Understanding Christ’s LORDSHIP in the Believer’s Life

You’ve heard the call to “accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.” Is this just a religious expression or is there actually a biblical basis to it? It is scriptural. Look no further than this popular evangelistic verse:

If you declare 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

So, yes, Jesus Christ is both Lord and Savior. For a person to apprehend eternal salvation — that is, reconcile with God and receive eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:19 & John 3:16,36) — they have to first acknowledge that Yeshua is Lord.

While not everyone in the three realms presently acknowledges Christ’s Lordship, they will eventually, even the unredeemed on Judgment Day (Philippians 2:5-11 & Revelation 20:11-15).

Thus every genuine believer 1. acknowledges that Jesus Christ is Lord and is therefore 2. saved from the wages of sin, eternal death (Romans 6:23). But what about…

The LORDSHIP of Jesus Christ in the Believer’s Life

If Christ is Lord to a believer, what exactly does that mean? The Greek word for ‘Lord’ is kurios (KOO-ree-os), which means “lord, master — a person exercising absolute ownership rights.” This indicates a profound truth of Christianity: We are not our own since God purchased us through the precious blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 & 1 Peter 1:18-19). We are thus to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to our LORD on a continuing basis (Romans 12:1) and, more than that, our thoughts too since the verse goes on to instruct us to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Romans 12:2).

Since we’ve been purchased by God, each believer is to offer every part of himself/herself to the LORD as “instruments of righteousness” (Romans 6:13). How do you do this? Simple: Find out what God’s Word says and simply put it into practice (James 1:22-25). Just as important, find out who you are in Christ and make that your mindset and confession since it reveals how God sees you, which you can get details about here.

This is how the believer increasingly acquiesces to the Lordship of Christ and it relates to spiritual growth. The very word ‘growth’ suggests a process, something that naturally happens over time. It’s the day-to-day progression of sanctification. John the Baptist put it like this:

“He must become greater; I must become less.”

John 3:30

This doesn’t mean that the individual loses his/her identity, but rather that the will of the Lord becomes increasingly paramount. Things and activities that used to seem so important gradually lose their appeal and you find yourself content and at peace simply serving your Lord in the unique way that God has called you, which corresponds to your talents and distinct situation.

This process involves years, even decades, wherein you may experience relapses with certain issues of the old self, but keep getting back up and moving forward (1 John 1:8-9 & Proverbs 28:13). You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there. The Bible stresses that the LORD has compassion on the plight of his children in this fallen creation (Psalm 145:9). Compassion means “sympathetic understanding.” Christ is our high priest who fully emphasizes with our weaknesses and struggles because he dwelt in a flesh-and-blood body on this fallen world, just like us (Hebrews 4:15).

It’s crucial to understand that God is for you and not against you (Romans 8:31).

Focus on relationship with God because this will anchor your faith when you face the inevitable hard times and great challenges of life. Also keep in mind that your relationship with the LORD isn’t one-dimensional in the sole sense of servant and Lord. Christ is also your friend (John 15:15), you are a precious son or daughter to the Father (Matthew 6:9 & 23:9), a rightful co-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17 & Ephesians 3:6), and the Holy Spirit is your teacher, guide, comforter and helper (John 14:26, 16:13 & 16:17).

Since the LORD is the Fountain of Life (Psalm 36:9) it’s imperative that you develop closeness with your Creator and stay close. Why? Because, as the Fountain of Life, the LORD will constantly gush forth life into your being and give you the grace to overcome the challenges of this fallen world, not to mention fulfill your unique call and purpose. See this video for insights.

Why am I stressing all of this and encouraging growing believers? Two reasons:

I’ve heard sermons on Christ’s Lordship that tend to dish out the condo, which is an unbalanced approach, not to mention legalistic. So I wanted to emphasize the positive side of this vital topic.
It’s necessary in the name of balance to also look at the unfortunate reality of…

What Happens to Foolish Believers Who Don’t Acquiesce to Christ’s Lordship

If Jesus Christ is truly your Lord and Savior, would you not seek to know him and find out what he wants you to do and not do with your life — a life that he literally purchased with his blood? Of course you would, as explained above. Acquiescing to Christ’s Lordship is a natural part of spiritual development and increases with growth. As John the Baptist put it, “He must become greater; I must become less.” It’s a process. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen and naturally so.

But what about those who foolishly choose not to do so? Here’s what the Lord said:

⁴⁶“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. ⁴⁸They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Luke 6:46-49

The Messiah is talking about those who call him ‘Lord,’ but aren’t interested in putting his word into practice. As Titus put it, “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him” (Titus 1:16). Jesus then links this to the issue of spiritual development, which can be observed in his parable of building a foundation along with the phrase “well built.” The succinct parable speaks of two separate people building foundations for their houses:

The wise one digs deep and builds his house on a rock foundation; thus when the storms eventually come, his house stands strong.
The foolish one, however, builds his house without a foundation and thus it collapses when the storms manifest.

Interestingly, the LORD is repeatedly described in the Bible as a rock to those who trust in Him (Psalm 18:2, 18:46, 19:14 & 95:1). Why? Because, like a rock foundation, God is unmovable and impregnable. Christ is saying that believers need to build their spiritual houses on the solid rock of the LORD. If we don’t, our spiritual house will collapse when facing the inevitable challenges and temptations of life.

For instance, I was reading up on some believers who were in Christian bands in the 80s-90s and held up as Christian leaders, often interviewed in mags & newspapers wherein they gave their wise advice to other believers. I was surprised to discover that several of them are no longer walking with the Lord and some are even evangelistic atheists. What happened? I thought these were Christian leaders. Answer: They didn’t build their house on the Rock of the LORD. Thus when the torrents of life’s difficulties and challenge of secular ideologies threatened their faith their spiritual houses collapsed.

The lesson is that the LORD must be the believer’s rock foundation in spiritual development. This can be seen in Christ’s coinciding statement in Matthew:

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ”

Matthew 7:21-23

As with his similar statement in the above passage, Luke 6:46-49, Christ emphasizes those who readily call him ‘Lord,’ but don’t practice God’s Word. However, this passage adds that the Lord didn’t know these people and even calls them evildoers or “workers of lawlessness,” as some translations put it (Matthew 7:23). In short, these people:

Didn’t know the LORD, that is, they didn’t have a relationship with him, even though they confessed him as ‘Lord.’
They walked in the flesh on a regular basis without repentance.

They also trusted in their religious works, rather than the Lord (Ephesians 2:8-9), as observed in verse 22. Thus the Messiah plainly tells them when they stand before him, “I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!”

So merely calling Jesus ‘Lord’ and performing religious works doesn’t necessarily mean a believer is acquiescing to the Lordship of Christ, but rather:

Practicing the Word of God you currently understand,
Having a relationship with the Lord and…
Walking in the spirit as opposed to the flesh.

Any believer who wisely attends to these three things will build a solid rock foundation to spiritual growth and fruit-bearing service in the kingdom. All three signify that the believer is acquiescing to the Lordship of Christ. Those who fail to do these three things are apparently only interested in Jesus as Savior, but not Lord. They want what Christ can give them — forgiveness of sin and salvation from eternal death — but they don’t want who he ultimately is, Lord.

Let’s close with…

A Real-Life Example of an Assembly that Made Something Other Than Christ Lord of Their Lives

Here’s what the resurrected Lord had to say to the historical assembly in Laodicea, which was located in what is today southwestern Turkey:

¹⁶“So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”

¹⁹“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. ²⁰Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. ”

Revelation 3:16-20

Christ rebuked these believers for being “lukewarm” and threatened to spit the whole fellowship out of his mouth if they didn’t repent, meaning he would “pull the plug” on them and they’d be a church in name only.

The Lord desired that they were cold or hot rather than lukewarm. This was an allusion to nearby cold and hot springs. The cold springs were useful for refreshing and the hot springs for bathing, but lukewarm water was useless. Thus this assembly was useless.

What was the root problem? They made something other than Christ Lord of their lives; and verse 17 reveals that this ‘thing’ was material wealth. I want to stress that it’s okay to have physical wealth, but it’s not okay for physical wealth to have the person wherein it basically becomes their ‘god’ (Luke 12:15). As Jesus put it, “You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

Sadly, riches replaced Christ’s Lordship in the lives of the Laodicean believers, which can be observed in their boasting of their great wealth and the claim that they had need of nothing. But the Lord gives them a rude awakening by informing them that they were, in reality, “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” and needed to repent (verses 17 & 19).

Further support for the fact that material wealth was their ‘lord’ and not Christ can be seen in the fact that Jesus was outside the fellowship knocking on the door wanting to come in and commune with them. In short, the very Lord they claimed to serve wasn’t even in their fellowship! He was outside politely asking them to let him in while threatening to spit them out of his mouth if they foolishly refused.

The obvious moral is: Be careful not to make anything other than Jesus Christ Lord in your life.

This article is available in book form as chapter 2 in…