In this video, Grace@Work leader Cortney Alexander answers the question of “Can I have Jesus as Savior without first accepting him as Lord?”
Many people like the idea of being saved from their sins, especially the idea of avoiding endless punishment in hell. And if accepting Jesus as Savior will save them from that fate, then they are happy to accept Jesus as Savior. We can understand that—it makes a lot of sense. People should desire to be saved from their sin, including from the eternal consequences that God warns will come to those who remain in their disobedience to the gospel of Jesus. But many people who desire to be saved from the consequences of their sin are less enthusiastic about embracing Jesus as Lord. In our culture, we don’t use the term “Lord” much, so let’s talk about what that means.
In the abstract, it means something like “master” or, in some cases, “sir.” It’s a title of respect. Now, in the period when the New Testament was written, Jewish people didn’t think it appropriate to write or say the name God used for himself in the Old Testament—Yahweh. So they substituted the word “Lord” in place of Yahweh. The New Testament follows this practice. When the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, it uses the word “Lord” in place of the name Yahweh.
In several places, the New Testament applies an Old Testament passage about Yahweh God to Lord Jesus. For example, the apostle John says that an Old Testament passage describing Yahweh God seated on his throne was speaking of Lord Jesus (Jn. 12:37-41). So we can see that the New Testament’s description of Jesus as Lord is central to the message of Christianity. It goes to the heart of who Jesus is—the uncreated King of the world.
This brings us to a critical question: Do people receive the benefits of salvation by accepting Jesus as Savior while rejecting him as Lord over their lives? The New Testament provides a very straightforward answer to this. In Romans 10, the apostle Paul says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9). Similarly, in Acts 16, when a man cries out, asking, “What must I do to be saved?” the apostle Paul answers, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31).
In contrast, nowhere does the New Testament say that someone will be saved by accepting Jesus merely as Savior. Jesus is Savior. But he saves those who confess him as Lord.
When we think about it, this makes a lot of sense. It was mankind’s desire to break free from God’s Lordship that led us into slavery to our sin. Since salvation involves being set free from slavery to sin, it would be strange if we could experience freedom from sin while continuing to embrace the very thing that led us into slavery to begin with—our desire to be the Lord of our own lives.
The Lordship of Jesus may be a difficult concept for us Americans to grasp since we place so much value on individual autonomy. When we think of kings, we often think of evil dictators who oppress their people. But Jesus is not that sort of King. He is a King who willingly gave his life on the cross so that those who put their trust in him may not suffer the consequences of our sin. That is a King anyone will be happy serving.
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