A
Salvation Without A Lord
You are a disciple, a learner,
a follower of the Christ, whether or not you follow close up. You are a servant
of the eternal God, whether you serve well or poorly. You are a soldier in the
army of the Lord Jesus Christ, whether you are in the front lines or AWOL. If
I know who I am, and if I know who God is, then my so-called rights in life have
been subjugated to the Person of God in Jesus Christ-Christos. He is the Lord
of my life. And whatever and whenever, I have no cause to bargain with Him or
put up an argument. If you and I are purchased possessions of God, Then all that
has our names on it belongs to that same God.
-
Charles Stanley
More than once, I've heard a person say, "I received
Christ as my Savior, but not as my Lord." Sometimes the person will add,
"Christ has given me salvation, but I haven't give Him full control of my
life."
Because we all know people who profess to be saved but "don't
have their act together," we sometimes don't think twice about such statements.
In fact, in our day of widespread lack of dedication and commitment among Christians,
it may seem that the problem really is just that: Too many people are accepting
Christ as Savior, but not as Lord. After all, it's common in today's church to
speak of believers who have backslidden or who are indulging in sin yet not doing
anything about it. That a person can profess to be a Christian yet not live like
one seems to validate the idea that accepting Jesus as Savior and as Lord are
two different things.
But is it possible for us to split up the person of
Christ in our relationship with Him? Can we separate His role as Savior from His
role as Lord? I don't believe so. In fact, I believe that such a teaching is foreign
to the New Testament. The Bible itself refers to Jesus as Lord at the very moment
a person receives the gift of salvation. Romans 10:9-10, an oft-quoted passage,
is a case in point. He is already Lord whether or not we choose to make Him Lord.
While
it is true that we as Christians may not always let our lights shine and act in
a Christian manner, we are still Christians if we have asked Christ to save us.
Believers still make mistakes-that is clear from the struggles Paul described
in Romans chapter 7. But the prevalent desire of our hearts is to live as God
would have us live and allow Him to conform us "to the image of his Son".
Bailey
Smith
