Romans 4:5, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
...his faith is counted for righteousness.”

       I want to make it clear to everyone that I DON'T believe nor teach Lordship Salvation. Nor do I believe nor teach Wrong Repentance. We are saved by faith alone in the message of the Gospel. The “Gospel” is the Good News that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, Who DIED on the cross for our sins. He was BURIED. And three days later He RESURRECTED from the dead (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). The only requirement to be saved is to admit that you are a guilty sinner in God's sight (Romans 3:19). You need to know what you're being saved from. Romans 3:20 says, “FOR BY THE LAW IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN.” God's LAW (Ten Commandments) give us the KNOWLEDGE that we are guilty sinners in God's sight, and brings us to Christ to be saved by GRACE (Galatians 3:24-26).

Having said that, I GUARANTEE to all my web visitors, that I will remove or edit any writings on my ministry websites that teach heresy concerning salvation. To my knowledge there are no heresies, or else I'd remove them. I don't believe Lordship Salvation, nor any variation thereof. We are saved by God's free grace, period. Nothing else is required. God gives us eternal life in return for our trust in His only begotten Son. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

Now, any evidence that a believer ought to have, to prove that he is saved, must be something that the lost man cannot do. Can a lost man go to church? Yes, so that is not evidence of salvation. Can a lost man do good works? Yes, so that is not an indicator of salvation. Can a lost man love other people? Yes, so neither can that be used as evidence of being saved. Can a lost person love their children and wife? Yes, so that is not an evidence of being saved. So what is it that a saved person has that a lost man doesn't? The answer is the indwelling Holy Spirit, and we cannot see that.

Therefore, only God and the person who is saved can know it...

“I believe if you love the Lord, there ought to be evidence. See, whether I do or not, you can have the evidence, but God's the one Who knows if you really love Him.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, a quote from his awesome MP3 sermon, “Must A Christian Live A Changed Life?”

Dr. Yankee Arnold is absolutely correct! A man can have all the signs that he loves his wife, yet be running around on her. So the signs aren't evidence of a husband's love. Likewise, there are no reliable signs to give evidence that a person is saved. Only God sees and knows if a person really loves Him. Yes, there ought to be signs in a believer's life that they are saved, but only God can see those evidences. It is possible to trust the Lord without loving him. Many people are saved, as were the chief rulers in John 12:42-43. They BELIEVED, but they DID NOT CONFESS HIM, because they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. The world is filled with carnal believers, who are POSITIONALLY RIGHT WITH GOD, but not CONDITIONALLY right with God. Dr. Jack Hyles explains this great truth in his MP3 sermon titled, “HOW TO BE RIGHT WITH GOD.”
 

I Don't Believe Genuine Repentance Must Produce “Results”

Kindly, there's a small nutty anti-Lordship Salvation crowd, who have gone so far as to condemn anyone who dares to say, that repentance includes a change of mind about sin in any way. This is the paranoid Jack Weaver crowd! Repentance is a change of mind from wrong thoughts to believing the Gospel. But that change from wrong thinking includes the admission that I am a guilty sinner, just as God hath declared me to be in His Word. You've got to realize that YOU ARE A GUILTY SINNER. Romans 3:19, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Salvation is so simple: LAW and GRACE. The LAW gives us the knowledge that we are guilty sinners, and then brings us to Jesus Christ to be saved by GRACE through faith. It's that simple. There are no outward evidences of salvation that WE CAN look for in another person's life, but GOD CAN look at the person's heart and see if they are truly born-again or not.

Genuine repentance produces faith in the Gospel, which brings the indwelling Holy Spirit, Who works to change a person as they grow in grace. Without proper mentoring, a believer likely won't grow in the Lord. They will remain babes in Christ, immature and stunted in their growth. There may never be any visible “results.” If it weren't for the New Testament, we'd never know that Lot was saved in the Old Testament. Lot moved his family to Sodom, which destroyed his entire family. 2nd Peter 2:7, “And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.” Lot was vexed in his soul, hating the filthy deeds of the wicked. Even though Lot lived in Sin City, he hated the sin itself.

I just want to make it clear to everyone, that I DON'T believe there are any VISIBLE evidences that a person is saved. Unsaved Mormon women often wear long beautiful dresses, which mislead many people to assume they are Christians. Churches of Christ require water baptism for salvation, which is a lie of the Devil that they are teaching, but they are some of the most morally upright people. So outward evidence means nothing. The unsaved false prophets in Matthew 7:21-23, to whom Jesus said He never knew them, spent their life preaching in Jesus' name and doing many wonderful works. No doubt, everyone thought they were saved, but they weren't. There will be redeemed murderers, thieves, adulterers and prostitutes in Heaven. There will be lost pastors, evangelists and popes in Hell. You don't go to Hell because you're bad. You don't go to Heaven because you're good. You go to Hell because you die in your sins without Jesus as your Savior. You go to Heaven because you submit to God's righteousness, through faith in Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:9; Romans 10:3-4). If a person rests completely in the cross of Calvary, trusting in a risen Savior, they are saved. If they are really saved, there may NEVER be any visible results or evidences of it. God alone sees their heart.

Albeit, when someone innocently says they believe that being saved should result in a changed life. Don't automatically bite their head off. It depends on what they mean by it. If you mean something inside should change, then they are correct. Only an ignorant person would deny this truth in view of 2nd Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” A saved person is a NEW CREATURE! That “new creature” is the Holy Spirit.

However, if by “a changed life,” you mean that we should be able to view changes in a saved person's life, then I totally disagree. I used to say that a changed life is the result of genuine repentance, and not a part of saving-faith. I don't say that anymore. I prefer to say, and I do now, that a changed life is the result of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and not a part of saving-faith. I am learning as I go, just like everybody else. Always be willing to move to the RIGHT, but never to the LEFT. That is, always be willing to improve, but never move toward wrong.
 

We Should Live Right Because WE ARE Saved, But Never TO GET Saved

Furthermore, when I have said in the past that “a changed life is the result of genuine repentance,” I never meant that it is mandatory, nor assurance of one's salvation. I simply meant that if there are any changes at all in a believer's life, it has nothing to do with salvation; but rather, it is because WE ARE SAVED. That is all I meant. People grasp for straws in an attempt to condemn everyone else, but they are barking up an empty tree with me. I have never believed or intentionally taught Lordship Salvation. And if you find some poor wording where I seemed to have done so, I am sorry and will remove it immediately if I learn of it. To my knowledge there are no such things anywhere on my websites today. And I've never had to go remove horribly heretical things that I was teaching, just some things that people misconstrued, that I felt could be reworded a little better. I have ALWAYS believed and taught a free grace view of the Gospel. I'm always laboring to refine my ministry and make it more honoring to the Lord. Always keep in mind, that the inspired King James Bible is our only authority, and never the writings of any man. All men are imperfect.

Fifteen years ago I used to tell people to “ask Jesus into your heart.” Over my dead body would I ever say something like that today. I don't like that terminology. Likewise, I used to lead people in a sinner's prayer to be saved. I don't do that anymore either. I've met too many lost people, who falsely thought they were saved, merely because they prayed a prayer. You don't get saved by praying a prayer, you get saved by placing your trust in the message of the Gospel. I'm not against a sinner's prayer accompanying the Gospel, which many good churches still use today, but I don't use it anymore. I simply share the Gospel with people, and then say to them, “Sir, or Mame, forgiveness of sins is a free gift, that Jesus paid for with His blood. Will you now place your complete trust in what Christ did to pay for your sins on the cross, believing that He was buried, and raised up three days later from the dead? Will you make that your only hope for Heaven?” If they agree, they are saved. I don't always use those exact words, verbatim, but something very close. I really hate most religious tracts, because they leave people thinking that they are saved by praying some stupid prayer.
 

If You Find Lordship Salvation On My Ministry Websites, I Will Remove It!

Anyone who is familiar with my ministry KNOWS that I don't believe nor teach Lordship Salvation, nor any variation thereof. I admit that there have been a few times over the past 15 years during my website ministry, where I poorly chose my words. Yes, I put my foot in my mouth (or should have...lol). Some critics cherry-pick my articles and don't take my full message into consideration. This is what unfair critics are doing to Pastor Charles Spurgeon. Criticism is always selective. I checked last week and presently have 102,000 files on my ministry websites. Folks, I'm bound to make a mistake or two. There are critics who would like to destroy my entire ministry, based on one or two poorly worded statements several years ago, that have long ago been removed or edited. I don't take the matter lightly. Nothing is more important than the clarity and simplicity of the Gospel. I promise everyone to do better, by God's grace.

Of the few times that I have been publicly critiqued, I have since removed or edited those comments. Here is my position on the matter, for anyone who accuses me of corrupting the Gospel of free grace...

So, please, if you read some garbage on the internet that attacks me, accusing me of teaching Lordship Salvation or Wrong Repentance, make sure to search my websites and verify that it is true. Most likely, you won't find anything. If you do, I will remove it immediately! I am just a flawed human being. I make mistakes. Sometimes I choose my words poorly. I believe in a free grace view of the Gospel. ~David J. Stewart

I guarantee my web visitors, that I will remove or edit any wrong teachings on my ministry websites. I have to give account to God for every word I type on the internet, and I CARE! So if you read some junk about me, and worry that I might be a heretic on salvation, I believe and teach a free grace view of the Gospel. Nothing other than simple childlike faith is required. You don't even have to “ask” Jesus to forgive your sins. That is correct! Jesus has already paid for all our sins with His precious blood. Forgiveness of sin is a gift. You simply accept it, by placing your trust in the Gospel. There are no evidences or behavioral tests of salvation, that we can use to determine outwardly, if someone is truly saved. The only way to know for certain is by the direct testimony from their own mouth.

I DO NOT believe that works are necessary to verify, seal nor confirm one's salvation. That's what Seventh-day Adventists errantly teach. They call it the doctrine of “Investigative Judgment.” That is, SDA's errantly teach Jesus entered into the heavenly Holy Place in the year 1844 to begin investigating every believer. If the life that you live here on earth, doesn't match up with your profession of Christian faith, you are annihilated. They don't even believe in a literal burning Hell. Folks, if you've submitted to God's righteousness, by faith alone in Christ's sacrifice on the cross of Calvary, apart from all human effort, you are saved permanently. Nothing else is required.

Salvation is a new birth, not a process. Sanctification is a lifelong process. That's where everyone gets confused, mixing salvation with sanctification. Salvation has nothing to do with discipleship. Salvation is totally free to the recipient, paid for by Jesus' precious blood; but discipleship will cost you everything, because you have to present your body as a living sacrifice to serve God (Romans 12:1). In salvation, Jesus gave Himself as a sacrifice in death, to pay for our sins. Now, in discipleship, it is our reasonable service to return the favor, although not required, to present our body as a living sacrifice to live for God.

The Epistle of 1st John was written to individual believers, not so that we can examine others to determine if they're saved. The Epistle of 1st John wasn't written so we could become fruit inspectors, and go around judging who is saved or not. 1st John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” The Epistle was written to the individual believer, so that “YE MAY KNOW” that ye have eternal life. The way that we may KNOW we are saved, is by determining whether or not we have the Holy Spirit living inside us (1st Corinthians 3:16-17).

Only God can see a person's heart. Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold rightly says...

“I believe if you love the Lord, there ought to be evidence. See, whether I do or not, you can have the evidence, but God's the one Who knows if you really love Him.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, a quote from his awesome MP3 sermon, “Must A Christian Live A Changed Life?”

If you love the Lord, there ought to be evidence of it!!! Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” But ONLY GOD can see that evidence. A man may have all the signs that he loves his wife, yet be running around on her. The same is true with salvation. A professed Christian may have all the signs of being saved, but never have been born again. Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life, without ever being born again!!! I love you all in the Lord, and my heart's only desire is to get folks saved, and help people grow in the Lord. I'm just a big sinner saved by God's wondrous grace!

“Repentance don't save you! Calling on the Lord don't save you! You know what saves you? Receiving what Christ done for you on the cross!” —Pastor Danny Castle, a quote from the needful MP3 sermon, “WHY THERE'S A HELL.”

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Souls Are Dying!

Precious Christian Testimonies

How Permanent Is Your Salvation?
(an excellent MP3 sermon by Pastor Hank Lindstrom, 1940-2008)

“The mark of the child of God is that he loves everybody!”
(a quote from Pastor Jack Hyles' classic MP3 sermon, “FORGIVENESS”)

Ye Must Be Born Again! | You Need HIS Righteousness!