JESUS CHRIST-LORDSHIP
Clearly many
Christians have not embraced the fact that Christians must be committed to
Christ and His teachings. They may have mentally assented to certain gospel
facts...joined a church...repeated a prayer...walked forward at an evangelistic
meeting. But by any biblical measurement they were never converted. There was
no transforming conviction of sin, no repentance, no commitment to Christ's lordship,
no love for those who love Christ.
A man who was
merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral
teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is
a poached egg – or else the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either
this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something worse. You
can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you
can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any
patronizing nonsense about his being a great moral teacher. He has not left
that open to us. He did not intend to.
C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity, MacMillan
Publishing, p. 56.
In order for
any to have Christ as their Saviour they must first have received Him as their
“Lord” (Col. 2:6; Acts 2:36), as their King to rule over them, for God saves none
in their rebellion against Him. We must cease our rebellion against Him and His
authority and give Him the throne of our hearts as our ruler or He is not our
Saviour no matter what our profession.
I.C. Herendeen
Accepting Christ.
American
Christianity tends toward a kind of "easy-believism." The Gospel is
often presented in a way that suggests that someone is saved as soon as he or
she has "accepted" Jesus as Savior, even if that
"acceptance" never manifests itself in the emotional and volitional recentering of the person's entire life. But this is
actually the paradigm of the sort of dead and fruitless faith that the whole
New Testament condemns.
Mark Talbot
We evangelicals make the foolish
mistake of thinking that when enough souls decide to make Jesus the Lord of
their lives, that He will become the Lord of all things. The reality is that
Jesus is already Lord over all things. His kingdom, strictly speaking, does not
expand, for even now it knows no borders. He does not, therefore, engage in
some sort of power sharing arrangement with other pretenders to His throne,
whether they be false deities, or those who falsely
worship them. His lordship is not something we accomplish. It is something we
recognize and submit to. It is not something we negotiate; it is something we
proclaim.
R.C. Sproul Jr.
Kiss
the Son, Tabletalk, June 2008, p. 81, Used by Permission.
There was no
“easy believism” in Paul's presentation of the Gospel. Decision was to be
accompanied and followed by devotion. Jesus Christ IS Lord and, therefore, MUST
be Lord in our lives.
Stephen Olford
There is not
an inch of any sphere of life of which Jesus Christ the Lord does not say,
"Mine."
Abraham Kuyper
I have now
concentrated all my prayers into one, and that one prayer is this, that I may
die to self, and live wholly to Him.
C.H. Spurgeon
We often hear
the "Savior" characteristics of God stressed- his love, mercy,
goodness and so on – but the matter of his lordship is absent. The
distortion is particularly clear in evangelism. In modern practice the
call to repentance is usually called an "invitation," which one can
obviously accept or refuse. It is offered politely. Seldom do we
hear presented God's sovereign demand to repent or His demand for total
submission to the authority of his appointed king, Christ Jesus.
James Montgomery Boice
Taken from "Foundations of the
Christian Faith-Book I" by James Montgomery Boice, page 120.
(c)1986 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship of the USA,
Revised edition. Used by permission of
InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515. www.ivpress.com http://www.gospelcom.net/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=991.
In Romans 10:9 Paul identifies the confession of Jesus as
Lord to be an essential element in the gospel message.
Sam Storms
The Lordship Salvation Debate, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com.
Used by Permission.
Saving faith is a working faith. That faith by means of
which we are justified is the kind or quality of faith that produces
obedience and the fruit of the Spirit. In the absence of obedience, in the
absence of fruit, in the absence of submission to the lordship of Jesus, there
is doubt whether the faith is saving.
Sam Storms
The Lordship Salvation Debate, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com.
Used by Permission.
The doctrine of Lordship Salvation views saving faith
neither as passive nor fruitless. The faith that is the product of
regeneration, the faith that embraces the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the
cross energizes a life of love and obedience and worship. The
controversy is not a dispute about whether salvation is by faith only or by
faith plus works. All agree that we are saved by grace through faith, apart
from works (Eph. 2:8-10). But the controversy is about the nature of the faith that saves. According to
Lordship Salvation, Sola fides iustificat (faith alone justifies), sed non fides quae est sola (but not the faith which is
alone).
Sam Storms
The Lordship Salvation Debate, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com.
Used by Permission.
We
do not “make” Christ Lord; He is Lord!
Those who will not receive Him as Lord are guilty of rejecting Him. “Faith”
that rejects His sovereign authority is really unbelief. Conversely,
acknowledging His lordship is no more a human work than repentance (cf. 2
Timothy 2:26) or faith itself (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9). In fact, it is an
important element of divinely produced saving faith, not something added to
faith.
John MacArthur
The Gospel According to Jesus, ©
John MacArthur, 1988, p. 28.
A Christian is not
one who simply buys “fire insurance,” who signs up just to avoid an unpleasant
after life. A Christian…repeatedly, is one whose faith expresses itself in
submission and obedience. A Christian is one who follows Christ, one who is
committed unquestionably to Christ as Lord and Savior, one who desires to
please God. His basic aim is to be in every way a disciple of Jesus Christ.
When he fails, he seeks forgiveness and wants to move forward. This is his
spirit and his direction.
John MacArthur
The Gospel According to Jesus, © John MacArthur, 1988, p. 197.
Acknowledging [Jesus]
as Lord by obeying Him…in no way establishes a gospel of human works. Notice
that it is the Holy Spirit who enables a person to confess Jesus as Lord: “No
one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3).
John MacArthur
The Gospel According to Jesus, © John MacArthur, 1988, p. 209.
When we come to
Jesus for salvation, we come to the One who is Lord over all. Any message
omitting this truth cannot be called the gospel according to Jesus. It is a
crippled message that presents a savior who is not Lord, a redeemer who does
not demonstrate authority over sin, a weakened, sickly messiah who cannot
command those he rescues.
John MacArthur
The Gospel According to Jesus, © John MacArthur, 1988, p. 209-210.
He is Lord, and
those who refuse Him as Lord cannot use Him as Savior. Everyone who receives
Him must surrender to His authority, for to say we receive Christ when in fact
we reject His right to reign over us is utter absurdity. It is a futile attempt
to hold onto sin with one hand and take Jesus with the other. What kind of
salvation is it if we are left in bondage to sin?
John MacArthur
The Gospel According to Jesus, © John MacArthur, 1988, p. 210.
The question
in salvation is not whether Jesus is Lord, but whether we are submissive to His
lordship.
John MacArthur
Contrary
to what is taught in some evangelical circles today, there simply is no such
thing as trusting Christ as Savior without at the same moment submitting to Him
as Lord. Whereas the believer was once under the lordship of Satan, through
saving faith he eagerly places himself under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Whereas he was once the enemy of God and the slave of sin, he is now the loyal
subject of his Lord and Master.
John MacArthur
James,
Moody Publishers, 1998, p. 204.
Yield
yourself to Christ’s claims. Give Him the throne of your heart. Turn over to
Him the regulation of your life. Trust in His atoning death. Love Him with all
your soul. Obey Him with all your might and He will conduct you to heaven.
A.W. Pink
The Way of Salvation.
Thousands are
deceived into supposing that they have “accepted Christ” as their “personal
Saviour,” who have not first received Him as their
Lord. The Son of God did not come here to save His people in their sin,
but “from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). To he saved from sins, is to be
saved from ignoring and despising the authority of God, it is to abandon the
course of self-will and self-pleasing, it is to “forsake our way” (Isa. 55:7).
It is to surrender to God’s authority, to yield to His dominion, to give
ourselves over to be ruled by Him.
A.W. Pink
Another Gospel.
What our Lord
said about cross-bearing and obedience is not in fine type. It is in bold print
on the face of the contract.
Vance Havner
A wife who is
85% faithful to her husband is not faithful at all. There is no such thing as
part-time loyalty to Jesus Christ.
Vance Havner
Under
the New Covenant, however, it undergoes a subtle variation in that Christ sets
Himself forward as the comprehensive Lord, a position that we understand can
only be accorded to God Himself. The justification for this remarkable claim by
Christ is twofold: first, by very nature He was God and second, His person as
the God-man was awarded the full title “Lord” (i.e. Yahweh) upon the completion
of His mission in this world (Phil. 2:9-11). We should not be surprised, then,
to hear Him say, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (Matt. 28:18).
Tom Wells
Taken from "New Covenant Theology"
by Tom Wells and Fred Zaspel, page 67. (c)2002 New Covenant Media, Used by
permission of New Covenant Media, 5317 Wye Creek
Drive, Frederick, MD 21703-6938. http://www.newcovenantmedia.com/home.php
Christ
is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all.
Hudson Taylor
I cannot
conceive it possible for anyone truly to receive Christ as Savior and yet not
to receive him as Lord. A man who is really saved by grace does not need to be
told that he is under solemn obligations to serve Christ. The new life within
him tells him that. Instead of regarding it as a burden, he gladly surrenders
himself – body, soul, and spirit- to the Lord who has redeemed him, reckoning
this to be his reasonable service.
C.H. Spurgeon
I wish that
saints would cling to Christ half as earnestly as sinners cling to the devil.
If we were as willing to suffer for God as some are willing to suffer for their
lusts, what perseverance and zeal would be seen on all sides!
C.H. Spurgeon
Our relation to
Christ is based on His death and resurrection and this means His Lordship. Indeed
the Lordship of Christ over the lives of His people was the very purpose for
which He died and rose again. We have to acknowledge Christ as our Lord. Sin is
rebellion, and it is only as we surrender
to Him as Lord that we receive our pardon form Him as our Savior. We have
to admit Him to reign on the throne of the heart, and it is only when He is glorified in our hearts as King that the Holy
Spirit enters and abides.
W.H. Griffith Thomas
St. Paul’s Epistle to
the Romans, Eerdmans, www.eerdmans.com,
1946, p. 371.
The
Greek word…Kurios
can mean the teacher who has authority over disciples, the master who has
command over servants, or the lord who has power over all. With Jesus, all
three meanings apply.
Joel R. Beeke
Portraits
of Jesus, Tabletalk, April, 2008. Used by Permission.
All
the grace contained in [the Bible] is owing to Jesus Christ as our Lord and
Savior; and, unless we consent to Him as our Lord we cannot expect any benefit
by Him as our Savior.
Matthew Henry
When our Lord
appeared in human form in history the angel announced His coming in the words,
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord” (Luke 2:11). He cannot be divided. The Savior and Lord are one.
Ernest C. Reisinger
What
Should We Think of the Carnal Christian? 1978, p. 19-20. By
permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA.
It is vital
in this connection to notice how the apostles preached the lordship of Christ.
The word “Savior” occurs only twice in the Acts of the Apostles (5:31; 13:23),
on the other hand the title “Lord” is mentioned 92 times, “Lord Jesus” 13
times, and “The Lord Jesus Christ” 6 times in the same book! The gospel is:
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved.”
Ernest C. Reisinger
What
Should We Think of the Carnal Christian? 1978, p. 20. By permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA.
It
is altogether doubtful whether any man can be saved who comes to Christ for His
help with no intention to obey Him.
A.W. Tozer
It
is either all of Christ or none of Christ! I believe we need to preach again a
whole Christ to the world – a Christ who does not need our apologies, a Christ
who will not be divided, a Christ who will either be Lord of all or will not be
Lord at all!
A.W. Tozer
Salvation
apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred Scriptures... Apart from
obedience there can be no salvation, for salvation without obedience is a
self-contradictory impossibility.
A.W. Tozer
[Some]
take some things of Christ not the whole Christ. They think it’s
only believing on Him as a Saviour for pardon
of sin; they do not choose Him as Lord to whom in all obedience they resign themselves.
This is indeed the rock that splits many, tell them of believing in Christ, and
they think that is only to rest on Him for salvation, they attend not that it
is receiving of Christ for all ends and purposes God sent Him into the world.
Anthony
Burgess
Expository Sermons on John 17, 1656.
People love
God everywhere except on His throne.
Author Unknown
You call Me
master, and obey Me not; You call Me light, and see Me not; You call Me the
way, and walk Me not; You call Me life, and live Me not; You call Me wise, and
follow Me not; You call Me fair, and love Me not; You call Me rich, and ask Me
not; You call Me eternal, and seek Me not.
If I condemn thee, blame Me not.
Author Unknown