Pet Sayings Exposed and Exploded #8 "If Jesus isn't Lord of all, He isn't Lord at all"
By David Heesen
With the companion plea, “you’ve accepted Him as Saviour, now accept Him as Lord.”
I remember first hearing this about 45 years ago. Its introspective overtones are designed to convict people. Caught off guard, the hearers go on a guilt trip because they can think of certain areas of their life that Jesus “isn’t Lord over.”
I have no problem with that, except the language betrays the supposition that somehow Jesus isn’t Lord of all.
I remember about 30 years ago when it finally dawned on me, hey, Jesus is Lord of all and I’d better get with His program. And it dawned on me that God had made Him Lord, so it wasn’t mine to “make Him Lord”.
Phil. 2:5-11: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
How did this happen? I think the Devil wants to cloud our thinking. The last thing he wants us to know is that Jesus is Lord. He won’t come out and say “Jesus isn’t Lord” point blank, however. He’ll use the “if” statement, thus sneaking in his lie that way.
For us to be able to “make Him Lord” really makes us Lord. The Devil loves these phrases. He knows that many of us are dumb enough to buy into his lies.
As is my wont, I now turn the discussion over to a better wordsmith than myself:
The way salvation is falsely defined. In most instances the modern "evangelist" assures his congregation that all any sinner has to do in order to escape hell and make sure of heaven is to "receive Christ as his personal Savior." But such teaching is utterly misleading. No one can receive Christ as his Savior while he rejects Him as Lord! It is true, the preacher adds, that the one who accepts Christ should also surrender to Him as Lord, but he at once spoils it by asserting that though the convert fails to do so, nevertheless heaven is sure to him. That is one of the devil's lies! Only those who are spiritually blind would declare that Christ will save any who despise His authority and refuse His yoke: why, my reader, that would not be grace, but a disgrace—charging Christ with placing a premium on lawlessness!
It is in His office of Lord that Christ maintains God's honor, subserves His government, enforces His Law; and if the reader will turn to those passages (Luke 1:46-47; Acts 5:31; 2 Peter 1:11; 2:20; 3:1) where the two titles occur, he will find that the order is always "Lord and Savior," and not "Savior and Lord." Therefore, those who have not bowed to Christ's sceptre and enthroned Him in their hearts and lives, and yet imagine they are trusting in Him as their Savior are deceived, and unless God disillusions them, they will go down to the everlasting burnings with a lie in their right hand (Isa. 44:20). Christ is "the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" (Heb. 5:9), but the attitude of those who submit not to His Lordship is—"We will not have this Man to rule over us" (Luke 19:14). Pause then, my reader and honestly face the question: Am I subject to His will? Am I sincerely endeavoring to keep His commandments?
—Arthur W. Pink, “Present-Day Evangelism”
I remember first hearing this about 45 years ago. Its introspective overtones are designed to convict people. Caught off guard, the hearers go on a guilt trip because they can think of certain areas of their life that Jesus “isn’t Lord over.”
I have no problem with that, except the language betrays the supposition that somehow Jesus isn’t Lord of all.
I remember about 30 years ago when it finally dawned on me, hey, Jesus is Lord of all and I’d better get with His program. And it dawned on me that God had made Him Lord, so it wasn’t mine to “make Him Lord”.
Phil. 2:5-11: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
How did this happen? I think the Devil wants to cloud our thinking. The last thing he wants us to know is that Jesus is Lord. He won’t come out and say “Jesus isn’t Lord” point blank, however. He’ll use the “if” statement, thus sneaking in his lie that way.
For us to be able to “make Him Lord” really makes us Lord. The Devil loves these phrases. He knows that many of us are dumb enough to buy into his lies.
As is my wont, I now turn the discussion over to a better wordsmith than myself:
The way salvation is falsely defined. In most instances the modern "evangelist" assures his congregation that all any sinner has to do in order to escape hell and make sure of heaven is to "receive Christ as his personal Savior." But such teaching is utterly misleading. No one can receive Christ as his Savior while he rejects Him as Lord! It is true, the preacher adds, that the one who accepts Christ should also surrender to Him as Lord, but he at once spoils it by asserting that though the convert fails to do so, nevertheless heaven is sure to him. That is one of the devil's lies! Only those who are spiritually blind would declare that Christ will save any who despise His authority and refuse His yoke: why, my reader, that would not be grace, but a disgrace—charging Christ with placing a premium on lawlessness!
It is in His office of Lord that Christ maintains God's honor, subserves His government, enforces His Law; and if the reader will turn to those passages (Luke 1:46-47; Acts 5:31; 2 Peter 1:11; 2:20; 3:1) where the two titles occur, he will find that the order is always "Lord and Savior," and not "Savior and Lord." Therefore, those who have not bowed to Christ's sceptre and enthroned Him in their hearts and lives, and yet imagine they are trusting in Him as their Savior are deceived, and unless God disillusions them, they will go down to the everlasting burnings with a lie in their right hand (Isa. 44:20). Christ is "the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" (Heb. 5:9), but the attitude of those who submit not to His Lordship is—"We will not have this Man to rule over us" (Luke 19:14). Pause then, my reader and honestly face the question: Am I subject to His will? Am I sincerely endeavoring to keep His commandments?
—Arthur W. Pink, “Present-Day Evangelism”
