Confessing Jesus as Lord

Posted by Brad Wingler on

The other night I saw a "tweet" on twitter of someone I follow. This was his quote in relation to confessing Jesus as Lord:

 

"To confess Jesus as Lord was to insist that peace does not come to earth through coercive violence but through sacrificial love..."

 

This person has an extremely large church. They have more people subscribing to their teachings and doctrine than I've probable ever met. However I feel they missed something HUGE here. The confession is not a confession of peace but a confession of submission. Confessing Jesus as Lord was to say that the "doulos" (bond-servant, bond-slave, or best slave) was under the authority and ownership of their "kurios" (Master, Lord). The doulos is the term James, Jesus brother, uses to describe His relationship to His Kurios (James 1:1). Paul uses this as well (Romans 1:1, Philippians 1:1 and includes Timothy here, Titus 1:1) Jude, another brother of Jesus uses this to describe their relationship as well when he confesses Jesus as Lord (Jude 1-4). When a verse like Romans 10:9-10 is used to explain to so many people what the response is in a person to the call of God on their heart. We must know what it means to confess Jesus as Lord. Confessing Jesus as Lord does, in a way, mean that now you followed a way that is the way of peace through sacrificial love. It is much more than this though. It is a total giving up of one's will and desires to follow their Lord's demands, desires, and wills. It is a continual dieing of self to live to the Kurios.

 

We must not ever cheapen the doctrine of what it means to confess Jesus as Lord. It is more than a change in agenda, more than a peaceful way of living, more than a set of beliefs that we hold to, more than a list of things we do. It is to ultimately die to one's self and live in Christ (Romans 6:20-23). Confessing Jesus as Lord is the response that is evoked in our hearts when we are confronted with our personal deadening sin against a holy God. The confession is the denial of self and joyful acceptance of new life in Christ, our Lord. To confess Jesus as Lord is to go against all that the Kurios, Master, Lord stands in opposition to and to fully chase after all He desires. It is to live consistently, by grace, in holiness for the glory of the Master.

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