How Many People Believe In Free Grace Theology?

 It is hard to estimate how many people hold to Free Grace theology as Free Grace theology is interdenominational, however we may attempt to estimate approximate numbers based on things such as how much people read Free Grace material or through social media.

Charles Ryrie

Firstly, the influence of Charles Ryrie is notable, his study bible has sold over 2,6 mil copies and his other books have sold 1.5 million copies. However, Ryrie's Free Grace theology may be more "moderate" than the form taught by others, as Ryrie held that faith does always lead into good works in his interpretation of James 2. Ryrie was not Lordship however, as he still taught that turning from sin is not a pre-requisite of salvation, repentance is a change of mind, carnal Christians exist, the distinction of salvation and discipleship among others. I would also argue that Ryrie is sometimes inconsistent in his comments.

Other Free Grace authors also sold many copies, although they are in the tens of thousands, for example Dillow's "The Reign of the Servant Kings" sold 25,000 copies. I also found sources which say Zane Hodges sold tens of thousands of copies, although I did not find an exact number. However, there are a big number of other Free Grace theologians who wrote books, often reaching numbers in the thousands or tens of thousands. However, one more notable author is Charles Stanley, whose book "Eternal Security: Can You Be Sure?" sold 9 million copies. Stanley in this book presents the Free Grace view of salvation, where he argued that even apostasy cannot make one lose their salvation, he also held positions such as the "Outer darkness" not being hell, but a metaphor for the loss of rewards the unrighteous believers will get (this position is taught by some but not all in the Free Grace camp). However, Stanley in his later life would stop preaching Free Grace theology.

Classical Free Grace theology has also been taught by Grace School of Theology, Florida Bible College and Chafer Theological Seminary, which together have taught many thousands, who in turn influenced other people.

Watchman Nee was a Chinese theologian in the 20th century, who held many Free Grace views, in fact his exegesis of James 2 is basically identical to that of Hodges, holding that the word "save" is not about eternal salvation. Watchman Nee's theology is the basis of the local church movement, which are estimated to number around 500.000 and 2 million. Watchman Nee was influenced by the Plymouth Brethren.

Free Grace theology is also common in Independent Baptist churches, numbering around 800.000. Although their view of strict King James Onlyism is not generally taught by classical Free Grace theologians and even there, Free Grace theology is not the majority. How big of a percentage of Independent Baptists teach Free Grace theology? I do not know, although it is a notable position in the movement. Assuming that at least 10% of Independent Baptists hold to Free Grace theology, there may be 80.000 Free Gracers in their churches, though it may be more.

Going through social media and looking at the size of Free Grace YouTube channels, we find the following numbers:

• Yankee Arnold has 19.000 subscribers
• GES has 8.000 subscribers
• Onorato Diamante has 9.400
• Free Grace Alliance has 850 subscribers
• Grace School of Theology has 1000 subscribers
• Duluth Bible Church has 4000 subscribers
• Andy Woods has 70.000 subscribers
• Grace Institute of Biblical Studies has 1600 subscribers
• Grace Community Fellowship has 3600 subscribers
• The Layman's Seminary has 1740 subscribers

This however is not sufficient to know the real number of Free Grace believers, as not everyone owns a Free Grace book or is even subscribed to a Free Grace YouTube channel, in fact it is bad to expect that the number of YouTube subscribers accurately reflects the number of those holding a belief, for example Calvinistic Youtubers may have a few million followers in total, yet the number of people in Calvinistic churches is in the tens of millions worldwide. There are also many who hold to Free Grace theology without being directly connected to the Evangelical world, thus the previously considered material is only partial. Additionally, the number of copies sold is not perfect in examining the number of Free Gracers, as some who have bought these books are already dead, people often buy multiple books and not everyone who bought the book will inevitably agree with the views contained in them. 

Thus we can only guess and get rough estimates using the data.

It should be mentioned that somewhat more "unorthodox" forms of Free Grace theology are taught by hyper and ultradispensationalists, although holding to radical and somewhat heretical views, such as that the Old Testament saints were saved by works, they hold that the "church age" works in a Free Grace way, where one cannot lose salvation, nor is it necessary to "prove" it with works. Hyperdispensationalists may number at around 300.000-600.000, as people such as Robert Breaker and Gene Kim have amassed a very high number of followers. Although Hyperdispensationalists generally teach a form of Free Grace theology, I suggest being weary of their doctrines, as they do teach unorthodox views, splitting the bible in dangerous ways. Some forms of Hyperdispensationalism may lead into somewhat Antinomian views, although not the majority view. 

Somewhat similar views to Free Grace theology are also held by Primitive Baptists (which number around 100,000), however their "radical" view of election is a major distinction from Free Grace theology. 

Thus, the real number of those who believe in Free Grace theology is hard to know, yet based on the data, it may be estimated that there may be from 2 to 6 million who hold to some kind of Free Grace theology (counting in all forms thereof).