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| Is it possible to call Jesus Savior but not Lord? |
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Is it possible to call Jesus Savior but not Lord? savior = one who delivers or rescues from peril; lord = master of a household, ruler, superior To call Jesus "Savior" is to recognize that He is the only One who is capable of taking away all of our sins, past, present, and future, thus allowing us to escape eternal death and enjoy the presence of God. To call Jesus "Savior" is to recognize that each of us is powerless to accomplish this on our own, in fact to recognize that no mere man could do this. (Psa 49) To call Jesus "Savior" is to recognize that He is none other than God Himself, Creator of all things, Alpha and Omega, eternally existing. In Him was contained God in His entirety. (Col 2) Therefore, if Jesus is not our Lord, then He would seem to be no savior at all.
[added later] Many claim Jesus as their savior but fewer also call Him Lord. I've seen it, and Scripture confirms it. Consider what James says. "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?" Or Jesus' parable of the weeds. "But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat..." Apparently the answer to the question asked in the title of this blog is not as obvious as we might think... |
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| To add a comment to "Is it possible to call Jesus Savior but not Lord?" |
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| May 10, 2007 |
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| Also known as Lordship Salvation. Very concise blog to address a much needed topic. Many people, I fear, have no concept of this at all. If Jesus were Lord, there would be alot more submission to His will. |
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| May 10, 2007 |
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| Wow Chris, they actually have a name for this "type" of salvation? Of course, the point I was trying to make is, is there really any other kind of salvation??? ~mike |
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| May 10, 2007 |
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| Calling Christ Lord would mean that a person must give up total control. That is one thing most will not allow in their life. We have been taught from early age to never give anyone or anything total control but to have a proper relationship with Christ we must loose our will and give in to His. |
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| May 10, 2007 |
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| It's the amazing duality, yet oneness, of Jesus.. wonderfully written! |
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| May 10, 2007 |
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Check out "No Transformation Necessary" and "Getting the Gospel Right" over on the Out of Ur blog. From "No Transformation...": Dallas Willard has said, “We fail to be disciples only because we do not decide to be. We do not intend to be disciples.” But which is the greater problem, the person who does not intend to be a disciple or the church that never expects him to be one? Dave Johnson, senior pastor of Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove, Minnesota, shares about a man from his childhood church. Ray was an elder who showed no evidence of transformation, and the church never seemed disturbed by that fact. Johnson asks the obvious question: What’s up with that? |
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| May 11, 2007 |
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Chalk this one up to the age of "evangelism" we currently live in, the one that is so quick to send teams to "evangelize" but falls pathetically short in the realm of sticking around to disciple. I've been kicking around a blog entitled "The worst imaginable cruelty", but have yet to post it simply because it might anger some too-comfy people...maybe I'm getting soft in my old age...lol I pray that no one here would fall victim to the "Jesus-tag, you're it!" brand of pseudo-evangelism that so many scores have resorted to...you all know the kind, the "evangelism" where you ttry to talk to someone for a few minutes in the hopes that they'll be receptive to hear about Jesus, and then hopefully they'll cave to the pressure to pray to accept Jesus, and then -- yay! -- we've got another saved-sinner Brownie badge to brag to our church friends about! But what about that person who prayed? Sending them off with some Christianese cliches and the command to "now go to a good Bible-teaching church" -- as if they'd know one if they saw one -- is not kosher, sorry. I remember when I first seriously considered the Lord -- it was about 12 seconds after a pretty bad car accident. The next morning I was in church, walking forward, the whole nine yards. I learned how to call Jesus my Savior that day, because that was the only part I had really heard about. It would be another 8 or 9 months before I recognized Him as my Lord, and thank God, I've never looked back. But I've known (and discipled) people who've "been Christian" 30 times as long before realizing the need for Jesus to also be Lord. The sad part is, until a person recognizes Jesus as Lord, their life will lack the power of the Spirit and the boldness to really live for Christ. The thousands of people sitting in Sunday morning seats (assuming there isn't a ball game on) feeling as though they've fulfilled their spiritual "obligation" are the heart and soul of this group of Christians. As just a Savior, Jesus is a trinket whose name can be recited whenever a person feels guilty about a wrong they've done, a magic "Sin-Be-Gone" spray they can mist over themselves to make everything all better...this reduces Jesus to nothing more than another name associated with a dead, meaningless religion, the religion of "I'm okay because I have my golden calf". Not until He is recognized as Lord will the active relationship begin. Okay, so tomorrow night when I get home from work, I'll post " The worst imaginable cruelty"...you twisted my arm. :) In His service, and yours,
jason |
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| May 11, 2007 |
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That's excellent Jason, thanks! I think you're really nailing the question in my mind! As I read your post, and Dan's before it, another way to phrase the question asked above came to mind: If we haven't really recognized Jesus as Lord of all, thereby concluding that we have little choice but to submit to His Lordship, then have we really recognized a true savior?? Of course, one implication of this entire blog is, if the two titles (Savior, Lord) are inseparable, then no Lord = no savior = no Christian! |
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| May 11, 2007 |
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| As I understand it, that's the meaning of Lordship Salvation--if Jesus hasn't become your Lord you may have had some warm, fuzzy emotional moment but that wasn't the Holy Spirit bringing you to new life! |
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| May 12, 2007 |
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Dan, that's the practical conclusion that we must consider. Many of us (including me at one time) experienced something very emotional when we "came to the Lord", however in actuality we may have found neither a lord nor a savior!!
ps... The links you supplied above were definitely relevant and thought-provoking reads.
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| November 14, 2007 |
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| it is vary interresting |
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| June 07, 2008 |
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| very true. i like it alot!!! AMEN |
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