Monday, May 5, 2014
390 - Lord and Savior: A Package Deal
Spirituality Column #390
May 6, 2014
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville
Accepting Jesus Christ as Savior is easy. Accepting Him as Lord is hard.
I mean, who wouldn’t want salvation? Jesus did all the work, undertook all the risk, endured all the pain, did it without being asked, and did it for love. And, He is, after all, God – the Son of Man, the Son of God, God incarnate, fully God, fully man, fully worthy and powerful to be our savior. With no effort on our part, we receive divine, eternal love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, hope and joy in exchange for simple, childlike faith. It’s a pretty good deal.
Even if we don’t quite understand salvation, aren’t sure why we want or need it, think heaven is a longshot, and at any rate figure “I am a good person,” salvation still is the ultimate free lunch. Jesus on the Cross, dead then resurrected, presents mankind with a never-ending, glorious fellowship with God Almighty in heaven.
“Jesus saves!” Hallelujah! All we have to do is get in line.
But as truly as “Jesus is savior” describes how Jesus treats us, believing “Jesus is Lord” implies a monumental and frequently frightening responsibility for how we are supposed to treat God. God is serious about it. Often we are not.
Our faith in Jesus as savior is one thing, a good thing. But faith in Jesus as Lord isn’t about God giving us something like salvation which we haven’t and couldn’t possibly earn; it’s about trusting God to be who He says He is, and then trusting Him with our lives not only in heaven, but here on earth. Saying “Jesus is Lord” demands our obedience, confession, humility, surrender, perseverance, suffering and the ceding of all authority. These are abdications few can bear.
For sinful humans – and that’s everybody – worldly things (money, lust, power, comfort, etc.) typically “lord” over our lives. We want God’s saving gifts, but we also want carnal control. Selfishly we proclaim, “Jesus is my savior!” but insist, “I’m in the best position to decide what and who are going to lord over my life.”
Naming Jesus as Lord implies an uncomfortable debt on our part, even though our debts were erased by Jesus on the cross. Our salvation is not a transaction – technically I suppose it’s not even a “deal" – it’s a miracle, a mystery, a promise, and God’s love. We all know that saying “Lord, Lord,” (Matthew 7:2, Luke 6:46) does not open heaven; but following Jesus’s command to love God and love others, does.
“Lord and Savior” is the whole truth. We don’t get one without the other.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) cautions against seeing our salvation in Christ as the Good News and his Lordship as the bad news.
May 6, 2014
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville
Lord and Savior: A
Package Deal
By Bob WaltersAccepting Jesus Christ as Savior is easy. Accepting Him as Lord is hard.
I mean, who wouldn’t want salvation? Jesus did all the work, undertook all the risk, endured all the pain, did it without being asked, and did it for love. And, He is, after all, God – the Son of Man, the Son of God, God incarnate, fully God, fully man, fully worthy and powerful to be our savior. With no effort on our part, we receive divine, eternal love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, hope and joy in exchange for simple, childlike faith. It’s a pretty good deal.
Even if we don’t quite understand salvation, aren’t sure why we want or need it, think heaven is a longshot, and at any rate figure “I am a good person,” salvation still is the ultimate free lunch. Jesus on the Cross, dead then resurrected, presents mankind with a never-ending, glorious fellowship with God Almighty in heaven.
“Jesus saves!” Hallelujah! All we have to do is get in line.
But as truly as “Jesus is savior” describes how Jesus treats us, believing “Jesus is Lord” implies a monumental and frequently frightening responsibility for how we are supposed to treat God. God is serious about it. Often we are not.
Our faith in Jesus as savior is one thing, a good thing. But faith in Jesus as Lord isn’t about God giving us something like salvation which we haven’t and couldn’t possibly earn; it’s about trusting God to be who He says He is, and then trusting Him with our lives not only in heaven, but here on earth. Saying “Jesus is Lord” demands our obedience, confession, humility, surrender, perseverance, suffering and the ceding of all authority. These are abdications few can bear.
For sinful humans – and that’s everybody – worldly things (money, lust, power, comfort, etc.) typically “lord” over our lives. We want God’s saving gifts, but we also want carnal control. Selfishly we proclaim, “Jesus is my savior!” but insist, “I’m in the best position to decide what and who are going to lord over my life.”
Naming Jesus as Lord implies an uncomfortable debt on our part, even though our debts were erased by Jesus on the cross. Our salvation is not a transaction – technically I suppose it’s not even a “deal" – it’s a miracle, a mystery, a promise, and God’s love. We all know that saying “Lord, Lord,” (Matthew 7:2, Luke 6:46) does not open heaven; but following Jesus’s command to love God and love others, does.
“Lord and Savior” is the whole truth. We don’t get one without the other.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) cautions against seeing our salvation in Christ as the Good News and his Lordship as the bad news.
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