HAB-071 and 072

HAB-071 and 072

The Boots and the Gospel:

Baptism and Lordship

The Boots

• “Also having put combat boots on your feet, with the equipment of the Gospel, specifically peace (reconciliation)” (expanded trans., Eph. 6:15).

• The equipment for full preparedness in witnessing is the knowledge of Bible doctrine pertinent to salvation, described here as "the gospel (good news) of peace.”

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The Boots and the Gospel

• But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost [Spirit] is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).

• Who is responsible for the declaration of the Gospel - the good news of Salvation - to the unbelieving World?

• Personal evangelism is the responsibility of EVERY believer in the Lord Jesus Christ!

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• His command is repeated in several of the epistles; thus the Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthians that they were to be ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20).

• An ambassador is a high-ranking minister of state, often a member of royalty or nobility, sent to another state to represent his sovereign or official business.

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• Like earthly ambassadors, we did not appoint ourselves but were appointed by Our Savior to represent Him on earth as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords while He is at the right hand of the Father.

• As the heavenly King's personal representatives on the earth, we are in full-time Christian service, regardless of our vocation or profession.

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• It is a well-known fact that you cannot communicate what you do not know!

• If your knowledge of the good news of salvation is fuzzy, so will be your presentation.

• As a result, the person to whom you witness will have no clear understanding of the Gospel or the issue in salvation.

• Often, there is too much zeal in witnessing and too little knowledge.

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• For example, zealous but ignorant Christians have a mistaken idea of what constitutes genuine conversion; usually, they want everyone to give up his sins and change his wicked ways.

• Yet salvation is entirely the work of God! Therefore, if you want to be effective in witnessing, it is imperative that you understand your subject.

• In order to tell others of God's Plan of salvation; you should at least know what that Plan is all about!

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• Furthermore, you should be cognizant of where your part in witnessing ends and that of the Holy Spirit begins; you should master the prerequisites for successful personal evangelism.

• What, then, is the minimal knowledge standard for effective witnessing?

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• 1. Witnessing is the responsibility of every believer.

• There are two areas in which you may witness - your life (2 Cor. 3:3; 6:3) and your lips (2 Cor. 5:14-21; 6:2).

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• 2. Witnessing involves knowledge of Bible doctrines pertinent to salvation, including:

• Christology, • Soteriology, • Reconciliation, • the Judgment of Human Good • and the Last Judgment.

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• 3. Clarity of witnessing demands your accurate understanding of the two deaths - spiritual and physical of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

• 4. The challenge of witnessing comes from the Doctrine of Unlimited Atonement (1 John 2:2). Christ died for all mankind!

• 5. The dynamics of witnessing are determined by your mental attitude and are related to your spiritual growth or maturity.

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• 6. The effectiveness of witnessing depends on the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

• 7. Confidence in witnessing comes from your own assurance of eternal security.

• 8. The reward of witnessing is a part of your blessings in time and in eternity. - Thieme

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The Gospel (Good News)

• "It is likewise asserted that salvation is through Christ alone, and that it is secured, on the human side, by faith alone uncomplicated by any works of merit." - L.S. Chafer

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• L.S. Chafer:• "Outside The Doctrines related to the Person and

work of Christ, there is no truth more far-reaching in its implications and no fact more to be defended than that salvation in all its limitless magnitude is secured, so far as human responsibility is concerned, by believing on Christ as Savior.

• To this one requirement no other obligation may be added without violence to the Scriptures and total disruption of the essential doctrine of salvation by grace alone.

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• The Gospel (Good News)• John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world,

that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him."

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The Boots

• Now THAT IS GOOD NEWS! Christ solved the sin problem on the Cross; and it is for you to deliver God's message of grace:

• “Also having put combat boots on your feet, with the equipment of the Gospel, specifically -peace (reconciliation)” (expanded trans., Eph. 6:15).

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From our Statement of Faith

• We believe that salvation comes to the sinner only by faith alone in Christ alone; that there is no other means of salvation afforded to the human race, including baptism, church membership, emotional guilt over personal sin, good deeds, philanthropic activity, so-called 'repentance', communion, or any other physical or emotional act or state. Salvation is based solely on the spiritual death of Christ on the Cross and can only be received through reliance on the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ (Isa. 64:6; Jn. 3:16, 18, 36; Acts 4:12; 16:31; Rom. 3:10-17; Eph. 2:8, 9).10/26/08 17H&B-071 and 072


• There are distinct steps in the process of Salvation:

• Recognition • Repentance • Reliance • Regeneration

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• Recognition noun • a learning process that relates a perception

of something new to knowledge already possessed.

• Theological definition: The point at which the unbeliever is "convinced" by the Holy Spirit that he is unable to meet God’s Standard, and requires Christ, who is able, as his Substitute.

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• Recognition • And when He [the Comforter] is come, He

will convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. (John 16:8)

• No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. John 6:44

• "He shall convince the world of sin. ”

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• In the NT there are 115 declarations that the lost are to depend ONLY on believing.

• In another 35 they are to depend ONLY upon faith. • Yet millions of Christians (really "Relig-ians"),

from legalistic individuals to entire legalistic denominations, attempt to coerce those whom God calls into their box, requiring some religious activity to stamp the process of salvation "legitimate".

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• There are numerous additions to the simple but accurate Faith, Believe, Trust, or Rely means to salvation:

• 1. Believe and Pray • 2. Believe and Confess before men • 3. Believe and Confess your sins • 4. Believe and Repent of your sins• 5. Believe and be Baptized • 6. Lordship Salvation. (New)

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• 1. Believe and Pray • Invite Christ into your heart. • Repeat a prayer formula. • Pray to tell God you are sorry. • Pray to ask God to save you.

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• 2. Believe and Confess before men. • Found only in the Kingdom teachings of Mt.

10:32. • 3. Believe and Confess your sins. • An erroneous application of the 1 John 1:9

verse addressed to Believers.

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• 4. Believe and Repent of your sins. • 6 verses can be found that couple

repentance, believing and salvation. • However, the book of John that repeatedly

reveals the plan of salvation never uses the word repentance.

• Romans, the advanced exposition of the doctrine of salvation omits repentance at every prescription.

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• Repentance: • (Defn) • Metanoeo - Meta = change; and Noeo =

thinking. • To change your thinking.

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• There are 150 salvation statements with "Faith" or "Believe", but without "Repentance".

• When the true meaning of repentance is known, it is obvious that repentance is a part of the believing process, and a direct result of the Recognition process.

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• When one recognizes that nothing BUT Christ will do, we are forced to change our mind (metanoeo) and believe.

• The New Testament call to repentance is not an urge to self-condemnation or self-reformation, but is a call to a change of mind which promotes a change in the belief system being pursued.

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• This definition of this word as it is used in the New Testament is fundamental.

• Little or no progress can be made in a right induction of the Word of God on this theme, unless the true and accurate meaning of the word is discovered and defended throughout." - L.S. Chafer

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• Repentance does NOT mean "Give up sinning", it means "Change your mind".

• Not one verse has in the context the hint of personal sins as the object of repentance.

• It is clear that the object of repentance is the Lord Jesus Christ, and to "give Him up" would be ludicrous to all but the most legalistic of cults.

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• Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Romans 10:1-3

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• "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out...," said Peter (Acts 3:19).

• Repentance is part of the process of Believing.

• It is the result of Recognition in the Appraisal Process on the part of the hearer who then is faced with the decision to choose Faith in Christ.

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The Event

Perception

Appraisal

The Representation

I Agree I DisagreeThe Volitional

Interlude

Faith UnbeliefOR

SAMBAK

The Good News

God The Father Calls

The Holy Spirit Convinces

Believe in Christ

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• Conclusion:• "As before stated, repentance, which is a

change of mind, is included in believing. • No individual can turn to Christ from some

other confidence without a change of mind, and that, it should be noted, is all the repentance a spiritually dead individual can ever effect." - L.S. Chafer

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The Gospel (Good News)• That change of mind is the work of the Spirit (Eph.

2:8). • It will be considered, too, by those who are

amenable to the Word of God, that the essential preparation of heart which the Holy Spirit accomplishes in the unsaved to prepare them for an intelligent and voluntary acceptance of Christ as Savior—as defined in John 16:8–11—is not a sorrow for sin. The unsaved who come under this divine influence are illuminated—given a clear understanding—concerning but one sin, namely, that “They believe not on me.”- L.S. Chafer

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• 5. Believe and be Baptized • Only 1 verse (Mark 16:16) joins these

together. • This verse is not included in the oldest

manuscripts. • It is evident from the final statement, "he

that believes not shall be condemned", that baptism is not the essential element, anyway.

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• In any discussion respecting the word βαπτίζω it must be recognized that this term is used in the New Testament to represent two different things—a real baptism by the Spirit of God by which the believer is joined in union to Christ and is in Christ, and a ritual baptism with water. John distinguished these when he said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matt. 3:11).

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• Though this word sustains a primary and secondary meaning and these are closely related ideas, the fact that the same identical word is used for both real and ritual baptism suggests an affiliation between the two ideas with which this word is associated.

• In fact, Ephesians 4:5 declares that there is but one baptism.

• The word itself means “identification” and comes from the concept of immersion into something.

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• The question naturally arises when it is asserted that one must believe and be baptized, whether a real or a ritual baptism is in view.

• There are two passages demanding attention:• Mark 16:15–16. “And he said unto them, Go ye

into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (verse not found in oldest manuscripts)

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• A Religious inattention to the evidence which serves as proof that reference is made in this text to real baptism by the Spirit, has characterized the interpretation of the passage.

• This evidence should at least be weighed for all that it is.

• Should it prove upon examination that reference is made to real baptism by the Spirit, which is the baptism essential to salvation, the difficulty of a supposed regenerating water baptism is immediately dismissed.

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• These points must be universally admitted (Chafer):

• 1. The passage does not declare a ritual baptism by express statement;

• 2. It contains no statement which involves a ritual baptism as a necessary inference;

• 3. The Scriptures present both a real and a ritual baptism, one or the other of which will meet the exigencies of any elliptically stated baptism;

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• 4. That baptism which meets, in its scripturally defined nature and power, the requirements of any particular passage, must be the baptism designed by such passage.

• Ritual baptism has no direct connection with this passage, in general, because, the passage treats of salvation and its conditions, belief and baptism, which, when examined in light of the other pertinent scriptures, must reflect the real Baptism by the Holy Spirit.

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• The use of Believe and Saved, as well as “baptized,” is elliptical.

• “Believe” has in the New Testament a double usage; the one limited to the action of the intellect, as, “the devils believe and tremble”; the other embraces and controls the actions of the heart, as, “with the heart we believe unto righteousness.”

• It is the higher form of “belief” that is universally recognized as belonging to this passage.

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• “Saved,” also, is used in the New Testament, with a double application; as of the body, “all hope that we should be saved was taken away”; and of the soul, “He shall save his people from their sins.”

• Again it is this higher salvation that is accepted without question.

• So also, “baptized” is used in a lower and a higher meaning; applied in the one case to the body, as “I baptized you with water”; and in the other case applied to the soul, as “He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

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• By what logic, now, can “believe,” and “saved,” be taken in their highest sense, and “baptized,” in the same sentence and in the same construction, be brought down to the lowest?

• Such diversity of interpretation is unnatural and without any just support.

• The only tenable supply of the ellipsis must be, “He that believeth” (with the heart upon Christ), “and is baptized” (by the Holy Ghost into Christ) “shall be saved” (by the redemption of Christ).

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• The new relation to Christ of being in Him is wrought by the Holy Spirit’s baptism, and must be present for there to be any true salvation.

• On the other hand, all who have been saved have been saved quite apart from ritual baptism.

• The form of speech which this text presents is common in the Bible, namely, that of passing from the main subject to one of the features belonging to that subject, as, “Thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak” (Luke 1:20). The word dumb is amplified by the words not able to speak.

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• Also, at Ephesus the Apostle Paul found certain men who were resting their confidence in water baptism, “John’s baptism,” who confessed “We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:1–3).

• In other words, the student would do well to note that the truth regarding the baptism with the Spirit is itself more important than water baptism.

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• If water baptism was essential for salvation it would have been mentioned in the 150 plainly stated salvation passages of the New Testament.

• “The above examination of two passages, on which the idea of baptismal regeneration is made to rest, has sought to demonstrate that ritual baptism, however administered, is not a condition which is to be added to believing as a necessary step in salvation.” – L.S. Chafer

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• Lordship or Surrender Salvation:• “On account of its subtlety due to its pious

character, no confusing intrusion into the doctrine that salvation is conditioned alone upon believing is more effective than the added demand that the unsaved must dedicate themselves to do God’s will in their daily life, as well as to believe upon Christ.” – L.S. Chafer

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• The desirability of dedication to God on the part of every believer is obvious, and is stressed in the Bible.

• Many sincere people who are inattentive to doctrine are easily led to suppose that this same dedication, which is voluntary in the case of the believer, should be a necessity in the case of the unsaved.

• Others, whose role, they believe, is that of the Holy Spirit, wish to make it a requirement of salvation, so as to leave no doubt about it.

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• Excerpted from John McArthur’s website:• Question: I know that you take a Biblical view of

salvation by faith alone.• John Macarthur: Yes, by grace through faith--not

by faith alone. By grace through faith.

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• Question (continued)• Ok, but I’m a little confused as far as the

implications of that Lordship to the non-Christian at the point of salvation. How much of it can they really comprehend in terms of the Lordship issue? And then along with that, are you saying through your [Bible study] series on the Lordship that the call to salvation is synonymous with the call to discipleship?

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• Answer: I am saying that explicitly, that a call to salvation is indeed a call to discipleship. I am saying that it is obvious that a person coming to faith in Jesus Christ will not fully understand the implications of his Lordship. They will not fully understand the reality of their sin, but there must be a call to that.

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• In other words, when you call a sinner to repentance and you call a sinner to submit to Christ, they don’t fully understand the implications of that. But, they will understand as much as they can understand.

• Now, let me say something that is very, very important for you to understand.

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• I do not believe that an incomplete presentation of the gospel--in other words, if you just present the gospel that Jesus died for your sin and rose again and graciously offers you forgiveness by faith in his name; if that’s all you presented, and you didn’t talk about Lordship, and you didn’t talk about being a disciple, and you didn’t talk about repentance, and you didn’t talk about turning from sin - even an incomplete presentation of the gospel - now listen - could not prevent someone from being saved whom God was saving.

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• Got that? Because if you didn’t talk about sin, they’d be feeling the conviction [anyway]. And if you didn’t talk about submission, they’d be coming to that submission.

• What I am saying is that when we present a shallow gospel, we don’t prevent the elect from getting saved; we make people think they’re saved who aren’t.

• “elect” for MacArthur is God’s sovereignly choosing to save someone no matter what.

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• That’s the issue. Do you see the distinction? That’s the issue. And so what we have-just imagine this now! - what we have then are a lot of people who think they’re Christians. And we have a lot of churches that are run by congregational rule, which means that a lot of churches are being run by what? Non-Christians!

• [“Oh my gosh!” ]

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• That’s a frightening reality. I’m quite sure there are Christian organizations being operated by non- Christians [anyone who does not believe like MacArthur].

• So, I don’t want to say that… You know, somebody said to me, “Well, I didn’t know all about Lordship when I was saved. Am I not saved?” No. The issue is, “Do you understand that Jesus is Lord and is it your heart’s desire to love Him and serve Him?”

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• And if the answer is yes, then you understand it. So, that’s the point you have to understand.

• Now, Jesus called men to follow Him in discipleship. He called them to obey Him. We’ve shown all of that and we’ll even go into more detail when the book comes out.

• I believe that when you present the gospel - now listen carefully to this - you can make it as difficult as possible! That’s what Jesus did. He made it as difficult as possible.

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• Why? Because salvation is a work of God, not based on the cleverness of the one giving the gospel, but based on the power of God. So, if a person is being saved by God, then you want them to fully understand their salvation. And if God isn’t doing it, you want to make sure that they’re not coming in on some illusion.

• - end of excerpt

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• In opposition to the MacArthur position, the Free Grace view posits that salvation is a gift of divine grace whereby the recipient is declared righteous before God on account of Jesus' atonement and righteous life, and that God's declaration of righteousness is unaffected by the future behavior of the saved person.

• The Free Grace consensus, however, is that sanctification is an "inevitable" part of every Christian's life.

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• And that good works are outward evidence (especially to the unsaved world) that God is at work in a person's life and that the person is truly following Christ.

• But the Free Grace position rules out seeing good works as evidence of one's own salvation.

• For this, they would argue, one can only look to the sufficiency of him who provides eternal life to the person who believes in him.

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• Free Grace proponents further point to the way apostasy is treated by the New Testament writers whom they understand to teach that apostasy suggests, not an unregenerate nature as Lordship proponents teach, but a failure and a "wandering from the truth”.

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• Essentially, the Free Grace view is that the New Testament writers are quick to call on believers to question whether they are truly following Christ as "disciples," but these writers never encourage the person who is trusting Christ for eternal life to doubt his or her born again status.

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• Miles J. Stanford goes further in suggesting that "Lordship salvation ... rightly insists upon repentance, but wrongly includes a change of behavior ... in order to be saved.

• No one questions that there must be a sincere change of mind, a turning from oneself to the Savior; but Lordship advocates attempt to make behavior and fruit [that is, good works] essential ingredients of, rather than evidence of, saving faith.”

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• Pro Lordship Salvation Website: • “There is a theological teaching going around

Christendom that says it is possible for one to accept Jesus as Savior without also recognizing Him and accepting Him as Lord; that it is possible to believe in Jesus without repenting of sin and yielding to His authority. To be sure, many of those who teach such a message do so out of a passion to keep the grace of God free of human effort and human works.

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• I believe they have ridden the pendulum from one extreme to embrace another. As a result, they have abandoned such concepts of repentance and obedience and submission from the message of the gospel.

• Faith becomes a mere intellectual exercise. Instead of people being called to repentance, they are called only to assent to certain historical facts about Jesus. Discipleship becomes optional.

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• 1. The Nature of Saving Faith.• Faith involves more than just mere assent to

certain historical facts. Even the devil has that kind of faith. You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? (James 2:19-20). Faith that saves is a faith that works. If it doesn’t work in your life, then it doesn’t work in your salvation, either.

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• Does that mean you work your way into God’s good graces or that you someone earn or merit salvation? Not at all. It is God who saves.

• For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9).

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• Your salvation comes through faith. • It does not come as a result of your works. • No one will ever be able to boast about their

contribution to the work of their salvation. • But that verse goes on to point out that your

salvation is not an end unto itself. • You were not saved BY good works, but you were

saved FOR good works.

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• For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).

• You are God’s workmanship. • He has does the work of creating in you a new life. • The result of being saved is that you will walk in

those good works for which you were created.

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• 2. The Nature of Discipleship.• It has become customary in certain Christian

circles to speak of discipleship as something that, while good and desirable, is not necessary to Christianity. This teaching is one that says sanctification is optional to the Christian life and that there are some who live their entire lives as "carnal Christians" and who never exhibit any of the fruit of the Spirit or any growth in Christ, yet nevertheless are saved.

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The Gospel (Good News)• The teaching of the Scriptures is completely

antithetical to this view. • The Scriptures use the term "disciple" as an exact

equivalent of the term "Christian." • This is seen in Act 11:26 where the disciples were

first called Christians in Antioch.• What is a disciple? • The term is translated from the Greek word

mathetes, a "learner" and comes from the word manthano, "to learn.".

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• But the idea here is not merely rote learning of fact.

• As we shall see in this passage, the discipleship to which Jesus calls men and women involves a life commitment

• Discipleship involves more than a mere academic knowledge of certain facts.

• It involves a commitment to following Jesus.

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• Now great multitudes were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 "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. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:25-27).

• This is a hard passage. If you read this and it does not bother you, you haven’t read it.

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The Gospel (Good News)• For Jesus to say these words would be blasphemy

if He were not God. He demands to be the center of attention and the object of complete loyalty.

• Does Jesus really and truly call us to hate our family? No. To the contrary, the Scriptures are quite explicit when they tell husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25); mothers to love their children (Titus 2:4); and for children to honor father and mother (Ephesians 6:2).

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• Indeed, we are even taught to love our enemies and those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44).

• So then what does Jesus mean when he says that those who wish to be He disciple must hate father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters?

• This is a figure of speech. Jesus is calling for a commitment that is so great that anything by comparison will be deemed as hatred.

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• Do you want to be a disciple of Jesus? You must give Him preeminence. You must recognize His sovereignty and His Lordship. You must give Him your devotion and your love.

• There is an old saying that goes: "Anything that is free is worth what was paid for it." This even applies to our salvation.

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• While it is freely given to us, it was the most expensive gift ever given. It cost God the death of His Son. In a similar vein, there is a cost to discipleship.– The Cost of a Cross: "Whoever does not carry

his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple" (14:27).

– When we hear the reference to a cross, we are perhaps inclined to think in stained glass terms.

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• There was no religious significance as yet attached to the cross when Jesus spoke these words. Any reference to a cross would point to death. Putting these words into today’s language would contain references to seating yourself in your own electric chair or tying your own hangman’s noose.

• Here is the point.

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• When Jesus calls a man, He calls Him to give his entire life.

• The issue is one of loyalty and commitment.

• Jesus calls for a level of commitment and loyalty that surpasses any you have for your family and even that which you have for your own life.

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• Counting the Cost: "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

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• 31 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks terms of peace" (14:28-32).

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• Jesus has just made a very strong statement that discipleship involves a willingness to come and die. This is a great cost. Jesus goes on to picture this willingness with two illustrations.

• Both the building and the king are in danger of committing themselves to a course of action without having first counting the cost.

• [Now, just where is the “die” part of this?]

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• The question they both face is whether or not they have the resources to complete what they have started. If they fail to finish what they have started, the result will be humiliation and shame.

• The point of these two illustrations is the same. It is that you are called to count the cost of discipleship and to make a determination as to whether you will see it through to the end.

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• This is quite different than the easy-believism invitation that suggests that you "give Jesus a try" in much the same way that you test-drive a sports car. Jesus says, "Only come if you are going to come for keeps."

• Evangelists often come across as a used car salesman: "Don’t read the fine print; we’ll get to that later." But Jesus tells unbelievers to count the cost before coming to Him.

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• Jesus calls you to recognize Him as the Lord of your life. He wants it all. He refuses to be sectored off to a small portion of your life. He refuses to be a weekend God. And so, He calls for you to count the cost. If you are going to be a Christian, be a real one.

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• There is a familiar story told of Alexander the Great. After each battle, there would be a tribunal where he would sit in judgment to reward those who had done well and to punish those who had done poorly. One day a young man was brought before him who had shown fear in the face of the enemy.

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• For the first time that anyone could remember, Alexander’s face softened and he appeared to show compassion for the youth. Perhaps he thought of his own infant son as he looked upon the young man. In a gentle voice, he asked him, "What is your name?"

• "Alexander," came the reply.

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• "What did you say?"• "Alexander."• With a roar, the king jumped from his throne, took

the shaken youth by his cloak and hurled him to the floor. "Either change your actions or change your name!”

• When we come as disciples, we come to take the name of the King. We are called to count the cost of bearing that name.

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• There is an old hymn that says, "Jesus paid it all." There is a great truth to that. The debt of your sin was paid by Christ on the cross. The payment for that redemption price cost Him His very life. He gave up all for you. And He calls you to do the same thing. He calls you to give up everything you have and everything you are and to commit your very being to Him.

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• At this point, you might be thinking to yourself, "I want to follow Jesus but I’ve asked myself if I have the resources to see this through to the end and I don’t know that I have what it takes."

• There is hope for you. The point is not that you are rich in spiritual resources. The point is that you give up what you have and He provides what you need. You give up that which is producing death in your life and He gives that which is life eternal. You give up that which wars against your soul and in its place He gives that which saves your soul.

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• Jesus wants you to know in advance that the price of discipleship is high.

• He calls you to choose purposefully to follow Him.

• He is not looking for those to follow Him who have the resources to do so, but rather those who after reflection realize that they do not and who are ready to give up their inadequate self-reliance to trust in Him.10/26/08 93H&B-071 and 072


• The issue is not how spiritually strong you are. Rather the issue is whether you will realize and accept your spiritual bankruptcy and will determine to receive and rest solely upon the riches of Christ.

• [and then live a life we decide is good enough to show you are indeed saved]

• Next week we will see more of this heretical ‘gospel’, that is really no Gospel at all!

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Discussion

• What did you get out of the Lordship Gospel?

• Does it make clear your requirements of salvation?

• Does the “test drive the car” analogy fit free salvation or Lordship Salvation?

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HAB-071 and 072

Documents

Transcript of HAB-071 and 072