“Have you heard of James P. Shelly’s ‘Clinging to a Counterfeit Cross’? I was reading parts of that today as well, and it greatly disturbed me. He makes some solid points. Sadly, I can find no Free Grace response to it, or refutation of the points he makes.
The same goes for Justin Edwards’ response to an article by Andy Woods titled ‘What’s wrong with Lordship Salvation?’ He counters each point that Woods makes. Not all of his points are convincing, but I still found it a very defeating work to read.
They both make me feel like giving up. I just can’t be that perfect. I can’t do it. Shelly equates belief with obedience based on a number of passages, and it’s hard to argue. Edwards counters the Free Grace (FG) argument about carnal believers being a reality (such as Lot and the Corinthian church) by pointing out that Lot was not habitually practicing incest, and that he was grieved by the sins around him. And the Corinthian believers, he notes, were only being carnal in the sense that they were quarreling with each other. He has a point... If they are right, then my heart is so wicked and deceitful, that I can’t even begin to see how lost I am. If they are right, then I’m not really seeking to know God or His truth, I’m only trying to comfort myself in my sin and blindness so I can carry on as always. And that means that all the FG teachers I talk to are merely misdiagnosing my problem and further comforting me on my way to hell.
It’s all so exhausting. I don’t have rest or joy. I desperately want that rest. But, if they are to be believed, it isn’t really rest that I want — I just want my ears tickled and my fears soothed so I can comfortably resume my journey to hell. I can’t win.” [Editor’s note: You can’t win with Lordship Salvation, that’s for sure!]
I briefly wrote back to this disturbed individual and pointed out the following:
“Paul says of the Corinthian Christians that they were ‘yet carnal’ (1 Cor. 3:1-3), indicating a prolonged carnality. It’s hard to argue with that. Edwards even admits it apparently. Relegating the carnality to mere quarreling doesn’t help his case any, for carnality is carnality. It’s so clear that even Edwards can’t deny it, so he tries to say, in effect, ‘Well it’s not so bad.’ (A rather nonsensical argument in light of the fact that some of the carnal Christians were being chastened by the Lord with physical death!) The carnality of the Corinthians was so prolonged in fact, that some of these believers had even been disciplined by the Lord with physical death: Paul says that a number of them ‘sleep’ (1 Cor. 11:30-32), which is a metaphor for physical death. Reformed people have always tried to get around the reality of the carnal Christian, because such people have obviously not submitted to the Lordship of Christ yet they are nonetheless saved. So proponents of Lordship Salvation try to come up with a way to dismiss the fact of the carnal Christian. But none of their arguments are convincing in light of the clear statements of Scripture, which highlight the reality of the carnal Christian.
Actually, I’d say that it is the Lordship Salvationists who are ‘Clinging to a Counterfeit Cross’ (see Matt. 7:21-23; Jn. 6:40), because they are trusting in a works-based salvation and therefore a false gospel. Concerning such a ‘gospel’ the apostle Paul writes the following to the Christians in Galatia: ‘I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the [free] grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ’ (Gal. 1:6-7). The apostle Paul goes on to say that ‘heaven is free’ (Gal. 4:26, Worldwide English NT). So don’t be like the Galatian Christians, but instead cling to Free Grace!”
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