Absolutely Free: A Biblical Reply to Lordship Salvation

by Zane C. Hodges

In Absolutely Free! Zane Hodges deals with a question that strikes at the heart of the Christian faith, "What must I do to be saved?" By examining various Bible passages Zane Hodges demonstrates the answer today is still "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." This answer is set in contrast against modern "lordship salvation" teaching which answers "Surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." or "Repent to the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." While looking at what the Bible teaches about eternal salvation, he answers other key questions about the Christian life from the Bible such as, "What does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ?", "How do I know I am really a Christian?", "Can I fail in my Christian walk?", "What is the biblical meaning of repentance and how does it relate to salvation?" and "If I am saved, why should I serve God?" The end result of this book motivates individuals to simply believe in Jesus Christ for the absolutely free gift of eternal life and to serve Jesus out of gratitude for that free gift. This book is a great guide on how to build one's life on a firm foundation.

Genres: Theology, Christian

238 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1989

Reviews

[Danny Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there is a theological debate among Christians that keeps me up at night, it is this one. It is one thing to disagree on the Millennial Kingdom, Predestination and Free Will, ect., but the debate between Free Grace and Lordship Salvation involves the very nature of the Gospel. Hodges is the point person on the Free Grace side, the side I hold to. There are more technical and exegetical works that competently interpret the Scriptures to explain the Free Grace view. This book by Hodges is for the lay person who wants to understand the arguments for the Free Grace perspective. MacArthur represents the Lordship view and it is important to read Hodges' endnotes to see the fallacies in MacArthur's view. I know this is a debate the raises blood pressures, it certainly does for me, but I hope this is a debate that Christians can communicate together with grace and patience. Both sides see the other as completely misguided, but I hope Christians can speak lovingly towards each other as we debate. I think most people's intentions are good.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the third book by this author I've read and by far the best. Hodges rejects the "lordship" view of salvation, promoted in recent years by John McArthur and others. He shows why it is unbiblical and opposed to the teaching of Luther and Calvin. I really was surprised by the quotes from those two Reformation men. Boy, have their followers moved away from salvation by grace. The book was a reminder again of the many things we add to salvation -- lordship, repentance, surrender, baptism, submission, fruit, sacrifice, and 'come forward.' Favorite verses Hodges used for grace salvation were: Rev. 22.17 "Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." Titus 3:5-7 "Not by works of righteausness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." Hodges was very clear on the difference between salvation and discipleship. "Although salvation cannot be lost, defeat in the spiritual conflict must be taken seriously..." A new thought for me was that a person who has never been sure of eternal life "has never believed the saving message of God." I'll have to consider that.
"...lordship theology exposes Christians to spiritual defeat. By stripping us of the unconditional certainty that we possess eternal life, it dangerously erodes the solid ground we need beneath our feet." Hodges did say that although repentance is not a condition for salvation, God can use repentance to draw men to saving faith in Christ, as God uses gratitude, or fear.

[Clara Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zane Hodges has one thesis for this book. Salvation is absolutely free. The most instructive chapter for me was his chapter on repentence. Almost all evengelistic training that I have had starts with the sinners prayer of "I repent...." Hodges is emphatitic that repentence is not a part of salvation but belief is. If you read or listen to John MacArthur you will see that he make a compelling case for Lordship Salvation but Zane Hodges makes a more compelling case for Absolutely Free. When John writes that the purpose of his writing his gospel is a call for salvation, but not once in the whole gospel of John does he use the word repentence. Hodges quotes scripute, early church fathers and reformers and hyms to point out that salvation depends only on belief. Hodge's refutes MacArthur point by point.

[Kelsie Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. What an amazing book. I’m so glad I found this.

[Tom Talamantez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jesus talked a lot about sin, salvation and hell. "Why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I say?", "go and sin no more", "he who practices evil hates the light", "fruitless branches are cut off from the vine and thrown in the fire." The implication of verses like these is that repentance as an action is manifested in the life of the believer. Putting your faith in Jesus requires one to turn from sin. Hodges belief is what Bonhoeffer called cheap grace. I think this is a dangerous book and will lead people into a false sense of security. Paul tells us to "exam yourselves to see if we are in the faith. Don't you know you've been bought with a price unless of course you fail the test." On that final day, Jesus will tell some "depart from Me, I never knew you." Scary words to be sure, but words you will here if you think faith is nothing more than a fire insurance policy. Books I recommend: The Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoeffer, The Gospel According to Jesus by MacArthur, Pursuit of Holiness by Bridges and Knowing God by Packer. Oh and the Bible, read that first.

[MightySSStrawberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely eye-opening! The only thing required to be saved from eternal damnation is to believe that Jesus is who He says He is. There is absolutely NOTHING we can do to save ourselves. That is the WHOLE point of why Jesus had to die for us in the first place! To think we can achieve eternal life by something we as sinful humans can do is naming Jesus a liar and claiming that His sacrificial death was not enough. To claim that is the highest arrogance. Apart from Him we can do NOTHING. Eternal life is absolutely free, and this author does a good job of explaining the difference between salvation and discipleship. Two different things. You become a disciple out of gratitude for what Jesus did (died for every sinner) not because you have to do something to earn it. You cannot earn salvation. It’s impossible because of sin. We can’t follow all the laws perfectly. So Jesus was the only way to save us. Just believe. That. Is. It.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unsuccessful, but sadly influential. Hodges does his best to support the anti-"lordship salvation" position but just comes up short. There are a few times where the reader can see how someone would come to Hodge's belief (that a true Christian does not need to be a disciple of Jesus to be saved), but the weight of Scripture quickly dissuades one from going down that path. A major issue with the book is that it simply fails to deal with many of the key passages that seem to decisively argue against Hodge's position. And even for some of the ones that Hodge does address, he does not effectively show how they do not contradict his position. The author protests at calling what he advocates for "easy-believism" but when he consistently stresses that all you need to do is "believe" (which he says is just assenting to the facts of the Gospel), comments about how easy this is, and proclaims over and over again that this is "absolutely free," it is really hard to see why "easy-believism" is not an accurate description. I am interested in some of what the author quotes John Calvin as saying regarding belief and repentance, but I need to do more research on that.

Ultimately, what takes down Hodge's stance is Jesus' own words "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?"

If you want to read a fantastic rebuttal to this position, read "The Gospel According to Jesus" by John MacArthur.

[Adam Spikes · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional book in defense of Free Grace theology especially in contrast to the ever-popular Lordship Salvation theology. With undeniable biblical evidence, Hodges boldly proclaims God's free gift of salvation through faith alone or as he puts it in the book, sola fide. A second edition of the book (released 25 years after the original) is said to have the notes intermingled within the body of the book instead of grouped together as a chapter at the end. This may provide the reader with further evidence within the context of the subject matter of each chapter. It is my desire to read the second edition to compare it to the first.

[Roi Buenviaje · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that needs to be read by everyone

[Robert Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome book , the gift of god is free or it would not be a gift.

[Andrew Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's clear from the extreme reviews of this book (as of this review, all are 5's or 1's) that there are significant statements made in it. This book is considered by many to be the flagship argument by the "free grace" camp. Even if you are non-f.g. it is definitely worth a going-over.

Hodges provides a fresh review [at the time] of legalistic perspectives that have begun to work their way into evangelical thought.

This might be to the extreme an argument against the Lordship Perspective. Perhaps Hodges stretches their position too thinly, builds a "straw man" at times, or simply takes their "positions" to their logical conclusion. That being said, I am not convinced that the brashness or the severities of the attacks are unwarranted.

Summary: Hodges allows God's grace as the only means for salvation from hell and the means for motivation towards Godly living. Hodges' perspective still allows for a defensible theology and strongly encourages Godly lifestyle.

[Bob Gooch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read along with The Gospel According to Jesus: What Is Authentic Faith?.

The author presents the "free grace" side of the "free grace" vs "lordship salvation" written in answer to MacArthur's book.

I did not finish the book because there were many obvious misinterpretations of Scripture, which is surprising considering the author was a seminary professor. There were personal attacks and condescending statements made in the book also, but none that were too bad.

Based on these two books alone, MacArthur is the clear winner of the debate over Hodges.

[Michael Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hodges delves into many different passages concerning salvation and repentance, but defines some of these words differently than most, depending upon the context. He believes most writers in the New Testament are writing to Christians and therefore, one must look at repentance differently. A thought provoking book. I do believe he creates some "straw men" when discussing lordship salvation.

[John Biglin]

I was blessed today to get a signed copy a friend had. Thank You Jesus!!!!

[Justin Rose]

I learned from this book that someone can have sincere intentions, but still be wrong.