ARTICLES >> JESUS IS LORD


"Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted Him, and 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 Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father." (Phil. 2:9-11)


"...if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." (Romans 10:9 ASV)


"For everyone who calls upon the Name of the Lord (invoking Him as Lord) will be saved." (Romans 10:13 Amp)


The Bible says that if you confess Jesus as Lord, call upon the Name of the Lord, invoking Him as Lord you will be saved. In the original Greek, the word 'saved' is 'sozo' meaning, "to save, deliver, protect, heal, preserve, make whole." When you truly make Jesus your Lord you have a right to not only salvation from sin, but also deliverance, protection, healing, preservation and wholeness. However, many people are not experiencing these benefits because they have not wholly submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, God the Son. Many Christians exclaim "Jesus is Lord!" but so very few think about or apply what they are saying.


The word 'Lord' occurs an amazing number of times in the Bible: 7,738 in all. In the Hebrew and Greek, 'Lord' means, "Supreme in Authority, Controller, God, Master, Self-existent, Eternal One, Blesser, Absolute Ruler." So, when you say "Jesus is Lord" you are not just repeating a catchy Christian cliche but are actually saying, "Jesus is Supreme in Authority, God, my Master, Controller and Absolute Ruler!" Glory! However, many people say this but don't mean it. Herein lies a major part of the problem of why many Christians aren't experiencing victory in their lives: they haven't totally committed their lives (or 'sold-out') to Jesus.


COMMITMENT

There is great value in commitment. I asked the Lord one time why one person will receive salvation and go on to great and glorious things and yet another will struggle and strain and backslide; why one Christian will hear the uncompromised Word and begin to walk in victory and love and yet another hears the same preaching and continues in defeat, sickness, depression and bondage. He answered me with one word: commitment. Many people continue in defeat, fail to receive their healing, and remain in bondage because they fail to fully commit themselves to the Word of God. The Word is not working in their lives because they are not committed to it.


There is great value in commitment. Even in the natural, when a man fully commits himself to something, great things can be accomplished. Consider the athlete who sacrifices and sweats and strains for the Olympics, or the musician who practices hour upon hour upon hour. How much more ought we be willing to devote ourselves entirely to the Gospel - studying the Word hour upon hour upon hour, giving of our time to witness and pass out tracts and tell people about Jesus! "So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible. I, therefore, so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I not as one that beateth the air; but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." (I Cor. 9:24-27)


THE WORD MUST BE 1ST

Many people hear the message of living by faith, walking in love, the authority of the believer and the integrity of the Word of God but fail to have it work in their lives because they are not committed to Jesus and the Word. If Jesus is truly your Lord, then you must make the Word of God first priority in your life. Jesus is the Word, the Word is how we know God. If Jesus is your Lord, then the Word must be your Lord.


Where many fail to receive is that they don't commit to Jesus as Lord, as Healer, as the Author and Developer of their faith, as their Supreme Authority, Absolute Ruler, God, Master and Controller. Jesus not only has to be your Savior, He has to be your Lord. Its one thing for a man saved from drowning to recognize the one who saved him as his savior, and an entirely different thing to recognize him as his lord. If Jesus is your Lord, He'll have something to say about the way you spend your time. If Jesus is your Lord, He'll have something to say about what you read and listen to and watch. He'll have something to say about the friends you keep and how you spend your money. If Jesus is your Lord, He'll have something to say about how much you read the Bible and how much you pray. If He's your Lord, He'll have something to say about you passing out tracts and witnessing. If Jesus is truly your Lord, He'll have something to say about the way you live your life. "And ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price." (I Cor. 6:19,20)


NOT ASHAMED

If Jesus and the Word are truly your Lord, Absolute Ruler, Supreme in Authority, God and Master, you'll find the Christian life to be exciting, victorious and rewarding. You'll find the Word opens up to you and works for you, and you'll see people getting set free as you act on It. There is no better life than to be totally 'sold-out' to Jesus! A Jesus fanatic! 100% committed to Jesus and the Word! "Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of Me and of My Words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father, with the holy angels." (Mk. 8:34-38)


Someone says, "But what about my friends, what might they think?" Let me tell you, when you fully commit to Jesus and sell-out to the Word of God you'll be flying so high you won't care what they think! (And they'll be coming to you for the answers!) Paul said: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God." (Romans 1:16)


A Real Commitment will settle in your mind, once and for all, all questions of relying on any other means or any other source - for your strength, for your healing, for your love, for your finances, for your life. A Real Commitment will be even more deliberate and final than the marriage vow. A Commitment from which there is no retreat or turning back. A 100% commitment to Jesus and The Word. "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Lk 9:6) "But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:13, 14) One of the secrets of Paul's tremendous success was he was committed.


COMMIT YOURSELF

This is the key to the overcoming, victorious Christian life. This is the key to divine health, healing and prosperity. This is the key to becoming a doer of the Word and being used of God to help people. God has given you His best, His all. You need to give Him your best, your all (your time, money, talents, life). As you do, you'll begin to receive God's best, His all.


Commit yourself to the Word, to prayer, to witnessing and walking the Love walk. Commit yourself to living for God and working for God, putting the Gospel first. Commit yourself to live by faith, to walk in Love and to resist the devil (he'll flee from you). When you do, you'll experience the power of God and The Word being manifest strong on your behalf!


JESUS IS LORD!