The Second Blessing Conflicts with the Gospel in the Area of Lordship Salvation
Article #10 on Baptism
Christians have debated about the baptism of the Holy Ghost in Church History. Genuine and authentic believers are on both sides of the debate. Some people believe that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is the same thing as getting saved in a new birth experience by faith and repentance in the Gospel. Others believe the baptism of the Holy Ghost is a Second Blessing: the first blessing is bestowed upon sinners when they are saved in a new birth experience by repenting and believing in the Gospel, and the second blessing is bestowed upon believers in a post-conversion experience called the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Any doctrine that contradicts Scripture is dangerous, especially if it is in direct conflict with the Gospel. The doctrine of Second Blessing conflicts with the Gospel in the area of Lordship Salvation. Answering the following question will help us expose this conflict.
How do Believers Get the Second Blessing?
The Second Blessing is not a quiet and gradual experience of sanctification. There is a definite moment of experience after conversion where you are instantaneously blessed in a second work of grace. Believers are told to desire the Second Blessing. They are told to seek after it, and that they will certainly know when they get it. It is a definite experience! Nobody can claim to have the Second Blessing if you can’t identify when you got it.
definite experienceDuncanCampbell
definite experienceR.A. Torrey
knowR.A. Torrey
definite experienceA.B. Simpson
Of course, this kind of preaching will lead people to ask the questions. How do you get the Second Blessing? Clearly, some people get it and others don’t. What do believers have to do to get the baptism of the Holy Ghost? Proponents of this view say that it is divinely given based upon certain conditions. Believers must come to a place of absolute surrender to God. Surrendering to God is sometimes described yielding everything, putting yourself absolutely at God’s disposal, or laying down your life wholly at the feet of Jesus.
surrender themselves absolutely to GodR.A. Torrey
yield everythingDuncanCampbell
put ourselves absolutely at God’s disposalR.A. Torrey
a life laid wholly at His feetDuncan Campbell
a full surrenderA.B. Simpson
If absolute surrender is the requirement for the Second Blessing, it cannot also be the requirement for salvation. This is where the Second Blessing conflicts with the Gospel in the area of Lordship Salvation. “If He is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.” (Leonard Ravenhill). One major part of the Gospel is the declaration: Jesus Christ is the Lord. The Lordship of Jesus Christ demands the absolute surrender of all men. Sinners get converted to Christ when they respond to the Gospel by faith in absolute surrender. Compare the former quotes about the Second Blessing with the following about Lordship Salvation.
SaviorLordLordSaviorLordSavior
A great once-for-all"LORD, I SURRENDER" is needed!
full surrender
Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?unreservedsurrenderingyielded yourself
ruled
the Lord's willSaviour
rebel
King
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon himWhosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple
There is a conflict between the Second Blessing and Lordship Salvation. The explicit and word-for-word contradiction is frightening to behold! And the consequences are eternal for perishing souls. Many people seeking the Second Blessing should be seeking salvation! Now is the time to examine ourselves (2 Cor. 13:5). If your confession that “Jesus Christ is the Lord” was void of absolute surrender to God, then it is my duty to tell you that your confession was vain, unprofitable, and fake. The Bible is very clear on this point (Matt. 7:21-23, Rom. 10:9, Lk. 6:46). There is no subcategory of Christians who are truly saved and yet they refuse to come to a place of absolute surrender to Jesus Christ.
The Second Blessing doctrine is appealing to Christianity in modern times because the Churches are full of false converts. A watered-down Gospel produces false converts. A pure Gospel produces true converts. Of course, people will be attracted to the Second Blessing if they feel that their conversion to Christ by the Gospel was void of absolute surrender. Plenty of namesake Christians believe that they are truly saved even though they have a mediocre religious life. Only a powerless Gospel will produce these mediocre results. The real Gospel is “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16)! “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17). I pray that many will reconsider their stance on this issue and return to the foundations of the Gospel.
“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” – 2 Tim. 2:19
