Christ the Lord: The Reformation and Lordship Salvation
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Overview
Michael Horton, a preeminent voice for reformation in the church, has drawn together a group of leaders in the Reformed and Lutheran traditions to weigh in on the free grace and Lordship positions on salvation. Offering a “Reformation response” to these controversies, the writers draw on Scripture, theology, and church history to address the issue from a mainly historical perspective. They explain their positions clearly, finding a path between legalism and antinomian feelings.
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- Examines the Lordship salvation and free grace positions in relation to Scripture, theology, and church history
- Gathers contributions from a number of Reformed voices
- Explores the debate in light of Reformation theology
- Foreword by Alister E. McGrath
- Introduction: “Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” by Michael Horton
- “Repentance in Romans” by Robert B. Strimple
- “The Law According to Jesus” by Rick Ritchie
- “What Is Faith?” by Kim Riddlebarger
- “Union with Christ” by Michael Horton
- “Calvin and the Council of Trent” by W. Robert Godfrey
- “Christ Crucified between Two Thieves” by Michael Horton
- “An American Tale” by Paul Schaefer
- “A Battle Royal” by Paul Schaefer
- Conclusion: “Christ Died for the Sins of Christians, Too” by Rod Rosenbladt
- Appendixes
- Ten Propositions
- Benjamin B. Warfield on Lewis Sperry Chafer: A Review of He That Is Spiritual
- Select Doctrinal Statements from the Reformation
Top Highlights
“Faith, according to Reformation theology, is not conversion, obeying God’s commands, repentance, or commitment to live a new life. It produces inevitably all of these effects (contra Hodges), but it is not itself to be confused with its effects (contra MacArthur). This is an essential issue, of course, because what is at stake is the biblical and evangelical doctrine of sola fide (faith alone).” (Page 39)
“Our ‘determination of the will to obey truth,’ our repentance, our surrender, and our commitment—none of this has anything whatsoever to do with our justification. All these things are simply necessary (that is, inevitable) fruits of justification. The tendency to condition justification on moral transformation is always a departure from the biblical message.” (Page 43)
“Discipleship is given to and required of all the justified, but it is not itself the good news in which we place our confidence, trust, and hope. Repentance ought indeed to be preached along with the call to faith, as the flip side of the coin of conversion, but these two must be distinguished if we are to maintain ‘faith alone.’” (Page 49)
“They need to hear that there are not two classes of Christians, but that they own all of the blessings of salvation regardless of the level of their piety or devotion. We are not either carnal Christians or spiritual Christians; rather, all Christians are simultaneously sinful and spiritual—not because of their ‘surrender,’ but because of Christ’s. We are all in the same category, simply at different points along the way.” (Pages 32–33)
Michael Horton is J. Gresham Machen Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California. He is the president of White Horse Media, and cohosts the White Horse Inn, a nationally syndicated, weekly radio talk-show exploring issues of Reformation theology in American Christianity. He is also the editor-in-chief of Modern Reformation magazine. Before coming to WSC, Horton completed a research fellowship at Yale University Divinity School. He is the author/editor of 20 books, including The Gospel-Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way, Made in America: The Shaping of Modern American Evangelicalism, and Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church.
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