Free grace In the late 1980s, Hodges and
John F. MacArthur presented differing views over the gospel through various books, generally known as the "
Lordship salvation controversy". Hodges propagated the
free grace position, which teaches that the free gift of eternal life is without cost to the believer, that it comes through simply believing in Jesus Christ and there is no need of any repentance or obedience to be followed. A distinction is recognized between believing (which results in receiving eternal life) and submission to the Lordship of Christ (which is part of the sanctification process). Free grace Theology also teaches that once a person believes in Jesus Christ, he cannot lose his salvation. MacArthur argued instead for
Lordship Salvation, claiming that salvation is by faith alone, and it would lead to repentance and results in good works, and that a true Christian would not continue sinning without remorse but would instead obey God's commands to do good works. MacArthur viewed biblical faith as always leading to surrender and obedience, while Hodges taught that biblical faith was the conviction that something is true.
Repentance Hodges rejected the view of
repentance as a "change of mind", holding instead the view that it is a God-fearing decision to turn from sin: "Repentance is the decision to turn from sin to avoid, or bring to an end, God's temporal judgment" (
Harmony with God, p. 57). Hodges stresses that repentance facilitates faith in Christ, but is not a condition for eternal salvation, nor is it part of faith itself. "It is one thing to say that repentance
facilitates faith in Christ—the Bible teaches that. It is quite another thing to say that repentance is a
requirement for eternal life. That the Bible does
not teach" (
Harmony with God, p. 93). Initially in his book
Absolutely Free! and later in more detail in his book
Harmony with God Hodges took the position that the process of repentance may be a preparatory step in coming to salvation and should be evident in the life of a believer, but eternal life is received by believing in Jesus, not by turning from sin. Hodges points out that the gospel of John, which he claims is the only book of the Bible written to lead the unsaved to Christ, never uses the term "repentance." In
Harmony with God Hodges says there is only one answer to the question, "What must I do to be saved?" Hodges emphatically states, "[Paul's and Silas's] answer said absolutely nothing about repentance. Instead they gave the famous and simple reply 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved' (Acts 16:31)."
Majority Text In 1982, Hodges published with Arthur L. Farstad an edition of
The Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text with Apparatus. The
Byzantine text-type, or
Majority Text, is considered by its advocates to be a more accurate rendering of the Greek
New Testament, in contrast with the
Alexandrian text-type, which is used in the
Nestle-Aland (N/A) text and the United Bible Societies Greek Testament (UBS). Hodges argues: == Works ==