Lordship Salvation

I grew up in a church setting and knew all the basics that one should know prior to my conversion. Not until the Lord truely converted me did I ever really appreciate the concept of "Lordship Salvation". After my conversion, i fell headlong into scriptures and, although still stumbling over sin at every turn, learned that the whole theme of the Bible is that God is Lord and Ruler over all things.

I think of Paul Washer saying "He comes in as Lord or He doesn't come in at all." and also an ex-marine/evangelist Tim Lee, who compared it with selling a house. "When you hand over the keys to the house, you don't keep the keys to the garage and the bedrooms...you give over the keys to the whole house."

I have recently recieved a copy of "Willmington's Guide to the Bible" and have gained insight on many viewpoints. One of the sub-chapters under 'Q and A About Salvation' is about Lordship Salvation. It shows two differing stances: No-Lordship Salvation and Radical no-Lordship Salvation. To be completely honest, I used to think that it was possible (pre-enlightenment) to live in a state of no-Lordship, but the more i read my Bible and live life, the more apparent it is to me that this is not possible. It did surprise me (although maybe it shouldn't) that there are ministers that teach this type of thinking and that this was, as Willmington's says, an issue that "has been more contorversial of recent years..."

I would like to hear Biblical reasons for this line of thinking and would appreciate insight from anyone here that teaches this type of thought.

Rawhide,
Here are ,just a few Scriptures,of many to confirm that God,through His
Son JesusChrist, came to be Lord / King over as many as will,' Be led by the Spirit of God.' ( the Word says, ' For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,THEY ARE THE SONS / CHILDREN OF GOD'........really they are the children of the WORD ( the Spirit / Word) ,... Because God is Word ,He is ,invisible, He is the Lord God. He is the Spirit / Word.He that speaketh to us through the Holy Spirit.

Can we ,just ' have Jesus, and not the Word ? Is this possible ? ..when He
IS the Word.
But with the Word, comes responsibility....obligation(Lk.19:10)Jesus says,' for the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.'... Vs.11,
( Jesus spoke a parable to these people, 'because they thought that the kingdom ofGod should immediately appear,( when Jesus was still teaching,.(.before He went to the Father,..and sent back the Holy Spirit.) vs.12,..Jesus is now speaking to them in a parable,...' He said, therefore,
A certain nobleman went into a far country ( Jesus came down to earth) To recieve for Himself a kingdom,and to return. Vs.13,and He called His ten servants,and delivered unto them ten pounds,and said unto them,Occupy till I come.vs.14,But the citizens hated Him,(' he that loveth Me keepeth My sayings ),and these servants sent a message after Him,saying,We will NOT Have this man to Reign over us.' (Didn't the King, who is Jesus, come to Reign over us through the Holy Spirit?)
' Jn.18:37 Jesus is saying,..' thou sayest that I am a King. To this end was I born,and for this cause came I the world,that I should bear witness to the Truth.Everyone that is of the Truth hearth My voice.'

* ' Buy of Me Gold, tried in the fire.'

" Lord,Lord, ...Lord Lord ,...

Mt.7:21-22,Jesus is saying,...Not every one that sayeth unto Me, Lord,Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that DOETH the will of My Father, who is in heaven....Many will say unto Me in that day, Lord,Lord,
Have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have done many wonderful works ? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.

Mt.25:11,..( the story of the 10 virgins, 5 were wise and 5 were foolish.
( a parable of the kingdom)...the wise kept the oninting oil,...the alive Spirit working ,...the Spirit / Word working in their / our lives.
But the foolish,did not keep.the oninting,...the Holy Spirit doing it's work,...
Their lamps/ burning went out,...and there is no where else to get the
Onointing oil but from the Lord.
Lk.6:46,...And why call Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
(talking about building our house upon a Rock,...,Jesus / Word,or sand .
Lk.13:24,?.Strive to inter in at the narrow gate; for many I say unto you, will seek to enter in,and shall not be able. ..vs.25,..' when once the master of the house is risen up,and hath shut the door,and ye stand outside,and to knock at the door,saying, Lord,Lord open to us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know not from where you are;...then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and have drunk in Thy presence,and Thou hast taught
in our streets...( where we walk at)..But He will say,I tell you,I know not from where ye are;depart from Me,alley that work iniquity.
...And Paul said,that he,himself had to keep himself, in subjection, Lest when he had taught / preached to others,.. He,himself would be a cast away. ....the Lord had taught in Paul's streets,....where he walked.the Lord teaches in our streets,...where we walk,..what do we do with it?

Why call ye Me Lord, Lord and do not what I say?....Lord means,He rules ,...is Lord over our lives.

Jesus was led up, by the Spirit,....He said, He only did what the Father
Told / showed Him to do. The Father did the works, He was the willing vessel for the works to be done through Him. He heard the Fathers voice and He followed Him.
We are to be Followers of Him.' Come and follow Me.'

Does not His Grace, draw us to Him,.....and puts a strong desire / hunger to read His Word,at the very start of His relationship with us ? ...WHY,...iisn't it for a purpose ?

This is a lot,and cannot write like some that writes so good, but I am writing from my heart, and what the Lord has taught me.

For His Name sake,
Elizabeth

Rawhide:

A few come to mind.

The entirety of Romans 6. Paul states very clearly that each of us that have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into His death that we should no longer serve sin but rather by yielded servants to righteousness unto holiness. I know many think the first several verses of Romans 6 speak of water baptism, and I hope not to start some discussion of that, but I believe the baptism spoken of here is the one of which water baptism is a representation. We are baptized into His death.

Jesus said If any man would come after me let him first deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. If we are to follow Christ we must lose our own life and find His.

Also, when Jesus spoke of many coming to Him in the last day and saying Lord, Lord, did we not do such and so I find it interesting that these were turned away. It seems that there is a definite distinction between calling Him Lord and making Him Lord.

Think about the very term born again. Can we be born again if we do not first die?

If I have not made Him Lord, how can I believe that I am justified in His sight?

I do think we need to keep this in proper perspective with the rest of scripture. Jesus being my Lord, my life being completely surrendered to Him, is not a way of earning His righteousness. I think some have gone into legalism and are trying to keep the law in order to obtain salvation. In the end these will get exactly what the law produces, and that is a just condemnation from a holy God. We must receive righteousness apart from our own efforts, but part of that exchange of rags for righteousness is the absolution of our own own life and a taking on of His life which is in reality the act of making Him Lord.