Jesus is _________. How would you fill in the blank? What is the first thing that comes to mind? Jesus is coming? He sure is. Jesus Himself promised that He will come again. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life? That is what He told the disciples in the Upper Room. And because He is the way, the truth and the life(John 14:6), no one can come to the Father except through Him. Jesus is the Savior? That is after all the meaning of the term Jesus that the angel proclaimed.(Matthew 1:21)
Even though all those statements about Jesus are biblical truths, the one that ought to stand out above the rest is: JESUS IS LORD!
“He is called Lord(kurios in the Greek text) no less than 747 times in the New Testament. The book of Acts alone refers to Him as Lord 92 times, while calling Him Savior only twice.”
John MacArthur
Thus, we see the importance of the Lordship of Christ. And the Lordship of Christ is so important because it is essential to salvation! Essential to salvation because it is the central truth that the Scripture highlights about the person of Christ.
In His theological treatise of the gospel of God being a righteousness of God from faith(Romans 1:1, 16-17), the apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, pens,
“…because if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9(emphasis added)
Now many say that the term Lord in this passage refers to the Deity of Christ. That is true because it is inherent in its meaning. After all, no one can be saved without believing in the Deity of Christ. The apostle John makes that clear in his purpose statement when he writes,
“…but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”
John 20:31
But to say that the term Lord in this passage refers to the Deity of Christ, that He is God, ONLY is an incomplete and unbiblical understanding of the term. To fully understand this verse and its use of the term “Lord”, I am going to do something radical. I am going to look at the context.
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him.”
Romans 10:12
It is clearly obvious that Paul does not mean that Jesus is God. When Paul says He is “Lord of all”, he means He is Lord over all, both Jew and Gentile.
So the term Lord not only highlights the Deity of Christ, but also the authority and sovereignty of Christ.
Paul reinforces this.
“For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord…”
2 Corinthians 4:5a
Within this context, the term Lord means Deity.
“…the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, ”
2 Corinthians 4:4(emphasis added)
The latter part of the verse reads,
“with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake”
2 Corinthians 4:5b(emphasis added)
The term translated “servants” is the Greek term “doulos”, which literally means “slave”. That is the counterpart for kurios, whose root means “rule, dominion, or power”, thus emphasising the authority of Christ as Lord and Master.
How about you? Have you embraced Jesus as Savior and yet not as Lord? If so, it is not the Jesus of the Bible, but one of your own making. If so, you are not saved, because, as we have seen, the Lordship of Christ is essential to salvation.”
“No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 12:3b
