Nixing So-Called Easy-Believism

A. W. Tozer said that God will not save those whom He cannot command--what a deathblow to those who deny lordship salvation! [Lordship salvation means you must accept Christ as Lord as well as Savior to be saved.]  Some refer to this as antinomianism (against the law, we are not under the law, but we are not lawless--the sinner knows no law and the saint needs no law!) and think that they have permission to live as they please, simply because they are secure in their salvation.   It all has to do with the sovereignty of God and His divine prerogative to rule us and all His creation as He sees fit to His glory. Every knee shall bow according to Phil. 2:10 (either in this life or in the hereafter at  Judgment Day). In surrendering,   I recall the song "All hail the power of Jesus' Name! Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all."

Many people have lordship issues with life per se: e.g., some say, "I don't like to take orders." Some fear a taste of authoritarianism and lack of individuality and infringement on their free will. We have authority figures in our culture from the time we are children when parents are in loco Dei (in the place of God). Even the king is accountable to God! Actually, the 5th commandment to honor our parents really can be applied to respect all authority and to give honor to whom honor is due even to the emperor. Some people say they believe in God and do lip service but are practical atheists (believing in God, but denying Him by their witness and testimony), because they live like there is no accountability and authority above their own person. I got news: Everyone is under the authority and no one is above the law--we all reap what we sow, according to the law of the harvest.

Christ is "Lord of all" regardless of our decision and even Satan has to take orders from above and get permission for his mischief.     We don't make Him Lord--He is already Lord. We acknowledge His sovereignty and control and ownership of our lives--to do less is to reject Him. Do you own Him as your personal Lord--can you freely (if you don't know, you will at the judgment) confess Him as your Lord, as Thomas did: "My Lord and my God." Jesus is either Lord of all--or not Lord at all. "There is not one maverick molecule in the universe," says  renowned theologian and pastor R. C. Sproul, "which is out of His control." The toss of the die is in His control as well (c.f. Prov. 16:33)--yes, He micromanages  (even the minutiae) the cosmos and superintends all to His glory and purpose---nothing escapes His attentiveness.    Soli Deo Gloria (to God alone be the glory).

The question we must ask ourselves is whether we are holding out on God and if we are gung ho or not to the Great Commission. We cannot escape authority figures who teach us to respect and obey, but we must not kowtow or pay homage to any human as to God. We don't want to get lax, lethargic or blasé about serving God, but getting with the program and having a vision. ("Without a vision, the people perish," Prov. 29:18.) In our daily lives we are not to leave God out of the reckoning and out of the equation, as it were, but to seek His revealed will and be committed to it. The greatest prayer we can pray is this: "Into Thy hands, I commit my spirit, and not my will, but thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This means there is no secular versus sacred areas of our lives but we can worship God in all that we do and bring glory to Him in everything ("Whatsoever you do, do to the glory of God," says 1 Cor. 10:31).  Our lives are to be in harmony with God and then we will have His blessing and smooth sailing, so to speak. The easiest way to put is to "Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

"Father knows best," (everything is "Father-filtered, as it were) we should say, as we sell out lock, stock, and barrel to the Lord. If we are not in God's will, and this is the safest place to be, trusting Him, we are what we call "wandering in the wilderness" like Israel  (i.e., in a trial period), and we must learn to submit to Christ as Lord just as we have trusted Him as Savior--by faith! "The just shall live by faith" (Rom. 1:17). 

Let's summarize:  it all has to do with respect for authority and honoring all people because we are all in the image of God.  1 Pet. 2:17 says to "honor all people," and Rom. 13:7 says to give "respect to whom respect is due."  With all due respect, we disagree, but we don't slander or libel one's reputation, or cast a slur on our fellow man.   Soli Deo Gloria!