Have you ever heard someone say this to you: "Jesus was just a good teacher," or "Jesus never claimed to be God," or "Don't all roads lead to heaven?" or "Isn't the message of Jesus to just be kind and do good things?" I'm sure there are many more statements like these that we hear everyday, and Christians are accused constantly of being "narrow-minded", or bigoted, or "intolerant". The cry of this generation is seen on car-bumpers everywhere: "COEXIST".
Have you ever thought about what that word really means? Follow that thought out to its logical conclusion...yep. It really means 'DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING'. Because if you do, then you are being intolerant of someone else. All of the religions of the world make exclusive claims. Can they really ALL be right? How about the post-modern thinking of the day? It wants to obscure the whole issue of faith and say that "there really is no truth or error, no up or down, black or white, light or dark. It's all just different shades of grey, right? Just be cool man, don't take a stand for anything cause we're just bits of matter driven by fate and one day we'll fade into nothingness"...Yep, that's the mantra of this generation, and it leads to the destruction of the family, the weakening of the Church, and the breakdown of society itself.
THINK about the claims of postmodernism. Can it really be that there are no absolutes, no objective truths? We can run around and claim that all day long, but when night falls, and evil comes knocking on our doors, WHO do we call out to? When injustice invades our lives, what do we cry out for? To what system of power, goodness and justice are we appealing to? What is law, and where does it come from?
THINK about the person of Jesus Christ. He claimed to be God, to be sent from God, and that He had come to seek and save that which is lost, that He came to die in our place, and lead the people of God out from the disgusting and vile wretchedness of our enslavement to sin and fear of death into the kingdom of heaven, into the light of truth and purpose, the family of God.
Christians, if we don't maintain the exclusive claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then our church meetings are in vain, our worship is pointless, and we should just call all the missionaries home. If we have no absolute, guiding truth from God to which people can look and be delivered, then why are we doing this Christian thing? If we aren't living lives of obedience to God's Word, and telling the truth about sin, how will people know they need a Savior? If we look, sound, and act just like the world (cosmos=the world system), then Christianity is no more real and true than any other belief system.
Christians, know your Bible, speak the truth, and don't be afraid that holding the line will cost you anything truly valuable. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, and death is only graduation day!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Lordship Salvation: What is Salvation? Part II
This is going to be another look at Romans 10:9,10. I did these two studies at different times and took the passage as it came. This second look has helped me to define even further what is being stated by Paul, and to understand what the real question is in regards to our salvation and the Lordship of Christ. I will state it here so we can fix the theme in our minds: The real question for a Christian is NOT, "Is Jesus Lord of my life?" Jesus is Lord of all, and if you have trusted in Christ, you cannot just take Him as your Saviour. He will come to you with everything that He is, and that means that He IS Lord of your life. He is on the throne. The real question is, "Am I obeying my Lord?" We don't get to 'make Him Lord'. It's simply not up to us. Let's look in Romans 10 and see why.
If you haven't read the text, just pull out your Bible, and take a look at it. The depths here are incredible! Let's think about some titles here: "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord..." Lord is 'kurios' in Koine (Common) Greek, the language of the N.T. It was used widely of any master, someone who owned slaves and exercised sovereign power over his possessions. It was also used of Rabbi's by their disciples. It was very consistently used by people Jesus encountered on earth when they addressed Him. This word 'kurios' is specifically intended to define the relationship, and it is that of a disciple to his teacher, and a slave to his master. Paul clearly sets forth here what Christ taught throughout His ministry, and remember that "Lord" is a title, so it gets the article (the Lord). When I pray or discuss Him with others, I almost always refer to Him as 'the Lord'. The Jews most sacred name and the Hebrew equivalent of 'kurios' is 'Yahweh', technically spelled 'Yhwh'. The Jew wouldn't even speak this name or write it out fully, believing God's name to be absolutely and unspeakably holy!
These titles tell us something very important. When we think about Jesus the Christ, specifically included in our thinking must be an essential understanding of the nature of this 2nd Person of the Triune God. Jesus is Lord/Yahweh/Master. You cannot truly understand who Jesus is unless You see Him as the divine, all-powerful, perfect Master of your own life and all of creation. The N.T. is explicitly clear in laying out Jesus the Christ as having total authority and power over all things. We see this in:
Ephesians 1:18-23 "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might, which He brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in this one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all."
Phil. 2:9-11 "God highly exalted Him, and bestowed upon Him the name which is above every name..."
Col. 1;15-23 and 2:8-15 (read them)
You do not know and serve the true Christ unless you believe in and submit to Him as Lord and Saviour. It really isn't an option, as a Christian, to decide when you want to 'make Him Lord of your life'. If He isn't Lord of your life, then you aren't a Christian. Doesn't Paul say this exactly? "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." Confession is to do what; to speak the truth, to homo(same) logeo(say), to same-say, to agree with God.
So we can understand that Paul is building his whole point on the reality that God has spoken about His Son, and God has made it clear that His Son is Lord of all, and is to be honored as such. So for us to be saved, we must say the same; we must openly confess the truth.
"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)
The point that God has spoken concerning His Son can be powerfully established from the rest of Scripture (remember that the best way to correctly interpret Scripture is by reading other Scripture) I already gave you a few. We can also look at Luke 3:21-22, at Jesus' baptism, where God the Father clearly establishes Jesus as being "My Son", making Him equal with God. We can also go to the visions of Daniel where again and again, Christ is pictured as the conquering King, the one who comes to render judgment. We can examine the incredible Christology of the great book of Hebrews, where we see the absolute Lordship and Kingly priesthood of our Savior. We can also look at the Gospel account of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, when the veil of flesh was pulled back and Peter, James, and John saw the burning white light of his Holy divinity (still somewhat reduced) come flying out of His face and body. In that moment, there were no words, no false submission, no pretense, no acting as if Jesus weren't Lord of all.
We can read and understand John 1 and see that Jesus the Christ, the living Word, has been fully God from all eternity, that He was the very Agent of creation, that He is the source of life itself. Who could this Jesus be, but the one true and sovereign God and our own Lord and Savior?
Oh boy, well take a break. I'm working on the next section. Jesus has a lot to say about who He is!
If you haven't read the text, just pull out your Bible, and take a look at it. The depths here are incredible! Let's think about some titles here: "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord..." Lord is 'kurios' in Koine (Common) Greek, the language of the N.T. It was used widely of any master, someone who owned slaves and exercised sovereign power over his possessions. It was also used of Rabbi's by their disciples. It was very consistently used by people Jesus encountered on earth when they addressed Him. This word 'kurios' is specifically intended to define the relationship, and it is that of a disciple to his teacher, and a slave to his master. Paul clearly sets forth here what Christ taught throughout His ministry, and remember that "Lord" is a title, so it gets the article (the Lord). When I pray or discuss Him with others, I almost always refer to Him as 'the Lord'. The Jews most sacred name and the Hebrew equivalent of 'kurios' is 'Yahweh', technically spelled 'Yhwh'. The Jew wouldn't even speak this name or write it out fully, believing God's name to be absolutely and unspeakably holy!
These titles tell us something very important. When we think about Jesus the Christ, specifically included in our thinking must be an essential understanding of the nature of this 2nd Person of the Triune God. Jesus is Lord/Yahweh/Master. You cannot truly understand who Jesus is unless You see Him as the divine, all-powerful, perfect Master of your own life and all of creation. The N.T. is explicitly clear in laying out Jesus the Christ as having total authority and power over all things. We see this in:
Ephesians 1:18-23 "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might, which He brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in this one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all."
Phil. 2:9-11 "God highly exalted Him, and bestowed upon Him the name which is above every name..."
Col. 1;15-23 and 2:8-15 (read them)
You do not know and serve the true Christ unless you believe in and submit to Him as Lord and Saviour. It really isn't an option, as a Christian, to decide when you want to 'make Him Lord of your life'. If He isn't Lord of your life, then you aren't a Christian. Doesn't Paul say this exactly? "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." Confession is to do what; to speak the truth, to homo(same) logeo(say), to same-say, to agree with God.
So we can understand that Paul is building his whole point on the reality that God has spoken about His Son, and God has made it clear that His Son is Lord of all, and is to be honored as such. So for us to be saved, we must say the same; we must openly confess the truth.
"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)
The point that God has spoken concerning His Son can be powerfully established from the rest of Scripture (remember that the best way to correctly interpret Scripture is by reading other Scripture) I already gave you a few. We can also look at Luke 3:21-22, at Jesus' baptism, where God the Father clearly establishes Jesus as being "My Son", making Him equal with God. We can also go to the visions of Daniel where again and again, Christ is pictured as the conquering King, the one who comes to render judgment. We can examine the incredible Christology of the great book of Hebrews, where we see the absolute Lordship and Kingly priesthood of our Savior. We can also look at the Gospel account of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, when the veil of flesh was pulled back and Peter, James, and John saw the burning white light of his Holy divinity (still somewhat reduced) come flying out of His face and body. In that moment, there were no words, no false submission, no pretense, no acting as if Jesus weren't Lord of all.
We can read and understand John 1 and see that Jesus the Christ, the living Word, has been fully God from all eternity, that He was the very Agent of creation, that He is the source of life itself. Who could this Jesus be, but the one true and sovereign God and our own Lord and Savior?
Oh boy, well take a break. I'm working on the next section. Jesus has a lot to say about who He is!
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