
In chapter 2, I declared my conviction that the contemporary movement The denial of lordship is a phenomenon that takes place mainly in the United States, but I would also add that the theology of denial of Lordship represents a radical deviation from convictions. fundamentalists and historical evangelicals of that country (the convictions North American Protestants that have their roots, of course, in the English Puritan movement). Both the great awakenings of the centuries XVIII and XIX as the Methodist movement and the rise of revival to the beginnings of the 20th century had in common that the lordship of Christ was present in the heart of the gospel they proclaimed. Jonathan Edwards, perhaps the the greatest theological authority of all time in the United States wrote:
Regarding the question of whether recognizing Christ in his royal office is the essence of the justifying faith, I will say that accepting it as such is, without a doubt, the appropriate condition to have an interest in this, as well as in the salvation that he grants in the exercise of this office; regarding the reception of the forgiveness of sins, it is the condition adequate for the forgiveness of sins. Christ, in his royal office, grants salvation and, therefore, accept it as such, with the willingness to leave everything and endure everything for the duty towards Christ, besides giving Him the respect and honor that He deserves, it is the condition for salvation, as is evident in Hebrews 5:9: 'And '
having been perfected, He became the Author of eternal salvation for all who obey Him that obey them . 12
Of course, the strong Reformed tradition of Princeton Theological Seminary, in the one that educated Charles Hodge, B. B. Warfield, and J. Gresham Machen, it presented a clear message about lordship. Hodge wrote:
The fact that good works are the necessary effect of faith is included in la doctrina de que somos santificados por la fe. Porque es imposible que haya inner holiness, love, spirituality, fraternal love, and zeal without a manifestation external of these thanks in all external life. Therefore, faith without works is dead. We are saved by faith. But salvation includes the liberation from sin. For this reason, if our faith does not free us from sin, it does not save us. Antinomianism it involves a logical contradiction . 13
Only one American evangelical line has accepted and propagated the the theology of the denial of lordship, and that is the branch of dispensationalism as described in Appendix 2.
What D. L. Moody says about repentance
D. L. Moody, evangelist and founder of the Moody Bible Institute, presented in his preaching a clear call to repentance:
There is a lot of confusion among people regarding what it really is. regret. If you ask anyone, they will tell you: "It's feeling sorry." If you If you ask a man if he regrets it, he will say: "Of course I do, normally I... I feel sorry for my sins.' That is not repentance, because it is about something more than feeling sorrowful. Regret consists of turning one's back on sin and leave it behind. On Sunday I wanted to talk about that verse from Isaiah that He should forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. It matters. If a man does not turn his back on his sins, he will not be accepted by God, and if justice does not produce a change (an abandonment of evil to entrust oneself to the well) it will not be true justice . 14
Moody declared:
We do not walk the same path as before we became. The man or the mujer que profesa ser cristiano y sigue por el camino antiguo no ha nacido de new. When we are born again, we do it on a new path, which is precisely Christ. We renounce our old way and take this one. The the old path leads to death and the new to everlasting life; Satan deceives us
guide on the old road, but in the new one who reigns over us is the Son of God. He guides us, but not to slavery or darkness, but along a path of
peace and joy . 15
What R. A. Torrey says about lordship
R. A. Torrey, the first president of the Moody Bible Institute, taught his students to lead people to Christ:
Show them Jesus as Lord.
It is not enough to know Jesus as Savior, we must also know Him as Sir. A suitable verse for this purpose is Acts 2:36:
Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that this Jesus whom you crucified, God has made both Lord and Christ.
When the person has read this verse, ask them what God did. of Jesus, and insists on it until he responds: 'He has made him Lord and Christ.' So tell him: "Are you willing to accept him as your divine Lord, whom Will you submit your heart and all your thoughts and actions?
Another suitable verse for this purpose is Rom. 10:9:
That if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
When the person has read the verse, ask them how we need to confess to Jesus. He should respond: 'As Lord'. If he does not respond in that way So, ask him other questions until he responds like that. Then ask him: Do you really believe that Jesus is the Lord, that he is the Lord of all, that he is "legitimately the Lord and Master of your life and person?" Perhaps it would be good use Acts 10:36 to shed some additional light on this point:
God has sent a message to the children of Israel, announcing the gospel of the peace through Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of all . 16
What James M. Gray says about salvation
James M. Gray, the second president of the Moody Bible Institute, wrote:
The design of the atonement is declared in the words: 'Having died for the... pecados, vivamos para la justicia",un doble designio, como vemos, pues la God's intention was not only punitive but also curative: He gave His Son not not only to take our blame but also to change our lives...
The moment we receive Christ by faith, we also receive the Spirit. Saint within us so that he may regenerate us and create within us a straight spirit so that we may be 'dead to our sins', not only in the judicial sense or that of the accusation... but also in the practical and experimental. That does not mean that sin is eradicated from our hearts and that it is no longer latent within us (1 John 1:8), but that its power About us is broken. We truly come to hate the sins that we used to love and to love the holiness that we used to abhor.
Christ died, not only so that we would be judicially dead and experimentally but for us to "live for justice" just like our the substitute and representative died and rose again...
Now Paul also tells us in the sixth chapter of Romans already mentioned that if we are united with Christ in the likeness of his death, we are also in the likeness of his resurrection and that if we die with him, we will also live with him.
It's not just about us going to live with him at some point in a physical state of glory of resurrection, but we live with him now in a state spiritual glory of resurrection. The death that he died, he died for sin once and for all, but as long as he lives, he lives for God. Even so, we not only we have to consider ourselves dead to sin, as we have already mentioned, but alive to God in Christ Jesus (6:11), alive now...
It is not that this is true solely in the sense of the accusation, but what (just like in the other half of this statement) is also so in a sense experimental. As we have just seen, the Holy Spirit that is in man regeneration not only enables him to abhor sin, but also to love the holiness and to follow it. No longer present your "members as instruments of the injustice and to iniquity for iniquity," but as "servants of justice for the "sanctity". He crucifies his flesh with its desires and passions. He not only separates himself from not only "anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, and filthy words from your mouth," but also, as chosen by God, he dresses in "compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, and above all these things, love, which is the bond perfect
It is thus that 'by His wounds we are healed,' perfectly healed. God, he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6). The man who receives Christ as his Savior and confesses him.
As a Lord, you do not need to fear if you 'will be able to endure' . 17
What W. H. Griffith Thomas says about submission
W. H. Griffith Thomas, co-founder of the Dallas Theological Seminary, wrote:
God says to man, 'Here I am,' and then man receives Him and replies.
saying 'Here I am' to God.
Those words imply submission. When the believer says to God 'Here I am' I am," is being made available to you. This heartfelt response is the natural result of the reception of God's revelation for the soul, a truth what we can see on each page of the New Testament. God comes to the soul, enters to the heart and to life, and then the man presents himself fully to God as belonging to them. "They no longer belong to each other, they were bought": that is the meaning. from the great word translated as 'present' in Romans 6:13, 19 and 12:1. In in this last passage the apostle bases his exhortation on "the mercies of God". in God's revelation saying 'Here I am' to man, and then urging him to his listeners to present their bodies as a sacrifice to God, speaks of the 'cult' rational The gospel does not reach the soul solely for personal enjoyment, but also to awaken in her a sense of her true life and of her wonderful possibilities. Consequently, when God tells the believer 'I am yours', the The believer responds, 'I am Yours' (Ps. 119:94), 'I am of the Lord' (Isa. 44:5). This it was a part of the redemptive work of our Lord, 'that he be Lord' and now We are the Lord's (Rom. 14:8, 9). This response of the heart must be given from the the first moment of acceptance of Christ in oneself: 'Christ is everything' for us from the beginning and we must be 'everything for him', that's why there shouldn't be no space, gap, or interval between the acceptance of Christ as Savior and our submission to Him as Lord. His full title is 'Jesus Christ our Mr. and its full meaning (though, of course, not in all its depth) aims to be fulfilled from our first experience with your presence and saving power...
This initial act of submission, however, is just the beginning of a life of submission, hence it should transform into an attitude, something that has been recognized by the true children of God in all eras as their "duty and inevitable service . 18
What H. A. Ironside says about security
Doctor H. A. Ironside, pastor of Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, he/she wrote:
Maybe someone might ask: "But doesn't God care about who I am?" Can I live in my sins and still be saved? No, I assure you, you cannot! But this leads us to another line of truth: as soon as a person believes in the gospel, born again and receives a new life and a new nature, a nature that abhors sin and loves holiness. If you have come to Christ and confident in him, don't you realize that this is true? Doesn't it happen to you that now you abhor and detest the evils that at some point had given you a certain
degree of pleasure? Do you not find within yourself a new yearning for goodness, a desire for holiness and a thirst for justice? All of this is evidence of a new nature and, as you walk with God, you will discover that the power of the Spirit Saint who lives in you will grant you every day the practical liberation from the dominion of sin . 19
Ironside wrote the following about 1 John 3:9:
Observe how the two families, the unregenerated and the regenerated, are represented here. Those who have not been saved practice sin and regardless of the good that may exist in their character (in the opinion of the world patterns) delight in doing things their way. This is the essence of sin: "Sin is unrestrained," which is a more correct translation of "The sin is the violation of the law" according to all scholars agree respectable. We are told that "before the law sin was in the world", and although sin was not charged as transgression because it had not yet been delivered a written pattern, it manifested, however, as a will of its own and recklessness that was seen everywhere among fallen humanity. The recklessness it is the person's refusal to submit their will to another, not even to God Himself, who has the right to demand their complete obedience. In this sense, the Children of the devil clearly show the family to which they belong.
However, with the believer, things are different, for when one entrusts to Christ is born from above, as we have seen, and therefore possesses a new nature, which abhors sin and dominates its desires and thoughts from that moment. Sin becomes detestable to him, who loathes himself himself for the craziness and evils of his past and longs for holiness. Energized through the Holy Spirit, transforms his lifestyle and practices justice. Although many times he is aware of his failures, the whole trend of his life is changed because the will of God is his joy and his delight. As he learns more and more the beauty of remaining in Christ grows in grace and knowledge and is realize that they have been granted a divine power to continue along the path of obedience. Its new nature delights in submitting to Jesus as Lord, so that sin ceases to be the characteristic of his life and character . 20
What A. W. Tozer says about following Christ
A. W. Tozer wrote extensively on the topic of lordship, as he began to see the dangers of the gospel of the denial of lordship nearly half century and sounded several warning alarms for the church. Here is some samples:
If we accept that the expression 'Accepting Christ' means an honest effort to
briefly say what could not be expressed well otherwise, let's take a look what it means, or what it should mean, when we use it. Accepting Christ is to join the Person of Lord Jesus in a way that is unique in experience human. This union, or adhesion, is intellectual, volitional, and emotional. The believer is intellectually convinced that Jesus is Lord and Christ; he has placed his will in following him at any cost, and soon his heart is enjoying the sweetness exquisite of her companionship.
This adherence is inclusive in that it joyfully accepts Christ in all that He It is and means. There is no difference between accepting Him as Savior today and postponing. accepting Him as Lord for tomorrow. The true believer possesses Christ as in Everything in Everything, without any reservation. He also surrenders to Christ in possession complete, leaving nothing of their person without the effect of this transaction revolutionary.
Moreover, this adherence to Christ excludes everything else. The Lord comes to be not not just one among several rival interests, but the only and exclusive attraction forever. The believer orbits around Christ, just like the earth. it circles around the sun, held by the irresistible force of its love, receiving all his life, and light and warmth from Him. In this happy state the believer possesses other interests too, of course, but these interests are derived from their new relationship with Christ.
That we accept Christ in this absolute way, both inclusive and exclusive, it is the divine imperative. At this point, faith leaps within God by through the Person and the work of Christ, but never divides the work from the Person. Never try to believe in the blood apart from Christ himself, or from his 'finished work' or his cross. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, all of the Lord Jesus without modifications or reservations, and thus receives and enjoys everything He has done in His work of redemption, everything He is doing now in the heavens for His own, and everything He does in and through them.
Accepting Christ is to know the meaning of the words 'As He is, so' "We are in the world" (1 John 4:17).
We accept your friends as our friends. Your enemies as ours. enemies. Their paths like our paths, Their reproach like our with a curse. His cross as our cross, His life as our life and His future as our future. If this is what we want to mean when we tell people that "accept Christ", we must explain it clearly. If we don't do it we can place them in deep spiritual problems . 21
Tozer wrote: "The Christian has been saved from his past sins. With those sins he has nothing more to do with. They are among the things that They must be forgotten, just as the night is forgotten when day arrives. . 22
This essay touches on several themes that Tozer emphasized again and again:
These days we are under the constant temptation to replace the Christ of the New Will by another, a substitution to which the entire current points. modern religion.
To avoid it, we must hold firmly to the concept of Christ that was presented so clearly and directly in the Word of truth. Even an angel from heaven will preach something less than the Christ of the Apostles, that is openly discarded and rejected without fear.
The revolutionary message of the early church was that the man called Jesus, who had been crucified, had now been raised from the dead and exalted at the right hand of God: 'Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that this very Jesus whom you crucified, God has made Lord and Christ...
Salvation does not come from 'accepting the complete work' or 'making a decision for' Christ," but it happens by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, the complete Lord, alive and victorious who, as God and man, fought our war and won, accepted our debt as if it were his own and paid it, took our sins and died for them, and He rose to free us. This is the true Christ, and nothing lesser will be enough.
However, there is something smaller between us and we would do well to identify it. end of being able to repudiate it. That something is a poetic fiction, a product of the romantic imagination and sentimental religion: it is a tender, dreamy Jesus, shy, sweet, almost effeminate and wonderfully adaptable to any society in which it finds itself; it is lulled by the unfortunate women in love, frequented by transient celebrities and recommended by psychiatrists as a model of a well-integrated personality; it is used as a means to almost any carnal end, but it is never recognized as Lord. These semichristians follow a semichrist, because they want his help but not his
interference. They will flatter you, but they will never obey you . 23
Tozer called the teaching of the denial of lordship 'the doctrine "discredited" that divides Christ. He described the teaching he opposed:
This leads to the fact that Christ is both Lord and Savior. A sinner can be saved by accepting him as Savior without surrendering to him as Lord. The practice of this doctrine is presented by the evangelists and the seekers accept a Christ divided...
Now, it seems strange that none of these teachers have noticed that he alone The object of truth that saves, faith, is none other than Christ himself, nor is it 'salvation'. not Christ's 'lordship', but Christ himself. God does not offer salvation for someone who believes in only one of the offices of Christ, nor any office of Christ it represents the object of faith. We do not encourage believing in the expiation, neither on the cross, nor in the priesthood of the Savior. All these embody the the person of Christ, but none is separated or isolated from the rest. Much less we allow accepting the Christ of one ministry and rejecting the Christ of another. The notions