‘That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ (Kurios) and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved’ (Rom 10:9-10).
Christian scholars agreed that the four biographies of Jesus Christ were written within the lifetime of people who saw, heard and followed Jesus. Beyond the inconsistent agenda of Jesus Seminar, a group of scholars for classical Christianity led by Robert Funk and their quest to demote Jesus,[1] the Gospel accounts by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John contained specific narratives confirmed by those who were eyewitnesses to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In a number of places in the New Testament Jesus is called “Lord.” The word translated Lord is from the Greek word Kurios. Jesus, a man of miraculous birth with unique character, our high priest is above the power of sin. He is Lord over all Satanic temptations. Jesus’ identity is a way of life rather than mere academic or philosophical fact. Jesus became flesh, and died for us and rose to reconcile us to God as Lord and Saviour.
Jesus is Lord; He is the Lord of heaven and earth (Matt 28:18). Beyond a Christian slogan, the term Lord meant a supreme authority, King, Owner and a guide to true discipleship. God highly exalted Jesus ‘given Him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father’ (Phil 2:9-11). God authenticated Jesus as Lord and Christ through his supernatural birth with angels who told shepherds; and through Jesus’ myriad of miracles – including the casting of demons, healing all diseases, raising Lazarus from the dead, feeding of thousands from a few loaves and fishes, stopping a storm, walking on water, all to establish Jesus as Lord with all power and authority (Jn 20:31, Matt 28:18).
To say Jesus is Lord is to acknowledge Jesus as Lord of all. According to apostle Paul, ‘there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ (1 Cor 8:6, Rom 10:12), and Jesus warned, ‘whoever disowns me before men, l will disown him before my Father in heaven (Matt 10:33). Jesus, the Son of Man, by his own words was ‘delivered in to the hands of men,’ killed and after three days rose from the dead. Jesus as Lord, rising from the dead, declared, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me … I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not live in darkness, but will have the light of life. For those who believe in him … I give them eternal life…’ (Jn 11:48, 14:6, 8:12, 10:28, Mk 9:31). Jesus is Lord , the giver of eternal life. Just as the early Christians proclaimed the truth that ‘there is salvation in no one else (other than Jesus Christ); for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved,’ the Church today is called to proclaim Jesus as Lord (Acts 4:12). The early Christians did not disown Jesus as Lord. The first century church did not preach any other thing, ‘Jesus is Lord was the earliest Christian creed.’[2] To say “Jesus is Lord” was to deny the claim “Caesar is Lord.” To say Jesus was Lord and Saviour, the one who brings peace and is good news is at the same time, in a covet way, to say Caesar was not Lord and not Saviour.
After Pentecost, first sermon preached by Peter explained that, ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’ (Act 2:21). Centuries after Peter’s admonition, people like Augustine, Wesley and many others set apart Christ as Lord in their hearts. Salvation to them was not by works but obedience that comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, hence without Jesus there is no Christian and without Jesus there is no Church. Jesus warned, ‘he who does not love me will not obey my teaching …’ (Jn 14:24). Obedience to Jesus’ teaching helps us to remain dependent on him as Lord. We must not succumb to a lie of Satan that say it is hard or impossible to obey the teachings and commands of Jesus (Matt 11:29, Matt 23:37).
The question is, have you ever consciously received Jesus Christ as YOUR Lord? Have you ever committed to him that you will obey him the rest of your life? Do you experience the fruit of the Spirit in your life, supernatural joy, peace, and love? There is a cost to receive Jesus as Lord (Lk 14:28-33). The cost is a call to discipleship. A disciple in this context is one who gives his or her whole life, actions and philosophy of life over to follow Jesus. A disciple must imitate His Lord by learning, knowing and obeying the Master’s will. When a disciple confess ‘Jesus is Lord,’ it is not a magical salvation creed but a kind of relationship with Jesus. It is a relationship shaped by submission, respect and obedience.
The question Jesus asked His Apostles as well as his disciples, ‘why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not the things that I say?’ (Luke 6:46) resonates with Christians in this age of tolerance and rejection of absolute biblical truth. This question cuts to the heart of every person who claims to follow Jesus Christ. Growth and progression in the church and Christian life involves hearing, deciding, and doing. The reflection is, why do you preach and do not confess Jesus as Lord? To talk the talk, we need to walk the walk. Beyond the hope in ‘nirvana of Buddhism, the paradise of Islam, the eternal progression to godhood of Mormonism, or the freedom from the cycle of reincarnation and union with Brahman of Hinduism,’ Jesus is Lord, the way, and the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6). In obedience to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, as disciples, we are called and commanded to obey all of the commandments and not just picking and choosing the ones we want to obey; we are to function as salt and light of the world (Matt 5:13-14); we are commanded to forgive those who offend us; Jesus commanded us to make the Kingdom of God our top priority through self denial and to stop worrying about the challenges of this temporal world (Matt 6:25-34). As followers of Jesus, we are commanded to embrace His teachings, to do that, you and l need to honestly say that Jesus is the Lord of our life and confess our sins to him for forgiveness and renewal (Jn 8:31).
[1] Funk, Robert W. and the Jesus Seminar (eds), The Gospel of Jesus: According to Jesus Seminar(Santa Rosa: Polebridge Press, 1999), pp. 1-3, 107
[2] Arias, Mortimer, Announcing the Reign of God: Evangelization and the Subversive Memory of Jesus (Lima: Academic Renewal Press, 2001), p. 56
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