But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Galatians 1:8,9
The importance of this question can't be overestimated in relation to both salvation and sanctification. The message of faith only and the message of commitment of life can't both be the gospel; therefore, one of them is a false gospel and come under the curse of perverting the gospel or preaching another gospel.
“It is an inexcusable error to confront sinners with problems that concern the Christian life and call upon them to make promises regarding them. An unsaved person is never called upon to surrender himself to God. The saving act is in no instance represented as our 'giving ourselves to God'; it is, on the contrary, taking His Son as our Savior.” Ryrie, Charles. Balancing the Christian Life. Moody Press, Inc., 1969 (p. 170).
“The second approach finds faith in the gospel alone an 'easy Believism' and seeks to add something to faith in order to accomplish salvation. To repent is to 'change one's mind,' and to believe is to remove one's trust from that in which it has rested and place it in Christ.” Howard, William. “Is Faith Enough to Save?” Bibliotheca Sacra. January-March, 1942 (p.99).
“This kind of faith is not 'easy believism'. It is not easy to say, 'I can't save myself, I must recognize that there is something wrong with me, and I must seek help from someone else.'” Hook, H. Phillip. “A Biblical Definition of Saving Faith.” Bibliotheca Sacra. April-June, 1964 (p. 133, 138).
“Eternal life is free. Discipleship is immeasurably hard. The former is attained by faith alone, the latter by a faith that works… the former brings with it the righteousness of God so that a man is 'justified freely by his grace' (Romans 3:24). The latter develops a personal righteousness, based on good deeds, so that a man was also 'justified by works' (James 2:24). The former constituted the believer God's workmanship, the latter fulfilled the wonderful purpose for which he had been created. The former cost man nothing, the latter could cost him everything, including life itself.” Hodges, Zane C. The Hungry Inherit. Moody Press, Inc., 1972 (p. 114, 115).
“There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel, to be a disciple one obeys the challenge to a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ; discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation can't be lost because it depends upon God's faithfulness, but discipleship can be lost because it depends upon our faithfulness.” Dehaan, M. R. Hebrews. Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117).
“For the unregenerate man, repentance is the change of mind whereby he turns from unbelief to faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.” Post, Roger. “The Meanings of the Words Translated 'Repent' and 'Repentance' in the New Testament.” Master's Thesis, Wheaton College, June 1972 (p. 80).
“There are those who, in their zeal to get people to turn from their sinful ways and receive the Lord, almost put repentance on a par with believing… Repentance, as it relates to Christ, means to change our minds about Him, who He is and what He's done to provide forgiveness and deliverance from our sins. When we place faith in Jesus as having taken our place personally on the cross and borne the penalty due our sins, then we're automatically repenting, because we couldn't accept Him in this way without having had to change our minds in some way concerning Him.” Lindsey, Hal. The Liberation of Planet Earth. Zondervan Publishing House, 1974 (p. 136, 137).
“Discipleship is frequently equated with salvation and often erroneously made a condition for becoming a Christian”. Pentecost, J. Dwight. Design for Discipleship. Zondervan Publishing House, 1971 (p. 11).
“Certainly discipleship is a most important aspect of our relation to Christ, but it belongs to the sphere of Christian life rather than entrance upon that life… One does not become a disciple in order to become a Christian, but because he has become a Christian by faith in the Savior, it is fitting that he embark upon a life of discipleship”. Harrison, Everett F. “Must Christ be Lord to Be Savior?-No.” Eternity, September 1959 (p. 14).
“There is no more piously subtle abrogation of the Gospel than to tell a Sinner that he must not only believe in the Savior, but dedicate himself to do God's will, crown the Savior Lord of his life, etc., etc. Obviously, dedication and service are highly desirable, but they are the privilege and the duty of the saved, never a condition of salvation for the unsaved (cf. Romans 12:1, 2).” Unger, Merrill F. God is Waiting to Meet You. Moody Press, 1975 (p. 117, 118).
“People are sometimes led to believe that there is saving value in some public confession of Christ, or profession of a decision. “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness.” This is salvation. “With the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” This is the voice of the newborn child speaking to and of its father. The only condition on which one may be saved is to believe.” Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Salvation. Dunham Publishing Company, 1917 (p. 46).
SUMMARY
Lordship salvation is where someone teaches that there must be a commitment to Christ as Lord of one's life in order to be saved. Recently there has been a modification of this position to say that willingness to be controlled by the Lord at the time of salvation is all that is required in addition to faith in order to be saved. The message of faith only and the message of faith plus commitment of life can't both be the gospel; therefore, one of them is a FALSE GOSPEL and comes under the curse of perverting the gospel or preaching another gospel. Galatians 1:8, 9 says, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed.” If only committed people are saved people, then where is there room for carnal Christians? What kind of dedication must be preached to people, if in order to be saved, they have already dedicated their lives to the Lord? Where do you stop if you start adding something else to this which is the gospel revealed in the Bible? Look at what God says about adding to the revelation of Jesus Christ (gospel), “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book (Revelation 22:18).” The Bible plainly declares that we are saved by faith, and not by works. Where does it say this? Ephesians 2:8, 9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.” What are you trusting in to get you to heaven?