Does 1 Corinthians 16:22 Support "Lordship Salvation"?

Proponents of “Lordship Salvation” teach that in 1 Corinthians 16:22, the apostle Paul is presenting a condition for eternal life. John Piper is a prime example of someone who teaches this. For example, in his book Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, Piper quotes 1 Corinthians 16:22 and a list of other Bible verses about loving God, and then says: “This is what it means to be converted to Christ. This alone is the way of life everlasting.”[1] But is this what 1 Corinthians 16:22 is teaching? Let's take a closer look at the text.

First I would like to point out that in the context of 1 Corinthians chapter 16, the apostle Paul is not even talking about how to have eternal life. That's not the context. In chapter 16, Paul is basically taking care of some "housekeeping" items: he's giving some final instructions to the church before he ends his letter. But how are we to understand Paul's statement "let him be anathema" in verse 22? Is Paul talking about eternal condemnation, or maybe something more along the lines of excommunicating a person from the church? A. T. Robertson, the famed New Testament Greek scholar, gives a helpful insight here. Commenting on 1 Corinthians 16:22 in his Word Pictures in the New Testament, Robertson writes the following in regards to the word "anathema" in verse 22: "Anathema. The word seems a bit harsh to us, but the refusal to love Christ (ou phile) on the part of a nominal Christian deserves anathema (see on 1 Corinthians 12:3 for this word)."[2] Notice that Robertson refers to this person as "a nominal Christian". Hence, the issue in 1 Corinthians 16:22 is similar to that of the "so-called brother" (1 Cor. 5:11, NASB) about whom Paul gave instructions earlier in his letter (see 1 Corinthians chapter 5). The issue that Paul addressed in chapter 5 was in regards to church discipline: a man in the church was living in gross immorality, and Paul's instruction to the church was "not to associate with" him. In 1 Corinthians 16:22, Paul is likewise addressing an issue of church discipline concerning "a nominal Christian". This is the context of Paul's statement of "anathema" (16:22). This is important because church disciple is not for unbelievers, but for believers (see 1 Cor. 5:1-13, 11:32; Heb. 12:6; Rev. 3:19).

Commenting on 1 Corinthians 12:3, Robertson says that the word anathema means "curse". But what kind of curse? Interpreting the word anathema to mean "eternal damnation" would not fit the pattern established by Paul earlier in his letter concerning how to deal with the "so-called brother". Concerning this person, Paul wrote to the church saying, 

"For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside God judges. Remove the evil person from among yourselves" (1 Cor. 5:12-13). 

This is not eternal condemnation; Paul is clearly talking about excommunicating the sinning person from the church. Commenting on 1 Corinthians 16:22, Chrysostom similarly understands the word anathema to mean separated from the assembly of believers, not eternal condemnation in hell. Notice what he says: 

"What then is the curse? Hear his own words, 'If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed.' (anathema, 1 Cor. xvi. 22.) That is, let him be set apart from all, removed from all. For as in the case of a thing dedicated (anathēma), which is set apart for God, no one would venture so much as to touch it with his hand or even to come near it; so too with a man who is put apart from the Church, in cutting him off from all, and removing him as far off as possible, he calls him by this name (anathema) in a contrary sense, thus with much fear denouncing to all men to keep apart from him, and to spring away from him. For the thing set apart, no one, from respect of it, ventures to come near to. But from him who is cut off, all men separate themselves from a very opposite feeling. And so the separation is the same, and both the one and the other are equally removed from the generality."[3] 

Thus it becomes clear that in 1 Corinthians 16:22 the apostle Paul is not setting forth a condition for eternal life; rather, he is talking about God's discipline on believers (cf. 1 Cor. 5:5, also 5:1-13). Commenting on this verse, Manford Gutzke affirms this when he writes: "Personal commitment and loyal service to Christ Jesus was the prerequisite Paul demanded for any person who wanted to have fellowship with him."[4] 

For more information see the excellent article by Bob Wilkin titled: "Love The Lord—Or Else—1 Corinthians 16:22".[5] 

References:

[1] John Piper, Desiring God, pp. 69-70.

[2] A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, commentary on 1 Corinthians 16:22. Note: Frederic Godet in his commentary on this verse similarly refers to these people as Christians. (See F. Godet, Commentary on St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, Vol. 2, p. 471.)

[3] Chrysostom, "Homily XVI, on Rom. 9:1" (https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf111.vii.xviii.html). Note: In his book Synonyms of the New Testament, R. C. Trench affirms these exact statements by Chrysostom. Commenting on the words anathēma and anathema in the New Testament (and specifically mentioning "Acts xxiii. 14; Rom. ix. 3; 1 Cor. xii. 3; xvi. 22; Gal. i. 8, 9"), Trench says: "if we turn to the Greek Fathers, we shall find some of them indeed neglecting distinctions [between the words anathēma and anathema]; but others, and these of the greatest among them, not merely implicitly allowing it, as does Clement of Alexandria...but explicitly recognizing the distinction, and tracing it with accuracy and precision; see, for instance, Chrysostom, Hom. xvi. in Rom." (Trench, Synonyms, p. 18, ellipsis added.)

[4] Manford Gutzke, Plain Talk on First and Second Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978), p. 155, commentary on 1 Corinthians 16:22.  

[5] Bob Wilkin, "Love The Lord—Or Else—1 Corinthians 16:22" (Grace in Focus, July 1, 1995),

https://faithalone.org/grace-in-focus-articles/love-the-lord-or-else/