Clearly, Dr. Ironside taught a Free Grace view
of the Gospel, and not the damnable heresy of Lordship Salvation.
False prophets like John MacArthur take excerpts carefully chosen from
archived sermons, twisting them out of context, well
suited with the error of Balaam, to deceive the Church. So now we have Satan’s
new gospel (actually the same old lie) for our modern day.
These men are motivated by the flesh, so it is not strange they will use the
sins of the flesh (lying) to exalt the flesh. Sadly, they believe that they
are spiritual! They do not fully understand true GRACE and Christ’s imputed
righteousness. How can a person truly be saved and follow the perverted
gospel of Lordship Salvation? There are really only TWO religions in
the world—salvation by human works or by God's Grace alone.
It is
apparent to me that ministers like Ray Comfort, Paul Washer and John
MacArthur are all trying to maintain a middle-of-the-road
position on the issue of Free Grace versus Lordship Salvation.
Pastor John MacArthur is clearly the modern-day godfather of Lordship Salvation,
as was Charles Finney (1792-1875) and John Calvin (1509-1564) before him. The
Bible teaches Free Grace. Eternal life is obtained by receiving, not giving.
Salvation is a TAKE proposition, not a GIVE proposition.
Consider further the following awesome quote by
Harry
Ironside (which John MacArthur would NEVER share with you)...
“The
Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make
restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These
things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for
the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do
not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a
call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a
more perfect way than you have been doing in the past …
Nor
is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins,
that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all
these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved
at all.”
SOURCE:
Harry A. Ironside, from the sermon:
What
Is The Gospel?
I highly suggest that John MacArthur
actually read Dr. Ironside's books before making any more naive quotes,
because he's really making a fool out of himself. I'm not trying to be
unkind, but MacArthur is trying to make a case where there is NONE.
Read what Dr. Ironside said in his Gospel
tract, ANOTHER GOSPEL? ...
“When
anyone comes promising salvation to those ‘who make full surrender' of all that
they have to God, and who 'pay the price of full salvation' he is preaching
another gospel, for the price was paid on Calvary's cross and the work that
saves is finished. It was Christ Jesus who made the full surrender when He
yielded His life on
Calvary that saves us, not
our surrender in any way to Him.”
SOURCE: Harry
A. Ironside, from the Gospel tract,
Another
Gospel.
In your face MacArthur! Harry Ironside just
contradicted everything MacArthur teaches concerning salvation. In sharp
contrast to Harry Ironside, here are
some of MacArthur's foolish
unbiblical
teachings from his book, The Gospel According to Jesus (Zondervan
1988). In MacArthur's own perverted words, he states:
Saving faith is
“unconditional surrender, a complete resignation of self and
absolute submission” (page 153).
“Salvation is for those who are
willing to forsake everything” (page 78).
“Saving faith is a commitment to
leave sin and follow Jesus Christ at all costs. Jesus takes no one
unwilling to come on those terms” (page 87).
“Eternal life brings immediate
death to self” (page 140).
Is this true? Absolutely not. Read again
the preceding quotes I shared with you from Dr. Harry Ironside. These
two men are diametrically opposed to each other theologically on the
subject of Biblical repentance and salvation. John
MacArthur is of the Devil and his Calvinistic doctrines are demonic!!! There is no
way possible to reconcile the beliefs of Harry Ironside with those of
John MacArthur, and only a wicked person would try. MacArthur clearly
teaches that no one can be saved unless they are willing to
UNCONDITIONALLY SURRENDER and FORSAKE EVERYTHING. If you didn't visit
the link I provided earlier, please do so now, where John MacArthur adds
7 unbiblical
requirements to the Gospel to be saved. This is not what the
Word of God teaches.
Also, please Read:
Dr.
John R. Rice Refutes Lordship Salvation
Now let me quote to you again the great man
of God, Dr. Ironside...
“Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your
sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do
all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be
saved at all.”
SOURCE: Harry A.
Ironside, from the sermon:
What Is
The Gospel?
Salvation is a gift, paid for by Jesus'
literal, physical, precious blood (1st Peter 1:18,19; 1st John 1:7;
Hebrews 9:12; Revelation 1:5). We are saved by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS
(Matthew 6:33; Romans 10:3,4; 1st Corinthians 5:21); and not our own
willingness to do better (Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8,9; Titus 3:5;
Romans 4:5,6,22).
Here is one of the best quotes that I've found on
repentance, by Dr. Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951):
“Which comes first, repentance or
faith? In Scripture we read, 'Repent ye, and believe the gospel.' Yet we
find true believers exhorted to 'repent, and do the first works.' So
intimately are the two related that you cannot have one without the other.
The man who believes God repents; the repentant soul puts his trust in the
Lord when the Gospel is revealed to him. Theologians may wrangle over this,
but the fact is, no man repents until the Holy Spirit produces repentance in
his soul through the truth. No man believes the Gospel and rests in it for
his own salvation until he has judged himself as a needy sinner before God.
And this is repentance.” (Except Ye Repent,
p. 16) [emphasis added]
Amen! We don't give up our sins TO BE
saved, we give up our sins because WE ARE saved, and that requires time
to grow in God's grace (1st Peter 2:2). Ephesians 2:10 says that
believers are “created in Christ Jesus unto
good works,” not by good works.
John MacArthur is a False
Prophet
The
false repentance which MacArthur promotes is entwined in self-effort. John MacArthur teaches a false gospel which corrupts "the simplicity
that is in Christ" (2nd Corinthians 11:3,4). In MacArthur's
audio sermon, The Call To Repentance, he exploits Charles
Spurgeon, Harry Ironside, and others in an unscholarly attempt to support
his erroneous position on Lordship Salvation.
As with other
false prophets, MacArthur fails to properly exegete the Scriptures, and
rests heavily upon manipulating the quotes of great men.
MacArthur wrongly accuses opponents of
Lordship Salvation (such as myself) of teaching that repentance is
not necessary for salvation. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
Repentance is absolutely necessary for salvation... "The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye,
and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). However, repentance unto
life is not what John MacArthur says it is...
“That's exactly what James said. Friendship with the world is enmity
with God. You are either the friend of the world or the friend of
God, not both... that's repentance.”
SOURCE:
The Call to
Repentance - John MacArthur
MacArthur teaches that in order to be
saved, a person must forsake the sinful world and stop living in sin. He falsely defines this as repentance. In sharp contrast, the
KOINE Greek in which the New Testament is written defines the word
repent simply as "a change of mind" (Greek: metanoia).
Forsaking the sinful world is a fruit (i.e., result) of genuine
repentance; but all that God requires for salvation is that a person
acknowledge his or her guilty condition as a sinner, thus renouncing the
world in their heart, and trust upon the Savior to be eternally
forgiven... "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his
name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins"
(Acts 10:43).
However, this DOESN'T mean that a person
who is unwilling to stop drinking booze, stop gambling, or stop
shacking-up with a girlfriend, cannot be saved. Please
read Evangelist John R. Rice's rebuttal of Lordship Salvation. To say otherwise
is to pervert the simplicity that is in Christ and to corrupt the gift
of God, which is eternal life (Romans 6:23). Salvation is
receiving; not giving. God only requires that a lost sinner
acknowledge their guilt of sin (Romans 3:19), and turn by faith to Jesus
Christ to be forgiven of their sins (John 3:16).
If one's repentance is genuine, then there
has been an initial change of heart (2nd Corinthians 5:17), and
hopefully it will ultimately lead to a life of soulwinning, holiness and
commitment to God; BUT, many believers are carnal (1st Corinthians 3:1),
have been choked by the cares and pleasures of this world (Luke 8:14),
have been overtaken by faults (Galatians 6:1), have not committed their
lives to God (Romans 12:1), are more concerned about worldly things than
the things of God (1st Corinthians 7:32,33), and some even live for
Satan (1st Corinthians 5:5).
Refuting Errant Pastors On
Lordship Salvation
Kindly, another Calvinist heretic
polluting America's pulpits is
Pastor Charles Lawson of the Temple Baptist Church in Knoxville,
Tennessee. Pastor Lawson teaches in
his sermon on “Repentance” that if you believe the Gospel, but don't
have the attitude that you want to turn away from your sins, you cannot be
saved. Dr. Lawson says this is the reason why the churches are filled today
with fornication, sodomy, adultery and pedophilia, because churchgoers who
have never repented from their sins are not saved. He says they “believe”
the Gospel, but have never repented, and so he says they are not saved
at all. This is heresy! That's not how God's plan of salvation works.
The problem is not false conversions; but rather, a lack of hard Bible
preaching against sin from America's pulpits! Brother Lester Roloff
(1914-1982) is right, who said: “America was 'great' when she was good,
and she was good when she had great churches!” Brother Roloff said this
is his classic sermon titled: “THE
TITANIC.”
Dr. Lawson says: “Repentance
changes something.” No, the indwelling Holy Spirit changes a man. 2nd
Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he
is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new.” The Bible doesn't say: “if a man repents, he is a new
creature.” No, it says “if a man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” Amen!
It is Jesus Christ that makes the difference, not a person's personal desire
to clean up their life, reform and turn away from their sins. Dr. Lawson is
woefully ignorant of the Scriptures on the matter of repentance, as is John MacArthur, Paul Washer and
other proponents of the heresy of Lordship Salvation. A changed life
produced by human effort is mere reformation, not the regeneration of
the Holy Spirit of God.
We read in Matthew 27:3b that Judas
“repented,” but it was mere human reformation, not regeneration
(i.e., the new birth)! Judas returned the 30 pieces of silver, sorry for
what he had done to betray the innocent blood of Jesus! Being sorry for
sins is not Biblical repentance unto the Gospel. The way a person gets
saved is by “BELIEVING” the Gospel (i.e., the 'GOOD NEWS') of Christ
crucified on the cross, buried and bodily resurrected the third day (1st
Corinthians 15:1-6). Repentance is necessary for salvation, but to
“repent” simply means to “change your mind” from what you want to do to
get to Heaven, to what God says you must do to get to Heaven, which is
to trust (receive by faith) Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.
John 1:12-13, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” I marvel that in
lieu of the hundreds of Bible passages which teach us to simply
“BELIEVE” on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved (e.g., Acts
16:30-31), that wicked false teachers add all sorts of additional
requirements, embellishing the Gospel of free grace!!!
Pastor Charles Lawson humbly admits that he has
difficulty defining what repentance is...
“So what is it? It's hard
to define what repentance is.”
SOURCE:
Repentance -
https://youtu.be/0o60CCxYFg0?t=17m6s - Dr. Lawson
Well, I understand it! Repentance concerning
salvation is the Greek noun “metanoia,” which means, “a change of mind.” The
verb form is the Greek word, “metanoeo,” which means “to think differently.”
Dr. Lawson is wrong to teach that “repentance is far more than simply 'a
change of mind.'” No, it doesn't! What Biblical basis does Dr. Lawson
provide for saying that the Greek meaning of metanoia means something
more than what it actually does?
The Great Meaning Of The Word “METANOIA”!
Conclusion of the Matter
May
I quote the words of Harry A. Ironside once again...
“Repentance
is the very opposite of meritorious experience. It is the confession that
one is utterly without merit, and if he is ever saved at all it can only be
through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, 'who gave himself a ransom for
all.' Here is firm footing for the soul who realizes that all self-effort is
but sinking sand. Christ alone is the Rock of our salvation.”
SOURCE: Harry A. Ironside;
Except Ye Repent, pg. 36)
Clearly, Ironside taught a Free Grace view
of the Gospel. Dr. Ironside correctly recognized repentance as the
confession that "one is utterly without merit" and that if one is “ever
saved at all it can only be through the merits of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” Salvation is without works of self-righteousness. Romans 4:5 plainly teaches that a man's faith is COUNTED for
righteousness, i.e., the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to
one's heavenly record by faith.
“Repentance is the recognition of my
sinnership—the owning before God that I am as vile as He has declared me to be
in His holy Word.”
SOURCE:
Except Ye Repent, by Dr. Harry Ironside,
chapter 3
Repentance and faith are inseparable. The
Gospel of John mentions the word “believe” 87-times; but the word
“repent” is never mentioned even once. In genuine salvation, one
who believes on Jesus Christ has repented, and one who repents has
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. To
teach “repentance” as sorrow for sins, turning away from sinful
behavior, or anything other than turning away from hindrances that keep
men from believing the Gospel is heresy! The goal of repentance is to
BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ, not to clean up one's life. Many
pastors and theologians fail to grasp that a changed life is not the
result of manmade repentance; but rather, the “fruit” of the indwelling
Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:21-22-23). We don't repent AND believe, we
repent TO believe!!! Any changes in the believer's life are the fruit of
the indwelling Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25), and not self-reformation
as a requirement to be saved. Romans 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of
the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law
is the knowledge of sin.”
One of my favorite quotes is from
Evangelist Alexander Marshall (1846-1928), who correctly taught the
Biblical meaning of repentance unto salvation as “a change of mind”...
“I HAVE NOT REPENTED ENOUGH”
What do you mean? “I am not
sorry enough for my sins.”
And if you were very sorry,
would God be more willing to save you than He is now? “I think so.”
Then you are completely
mistaken.
“But does it not say, unless we
repent we shall perish?”
Yes; but what do you think is
the Scriptural significance of “repentance”? If you say “sorrow for sin” you
are wrong. It does not mean sorrow for sin: it means a CHANGE OF MIND
(Matt. 21:29). This change will doubtless produce sorrow; but sorrow
and repentance are two very different things (Heb. 12:17. margin, and
II Cor. 7:9). When God calls on you to “repent, and believe the Gospel,” He
wishes you to lay aside your wrong thoughts, and believe the glad tidings that
He proclaims to you. Formerly you may have imagined that you were required to
feel very sorry before being saved. Change your mind. You may
have supposed you must first “feel” some great change in order to know
you were saved. Change your mind. First believe in God's great love
to you, as revealed in His gospel, and you will KNOW that you have eternal
life (John 5:24).
SOURCE:
The Horrible Misrepresentation of Evangelist Alexander Marshall
Yes, that is
excellent. Brother Marshall is 100% correct! Don't miss it! Biblical
“repentance” is the Greek noun, metanoia, which means, “a change of
mind.” Or in the beautiful words of Alexander Marshall, God wishes for us
“TO LAY ASIDE YOUR WRONG THOUGHTS, AND BELIEVE THE GLAD TIDINGS THAT HE
PROCLAIMS TO YOU.” Boy that's good stuff! This is true repentance unto
salvation, which is a change of mind unto the Gospel itself. For a wonderful
explanation of Biblical repentance, please read “THE
GREAT MEANING OF 'METANOIA.'” Amen!
Repentance means,
“TO LAY ASIDE YOUR WRONG THOUGHTS, AND BELIEVE THE GLAD TIDINGS (GOSPEL) THAT HE
PROCLAIMS TO YOU.” Dr. Lawson wrongly understands repentance to mean
“remorse, sorrow for past sins, turning away from sin.” This is the modern
definition found in an English dictionary, but it is NOT the Greek Biblical
meaning. The English dictionary has been influenced by the apostate Roman
Catholic church.
Pastor Harry
Ironside understood that a plan of salvation which fails to include an
admission of sinnership is a false Gospel. No man has ever been saved who
didn't admit that he is a sinner in God's sight. Yet, he also understood that
Biblical repentance unto salvation simply means “a change of mind,” laying
aside one's wrong thoughts to embrace the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Either extreme is heresy! A person absolutely must acknowledge that they are a
guilty sinner in God's eyes to be saved, which is the purpose for which God
gave His law to man (Galatians 3:24-26). Romans 3:19, “Now we know that
what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law:
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God.” My friend, if you see yourself a guilty sinner in the eyes of a holy God, and you receive Christ's
sacrifice on the cross as full-payment for your sins, believing that Jesus
was buried and bodily raised up three days later—YOU ARE BORN AGAIN!
This is the
'THE GOSPEL'
(GOOD NEWS), which is our only hope for obtaining forgiveness of sins
and eternal life. Do you believe?
