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...that you may know that you have eternal life

The Biblical Teaching Of Assurance

Article 3: The Gospel of Christ vs. The Gospel of John MacArthur

by Larry Harriman

Previously we have spoken about the "Lordship" or mastery view of salvation. While this view is held by many Christians today, its most outspoken advocate is John MacArthur.

As we previously mentioned, John MacArthur holds the view that while works do not merit our salvation - they do maintain or prove it. According to MacArthur's view, we really can't know for sure we are saved until the end of our lives. If we look back at our lives after making a profession of faith and we can see in ourselves that "the pattern of life is obedience" with only a few times where we have had a "moment of failure" here and there then, and only then, can we know we were truly saved.

Another way to put John MacArthur's view is this - being a good disciple is the only way someone can be saved. To be anything less than a good disciple is to be an unbeliever.

The largest problem with MacArthur's view is that he does not distinguish between being a good disciple of Christ and being a son of God. They are one and the same to MacArthur. It is utterly impossible in MacArthur's view, for a bad disciple to be saved (and thus a son of God).

These quotes from MacArthur illustrate how he feels on this issue in his own words:

"Salvation by faith does not eliminate works per se. It does away with works that are the result of human effort alone (Eph 2:8)Biblically it is defined by what it produces, not by what one does to get it. Works are not necessary to earn salvation. But true salvation wrought by God will not fail to produce the good works that are its fruit (cf. Matt. 7:17)." ("The Gospel According to Jesus", John MacArthur page 39)

"Must we literally sell everything we have and take an oath of poverty in order to be saved? No. Nor do these parables teach that sinners must rid themselves of their sins before coming to Christ. They do mean that saving faith retains no privileges and makes no demands. It safeguards no cherished sins, treasures no earthly possessions more than Christ, clings to no secret self-indulgences. Instead faith begets a heart that longs to surrender unconditionally to whatever the Lord demands.

Eternal life is indeed a free gift (Rom. 6:23). Salvation cannot be earned with good deeds or secured with money. It has already been purchased by Christ, who paid the ransom with his blood. He has secured full atonement for all who believe. There is nothing left to pay, no possibility that our own works can be meritorious. But that does not mean there is no cost in terms of salvation's impact on the sinner's life. Do not throw away this paradox just because it is difficult. Salvation is both free and costly. With eternal life comes immediate death to self...That was what Jesus meant when he spoke of taking up one's own cross to follow him. And that is why he demanded that we count the cost carefully. He was calling for an exchange of all that we are for all that he is. He was demanding implicit obedience unconditional surrender to his lordship." ("The Gospel According to Jesus", John MacArthur page 147)

And this last quote from his sermon The Cost of Discipleship:

"The heart of discipleship, beloved, is a commitment to Jesus Christ. That means that you're willing to publicly identified with Him no matter what that cost. That means you're willing to face a hostile world boldly to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and master. Oh, we don't always do it. Even Timothy was dangerously close to being ashamed of Christ. Peter denied Christ. We have those lapses, but a moment of failure doesn't invalidate the disciple's credentials."

"A true disciple loves, a true disciple obeys. We don't love perfectly, we don't obey perfectly. Sometimes we love very imperfectly and disobey, but the pattern of life is obedience and love for the Lord. And even when we fail to love Him, we feel the guilt, we fail to obey Him, we feel the guilt because we do belong to Him. We have that intimate relationship which God has in His grace given to us.

Let me say it again. I do not believe that these are human efforts, I believe that this is what God does in your heart. God gives you a love for Himself. God gives you a heart to obey. God turns you from your sin. They're not pre-salvation human works, they're inherent in God's saving work."

On this John MacArthur and I would agree completely. Yes, the moment we trust Christ for the forgiveness of ours sins we become a follower of him. When we are saved by believing Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the lamb of God and our redeemer and placing our faith and trust in him we are saved at that very moment and have passed from death to life and are guaranteed our glorified bodies and eternity with Christ to come.

Where the disagreement comes is this, not all Christians are good disciples. Lets face it, some Christians are just plain bad disciples. When we trust Christ and are saved we are all disciples, and we are given the tools to become good disciples as Peter states in 2 Peter:

2 Peter 1:3
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."

So certainly he has given us the power to lead godly lives. But each of us uses these tools to differing degrees of success. Paul tells us that some Christians will do much for the Lord and others will be saved by the skin of their teeth. Look at what he writes in 1 Corinthians 3:

1 Corinthians 3:11-15(NIV)
"11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."

So Paul tells us that the only true foundation for salvation is Jesus Christ. If we don't have that, all the good deeds and righteous living we do won't add up to anything in eternity and we will not be saved. But then he tells us that we can build on this foundation differently using different materials. Some people build with "gold, silver, costly stones" while others build with "wood, hay or straw".

The ones who build with "gold, silver, costly stones" are the ones who have lived righteous lives, and served Christ with their lives - good disciples. The other ones who build with "wood, hay or straw" are the Christians who do not serve Christ with their lives. Their deeds, since they were not done with a view of eternity, are "burned up". While these bad disciples will "suffer loss" of rewards, they will still "be saved".

I believe based on Paul's words here that there is the possibility for there to be bad and good disciples of Christ. But being a bad disciple does not invalidate your salvation, otherwise your salvation would be based upon your works. John MacArthur, while he claims to not teach perfectionism, leans towards it. We who believe in the free grace of God, believe that disciples of Christ (saved people) come in all shapes and sizes.

Lets say a disciple were to be measured on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 would be a disciple (saved person) who does not do much with their life for Christ. They may not even attend church regularly. Unless you were to see the little bits of change in their life you might not even know they were a Christian. Then there is the 10, this is a Christian who lives his entire life for Christ, sacrifices all and dies as a martyr for Christ.

John MacArthur would say that all true believers will be a disciple of a 7 to 10 range (just for example). We who belief in the free grace of God would say that disciples come in all ranges from 1 to 10. That is the heart of our disagreement.

When John MacArthur says "the pattern of life is obedience" for a "true disciple" he is saying by the use of the word "pattern" that is the norm, the majority of how the person operates. All true Christians in his estimation, will most of the time live moral and righteous lives. Then MacArthur says "We have those lapses, but a moment of failure doesn't invalidate the disciple's credentials." so as to distance himself from perfectionism. According to MacArthur, a true Christian will only have a "a moment of failure" here and there, but by no means could it go on for months or even years and a Christian actually die in a backslidden condition.

But then we must ask ourselves, do we see Christians in the New Testament dieing in a backslidden condition?

What about Ananias and Sapphira(Acts 5)? They were Christians who lied to God publicly and God took them home.

What about the Corinthians who fell asleep (died) because they abused the Lord's Supper(1 Cor 11)?

The clear fact of the matter is that in the Old and New Testaments we see believers falling into sin, some repenting while others die in their sin. Look at Peter, one of the greatest Apostles and he denied Christ (after being saved). Lordship advocates will say he repented, but what if he hadn't - would he have lost his salvation? of course not because his salvation was not based upon his works but on the finished work of Christ on the cross and his imputed righteousness.

Look at Solomon, while he may have repented at the end of his life, he was a believer for most of his life yet lived in sin with many women. The "pattern" of Solomon's life was not one of "obedience" as MacArthur states must be the case of any "true disciple". Yet God used Solomon to write Holy Scripture - how can MacArthur explain this?

What about Lot(Genesis 13 & 19)? Here is a man who clearly failed God on many occasions. He chose to live in the sinful area of Sodom and Gomorra, offered his daughters for sex to appease men outside his home and got drunk and had children with his daughters. Yet in the New Testament he is called a "righteous man" in 2 Peter 2:7. Yes 2 Peter 2 tell us that Lot was "was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men"(vs 7) but he himself chose to live there - it was his mistake to be there in the first place.
Once again we must ask the question to John MacArthur, was Lot's life a "pattern" of"obedience"?

John 1:11-12(NIV)
"11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--"

Galatians 3:26-27(NIV)
"26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."

1 John 5:1(NIV)
"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God..."

The scriptures are crystal clear on what it takes to become a child of God. It is because we have "believed in his name" and "through faith in Christ Jesus" that we are the children of God. It is not because of anything we have done or will do. He chose us "...in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12not by works but by him who calls"(Romans 9:11-12). Our being chosen to be children of God, "...does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy."(Romans 9:16).

MacArthur says "Salvation is both free and costly. With eternal life comes immediate death to self...That was what Jesus meant when he spoke of taking up one's own cross to follow him. And that is why he demanded that we count the cost carefully." I agree that Christ told us to count the cost, but was this the cost of our salvation or was this the cost of imitating him (being Christlike) with our lives? Being saved costs us nothing, but the attempt to be Christlike in this life could cost us everything, even our very lives.

So must we really "count the cost" to become a child of God as MacArthur asserts? Let's see if MacArthur's reasoning matches up with the scriptures:

Matthew 10:8(NIV)
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."

Romans 3:23-24(NIV)
"23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

1 Corinthians 2:12
We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us."

"Ephesians 1:5-6(NIV)
5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."

"Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life."

Jesus Christ told us "Freely you have received" and Paul told us we are "justified freely by his grace". God invites us in the book of Revelation to "take the free gift of the water of life", so again, what cost must I count if God offers the gift of eternal life freely?

John MacArthur's shocking answer to this question is no. He states "Salvation by faith does not eliminate works per se. It does away with works that are the result of human effort alone (Eph 2:8)". First of all lets see if Ephesians 2:8 & 9 have a "human effort" clause as MacArthur states:

Ephesians 2:8
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9not by works, so that no one can boast."

It does not say "not by works that are the result of human effort alone" - it says not "not by works" - period. These are works that are the result of human effort or works that are done in the power of God. MacArthur attempts to soften his false addition of works to salvation when he makes statements like this one:

"I do not believe that these are human efforts, I believe that this is what God does in your heart. God gives you a love for Himself. God gives you a heart to obey. God turns you from your sin. They're not pre-salvation human works, they're inherent in God's saving work."

He is still saying that a true believer will turn from his sin, obey God and their life will be a pattern of obedience. He just says since it is all done through God's power it really isn't a works based salvation. The problem is that whether the works are done through God's power or our own they are not a part of our salvation. This is clear from Paul's statements:

Romans 11:5-6(NIV)
"5So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace."

Romans 4:4-8(NIV)
"4Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.""

According to Paul, writing under the inspiration of God, if works were a part of our salvation then "grace would no longer be grace". If works are a part of our salvation then salvation cannot be credited to us as a "gift" but as an "obligation".

Paul tells us "God credits righteousness apart from works". This is an extremely important statement, because it completely contradicts MacArthur's whole thesis that "Salvation by faith does not eliminate works per se". Paul's statement is about our salvation through the imputed righteousness of Christ. Any Gospel that has ANY inclusion of works as a part of salvation falls flat on it face when compared with these scriptures and many others like them.

Many of Christ's statements regarding Discipleship have been regarded by theologians over the years as "hard sayings", not because they are hard to understand, but because they are hard to do and some if taken literally seem impossible for us to do. Lets take a look at a few of these "hard saying" passages.

The first one is a common theme repeated in the Gospels:

Matthew 16:24-25(NIV)
"24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.""

MacArthur says this is a clear reference to salvation. But is it? In light of all the scriptures which clearly teach salvation is a free gift of God, we must understand this as referring to our attempt at imitating Christ in our temporal sin-cursed bodies.

So what is Matthew 16 and other such passages really talking about? If we want to "come after" Christ, or be like him in our lives, we must deny our own needs and put his will first. If we want to "come after" Christ or be like him, we must be willing to die for our imitation of Christ. If we want to be like Christ, we must follow his example.

At this point I want to point out some scripture passages which I believe clearly gives us our motivation for imitating Christ with our lives after we are saved:

Ephesians 5:1-5(NIV)
"1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

2 Corinthians 5:14-15(NIV)
"14For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."

It is Christ's love that compels us to lead holy Godly lives. We are imitators of God because we live a life of love for Christ. Some of us show our love better than others. But just because some of us fail to imitate Christ in small ways, and others for much of their lives, this does not take away our sonship and thus our eternal reward. The scriptures tell us that "if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."(2 Timothy 2:13) After we are saved, we are his children, we are part of him and he cannot "disown himself".

Because of our understanding of passages like this one in Matthew 16 MacArthur and other Lordship advocates accuse free grace advocates such as myself of making obedience to the Lord after salvation "optional".

Yet we make no such claim, it is not optional and God commands us through his Apostles and prophets to lead obedient, holy and Christlike lives. On this we completely agree with Lordship advocates. Where we disagree is on the consequences of not obeying God's commands and not living the lives he wants us to live after we are saved.

The Lordship advocate says if someone's life does not demonstrate a pattern of obedience then they prove they were not saved. Free grace advocates such as myself believe the consequences of disobedience for a believer can be temporal unhappiness, and a loss of internal peace, loss of rewards in heaven and sometimes for extreme public disobedience loss of physical life, but never loss of eternal life.

What about passages like Luke 9:57-62?

Luke 9:57-62(NIV)
"57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 59He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family." 62Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

These verses demonstrate those who did not have a complete commitment to following Christ. And a key phrase here that is helpful for understanding other "hard sayings" of Christ is found in verse 62 - "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." We cannot be used in God's service until we are totally committed. Until we are willing to put aside the things that are hindering us from doing his will we cannot do what he would have us to do. It does not mean that if we are not willing to lay aside certain things he will not save us. We simply cannot be used of God until we do.

The last "hard saying" passage I will deal with here is one that is used often by MacArthur and other Lordship advocates to bolster their position. It is found in Mark 10:

Mark 10:17-23(NIV)
17As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone. 19You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" 20"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." 21Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 22At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"

Here is MacArthur's interpretation of this passage from his sermon "The Cost of Discipleship":

"This is what that says. "Jesus looked at the rich young ruler and said, One thing you lack. Go and sell all you possess and give to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven." Same message. You want eternal life? Give up all you have and take the treasure."

Jesus was not saying in this passage that the rich man had to sell all he had to receive eternal life. He was trying to show the young ruler that he was indeed a sinner and was dependent on God for his salvation. In verse 20 the young ruler made a bold statement about the commandments of God when he said "all these I have kept since I was a boy." We know that we must acknowledge our failure and our dependence on God in order to receive salvation. Christ wanted to bring him to this point. That is why he went for this man's biggest sin (not his only sin) and that was his dependance and trust in his wealth instead of God.

He did not need to sell everything he had to get eternal life, in fact Jesus stated that if he did he would have "treasure in heaven". This has erroneously lead some to teach that "treasure in heaven" is synonymous with eternal life throughout the New Testament. What he needed to do was acknowledge his sin and his need of a Savior - this is critical to salvation.

The last statement of MacArthur's that I want to zoom in on is this one from his book the Gospel According To Jesus:

"That was what Jesus meant when he spoke of taking up one's own cross to follow him. And that is why he demanded that we count the cost carefully. He was calling for an exchange of all that we are for all that he is."

The statement "He was calling for an exchange of all that we are for all that he is." reflects a common theme in MacArthur's teachings. In essense he is turning the free gift of God (our eternal salvation) into a gift exchange. Salvation is a one way transaction, it is God who chooses and it is God who does the giving. It is not us giving him something in exchange for our pardon from sin and eternal life.

Certainly it sounds nice, but it is not required or even accepted for salvation. God is the type of giver that will not accept anything in return. In fact the very reason God gives us rewards for righteous and God honoring living is to make sure we understand that our righteous lives are not seen by him as some sort of payback for our salvation. Yet this is exactly what MacArthur would have us to believe - that is an exchange of services - this is terrible theology.

While similar controversies have existed in Christianity almost since its beginning, the current one comes from a frustration with a lack of church discipline.

Instead of churches disciplining those who claim the name of Christ and are living in open sin, they invite them in and even condone the sin. They allow uncommitted Christians to hold offices and teach in the church. This is wrong and displeases God.

Throughout the history of the church many heresies have come about from good, godly men with good intentions. This is the case with MacArthur and those who think like him. Instead of insisting that churches discipline these disobedient believers, he calls on them to call into question their salvation. This results in obedience that is motivated by fear instead of one that is motivated by love for Christ.

I am not questioning whether John MacArthur is saved because I believe he is saved. But I believe he and others who believe as he does are in complete error on what motivates us to live obedient Christlike lives. I pray for him that he will return to the true and free Gospel of Christ.