Sunday, January 20, 2013

JESUS: OUR LORD WHO SAVED US

Believe it or not, the words "Lord and Savior," when referring to Jesus, appear together in that order, only five times in the New Testament.  They are:

     *  "To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour" (Titus 1:4).
     *  "For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:11).
     *  "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning" (2 Peter 2:20).
     *  "That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour" (2 Peter 3:2).
     *  "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen" (2 Peter 3:18).

In other words, Jesus became our Lord (King, Master, Ruler, God, etc.) when we placed our trust in Him; it was at that time, He became our Saviour.

When I became aware of this, I immediately was reminded of the statement by Jesus in Luke 24:47, which says, "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."  It suddenly dawned on me that the order of the two words is significant in both cases. 

Repentance has to do with ceasing to be my own "lord," and allowing Jesus to be the Lord of my life. 

Remission has to do with Jesus as Saviour; He remitted my sin (paid for my sin) when He died, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4).  Webster's Dictionary defines remission, as it applies to this context, as:  "Discharge from that which is due; relinquishment of a claim, right, or obligation; pardon of transgression; release from forfeiture, penalty, debt, etc."

When we allow Him to be Lord, He becomes our Saviour!




No comments:

Post a Comment