GOD’S WORD FOR AUGUST 30 ~ ~ John 14:21 ~ ~ “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest (reveal) Myself to him.”
From Dr. Tony Evans’s book, “The Power of God’s Names”
God has appointed a regent—Jesus Christ, who has been elevated above all—to rule over history as Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36), as ADONAI (in Hebrew) and KYRIOS (in Greek). Believing in God isn’t enough to access the authority that comes through the lordship of Jesus Christ. Calling on God’s name isn’t enough either. Rather, your relationship with Jesus Christ determines what happens in history because He has been placed above all rule and authority, and by virtue of who he is, He demands ownership of your life. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1), and you—as His follower—are seated with Him (Ephesians 2:6).
In the book of Romans, Paul writes about proclaiming Christ as Lord. These two verses have confused a lot of people over the years:
Romans 10:9-10 ~ ~ “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
Paul seems to give us two prerequisites for salvation—confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts. This creates a theological issue. In every other New Testament passage that speaks of salvation, the only prerequisite is faith (John 3:1; John 5:24; Acts 16:31; Romans 4:4-5). Are these Scriptures contradictory, or does Romans 10:9-10 refer to something else?
The answer is found in the context of the verse in Romans. By looking at Paul’s audience and the setting in which he made his statement, we see clearly that he’s not instructing sinners on how to become saints. His readers are already believers. Rather, he’s instructing saints on how to be delivered (saved). (or put another way……..)
YOU MUST BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST TO GO TO HEAVEN, BUT YOU MUST CONFESS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST TO GET HEAVEN DOWN TO EARTH.
When you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior (that is, when you believe), His righteousness immediately becomes your righteousness. You are saved for eternity. Yet when you make a public confession of Jesus Christ as your Lord, you receive His deliverance in the here and now, in history. The word “saved” in this context means to be rescued or delivered.
A lot of people who are going to heaven aren’t seeing heaven join them in history because they have believed but have not confessed. They have declared in their own hearts whom they are trusting for their salvation. They have placed their faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. But they haven’t made an ongoing public confession or declaration —through word or deed—of Him as their Lord.
Throughout the New Testament, the disciples and the apostles regularly refer to themselves as slaves. The book of Romans opens with these words: “Paul, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ…”
“Bond-servant” is a translation of the Greek word DOULOS, which literally means “slave”. A slave is someone who has a master, or a lord. Believing in Jesus as your Savior takes you to heaven, but declaring and living for Him as your master and Lord brings heaven to you. When you acknowledge your rightful place underneath Jesus as His DOULOS, or slave, you get His delivering power on earth.
If you need to see more of God’s rescue and deliverance in your life, perhaps you have positioned Jesus as your Savior but not as your Lord. Perhaps you are not His slave. Keep in mind that the job of a slave is to do whatever the master says to do. It’s as straightforward as that. (John 14:21-above)
Read tomorrow for the follow up on this.