The Controversy Over Lordship Salvation

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By Ronald Nash on May 20, 2009 ,

The Controversy Over Lordship Salvation

Author: Ronald Nash

The debate over what has become known as “lordship sal­vation” involves the relationship between salvation and obedience. In 1988 the controversy was given new impetus with the appearance of the book The Gospel According to Jesus by John F. MacArthur, Jr.1 MacArthur states that his reason for writing the book was concern over what he saw as evan­gelical teaching of a defective view of salvation. According to MacArthur, the central claim of his book “is that the gospel summons sinners to yield to Christ’s authority.”2

One major source of the position MacArthur was criti­cizing was Zane Hodges, author of The Gospel Under Siege.3 Soon after the appearance of MacArthur’s book, Hodges pub­lished his reply in a book titled Absolutely Free A Not to be out­ done, another opponent of “lordship salvation,” Charles Ryrie, came out with his own response, So Great Salvation.5 All three books sold tens of thousands of copies, which suggests a lot of interest and possibly also a lot of confusion about the subject. . .

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Ronald Nash

Professor

Ronald Nash, Professor, (1936-2006) taught for over 40 years, teaching in the areas of worldview, apologetics, ethics, theology, and history. He was the author of numerous books, including The Concept of God and Faith and Reason. He earned his Bachelor's degree at Barrington College, and a Master's degree at Brown University, before going on to receive his Doctorate in Doctoral Philosophy Syracuse University in 1964. Following his doctoral work, Nash became the Chairman of the Department of Philosophy and Religion and Director of Graduate Studies in Humanities at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he served for 27 years. In 1991, he became Professor of Philosophy and Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida.

 

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