Posted on 12/21/2021 6:40:18 PM PST by metmom
“God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name . . . that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:9, 11).
The Jesus who is Savior cannot be separated from the Jesus who is Lord.
Scripture never speaks of any human being’s making Jesus Lord. It is God who made Him Lord (Acts 2:36). Yet we often read statements such as this: “It is imperative to trust Christ as personal Savior and be born again. But that is only the first decision. Trusting Christ as Savior and then making Him Lord are two separate and distinct decisions. The two decisions may be close or distant in time. Salvation must always precede lordship. But it is possible to be saved without ever making Christ Lord of your life.” In effect that is saying Christ isn’t Lord unless we give Him permission—a completely unbiblical assertion. To be saved you must confess Jesus as Lord.
Jesus is called Lord throughout the New Testament. To omit the lordship of Christ from invitations to salvation would result in the elimination of numerous passages of Scripture. Peter’s sermon in Acts 2—“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21)—would need to be modified. Paul and Silas’ method of presenting the gospel—“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31)—would need to be corrected.
The centrality of the lordship of Christ is clear in the New Testament gospel. The Jesus who is Savior cannot be separated from the Jesus who is Lord. God cannot be separated from His authority, dominion, rulership, and right to command. When we acknowledge that Jesus is God, we mean He is all that God is.
Suggestions for Prayer
Worship the Lord Jesus Christ, using Psalm 8, a Messianic psalm, as the basis of your prayer.
For Further Study
Jesus is called Lord over 700 times in the New Testament. Use a Bible concordance as a handy way to check some of these many references to Christ as Lord.
Studying God’s Word Ping
Studying God’s Word Ping
Raised as a Catholic, I was under the mistaken impression that good works was the path and I feel a lot of still feel this way. But it was from listening to John that I learned this wasn’t the case.
That name is familiar.
Wasn't he the first pope?
I wonder what that phrase - ...calls on the name... means?
John 6:28-29 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
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1 John 3:21-23
It’s very difficult to shake a lifetime of indoctrination.
It is true that there are things we can do that please God, but that does not equate to them contributing to our salvation.
James probably doesn’t belong in the NT except as historical background. It was one of the first epistles written during the early days of the Christian era when the apostles weren’t sure if they were Jews with a new twist on God or something entirely apart from the Jews. This is why James ricochets back and forth between faith and works. About a decade later Paul settled the matter: Christianity was a new thing in the world.
It it also infers Christ isn’t necessary because people were performing good works before his time on Earth. I’m a practicing Catholic have enjoyed the bible teachings of John. He has a gift for explaining biblical things.
Gotta love him!
Jesus did.
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[c]”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
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