Tuesday, January 22, 2008 10:02 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe
Lordship and Faith
Some folks believe that Jesus’ death equities to salvation for the entire world regardless of belief in Him or personal decision for Him and implementation of His Lordship in our lives. This is essentially what was being taught by Carlton Pearson’s group before he was removed from His Pastorate at Higher Dimensions in Tulsa, OK, that faith and Lordship are not necessary, only the occurrence of the cross. However, the Bible makes it quite clear that salvation is something that we need to choose. Paul, in Romans 10:9,10 said, “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Again in the book of James chapter 2 verse 17 the scriptures declare “…faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” The Bible is also clear that we need to understand and believe in His work for us. In Hebrews 4:2 the scriptures declare, “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” Just because Jesus died on the cross does not mean that people will be saved regardless of faith or personal decision for Him; we first need to understand and believe in His death burial and resurrection, then we need to choose to embrace Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Some folks believe that salvation is something that we “end up” choosing but only as a result of God foreordaining us to do so. While it is true that God does foreordain, foreordination does not equate to mindlessness, robots preprogrammed to make a decision for Him. Additionally, God foreordains “all” of us unto salvation through Christ Jesus as the scriptures say “God so loves the world…” (John 3:16) and “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). If you believe that you are part of an “exclusive” group of folks preordained to salvation, then get off your Germanic high horse, trade in your New World Translation for an actual Bible, and put your faith exclusively in the blood of Jesus for your salvation. It is the difference between saying “I’m a son of God because I’m one of the “chosen,” and, “I’m a son of God because of the blood of Jesus Christ.”
Someone once asked me “if God is all powerful, can He trap Himself in a box that He can not get out of?” The answer to that question is a resounding yes! The box that God chooses not to get out of is “our will.” He has given man a free will and it is something that He will not mess with. He wants a creation that will love Him freely and of its own choice, not because we were forced or preprogrammed to. While God does draw us, directs us toward Him, He does not make any of us choose Him. It is something that He leaves entirely up to us. We must choose. As the scriptures say in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:”
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