[True believers confess their sin (1:8-2:1) Confess here doesn't mean to recite every wrong that we have ever done. Rather, it means to agree with God about our sin. That means that true believers hate their sin; they don't love it. They acknowledge they are sinful, and yet they know they are forgiven.]

[True believers keep His commandments (2:3-4; 5:2-3). The term here refers to a watchful, observant obedience. Here the believer desires to obey truths he deems precious. It involves a proactive approach to obedience-the Christian studies Scripture in order to understand and obey it.]

[True believers love the brethren (2:9-11; 3:10, 14-15; 5:2). Ask yourself the question, "Do I love God's people and desire to be around them?"]

[True believers affirm sound doctrine (2:20-23; 4:2,6). John here teaches that no true believer will fall into any serious, Christ-denying error or heresy.]

[True believers follow after holiness (2:29; 3:3-4, 6-9). These verses certainly aren't talking about sinless perfection, or even the frequency or duration of sin. The term sin in these verses describes one who lives an immoral, ungodly, unrighteous life as a matter of continual practice, and carries the attitude of hardened hate for God's righteousness.]

Please note what he says about "assurance of salvation".

Part One

[There are two important tests in Scripture for a person to determine whether or not he or she is a true believer.]

[There is first of all an objective test, which asks, "Do I believe?" Ask yourself if you affirm the Scripture's record of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Do you believe that He is God manifest in the flesh? Do you believe that God saves sinners solely through the merits of Jesus Christ's obedient life and substitutionary death on the cross?]

[Second is the subjective or experiential test of assurance in which you ask yourself, "Is my faith real?" The apostle John's purpose in writing the epistle of 1 John was to give true believers assurance of their salvation (1 John 5:13). In that small epistle John gives several marks to distinguish a true believer.]

[True believers walk in the light (1 John 1:6-7). The light here means both intellectual and moral truth. Ask, "Do I affirm the truths of Scripture, and desire to obey them?"]

1. Someone who preaches heresy is called a heretic. It's not that difficult, so you shouldn't have a problem with that.

2a. I wonder why you didn't mention Jmac's email address and refer a certain evangelical feminist to write him about his supposed heresy?

2b. I am not here to obey evangelical feminists, but the Lord Jesus Christ, who is my Lord, and whom I serve. How on earth you can justify telling me what to do, I am at a loss.

3. None of my posts are rabbit trails. You just trot out that statement because you cannot gainsay my arguments. You know this full well, but being a woman you hate the very idea of being wrong, so you try to make up for it in other ways.

4. The grace of God is evidenced and seen by those with eyes to see. I have already shown this from scripture. A good tree brings forth good fruit. By their fruits you will know them, whether they be good or bad.

5. If you want the truth about what JMac says about assurance of salvation, please check out the following article where he addresses the subject.

https://www.gty.org/library/questions/QA165/how-can-i-be-sure-of-my-salvation

Frank wrote:
...
I don’t have to make Christ my Lord. If I belong to Him, He is my Lord and I am His servant.

A Christian is bought with a price, ransomed from the slave-market of sin, and he is indeed a servant of the purchaser.

I find it remarkable that some extremists can imagine to separate 'Lord' and 'Saviour'. He is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The chances are that some are duped by the strawman arguments which abound in this controversy. I've no doubt if pastor Jmac was confronted with pastor Shep's accusation, he would supply a refutation and give an explanation which would satisfy him, or at least ought to satisfy him.

The other thing is that Jmac did not invent the doctrine of Lordship Salvation; it has been around since the Bible was first written (as is easily proved) and diverse preachers over the history of the Christian church have balked at it. But they have always been in the minority.

There are some who listen to one sermon and take the message on board without much thought, such as the Gary Shepard sermon recommended earlier. I thought it wise to expose it as incorrect. And I think it unwise for them to refer to pastor Mac as an heretic.

[Believe it or not, it is the Lordship position which actually embraces a full-orbed free grace ... this is because, God initiates and gives us new life SO THAT WE MIGHT believe. AND that same new disposition, brings us to repentance. Repentance is necessary for our salvation ... the gospel itself clearly and unambiguously says so ... this is no gospel addition .. but again, it certainly does not come from our own natural intrinsic ability. God's grace is what enables us to do so. If we look at 2 Tim 2:25 it speaks of how believers are to respond to persons who oppose the gospel and what God may do for them it says, "Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will GRANT THEM REPENTANCE leading them to a knowledge of the truth"]

God's grace is visible.

Acts 11:23 KJV
(23)  Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.

For those who are interested in the whole business of lordship salvation, it is necessary to get a consensus, arrived at by listening to many different preachers, because not all will hold exactly the same thing. This happens in other areas of Christianity, why not in this? For example:

[The essay you sent also charges the Lordship people as believing that ..."the promises of God's Word, while necessary for assurance, are not sufficient. One must also look to his works. No believer can have 100% assurance of salvation merely by looking to the promises in God's Word to the believer." Really? On the contrary, the Reformed position is the only position that trusts in the promises of God as sufficient.]

https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/lordship.html

I think pastor Shepard needs to investigate his subject more thoroughly. Biblically, he is in error on this. And that is mine own personal opinion.

Wayfarer pilgrim wrote:
Has Great Britain ever offered the world anything but Marxism and evolution?

Frank wrote:
Amen brother and thanks for those wonderful verses.

The preaching of the cross, namely, the preaching of penal substitution or penal satisfaction, where Christ dies in the place of God's elect, is the power of God at work in all who are saved, who come to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who see it as foolishness will assuredly perish, because there is no other way of salvation under heaven, given by God.