LORDSHIP SALVATION

There has been some negative feed-back over my insistence that unless one acknowledges Jesus as Lord, he or she is not saved.  They view believing in Jesus as Master, Lord, or King, as "works," while believing in Him as Savior is somehow different.  As I have repeatedly pointed out, "saving" is what Jesus does; Son of God, Master, Lord, King, etc., is who He is.

In reality, what my critics are saying, is that there is a difference between being saved, and being a disciple.  As though, somehow, one can be saved by acknowledging what Jesus did on his behalf, but have no clue as to His true identity.  Might I point out that unless one views Jesus as more than just a man who died, was buried, and raised from the dead, He was no different than Lazarus! 

The main differences between Jesus and Lazarus are:
*     Jesus created Lazarus (Jn.  1:1-3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:1-2; etc.)!
*     Jesus was sinless; Lazarus was a sinner (Heb. 4:15; Rom. 3:23)!
*     Jesus was the Savior; Lazarus needed a Savior (Acts 13:23; Rom. 3:10)!
*     Jesus was not bound; Lazarus was bound (Jn. 20:6-7; Jn. 11:44)!
*     Jesus was resurrected; Lazarus was brought back to life (1 Cor. 15:20)!

It is interesting, at least to me, that of the twenty-four times the word "Savior" appears in the New Testament, it is connected to the word "Lord" eight times; to the word "Christ" thirteen times; and to the word "God" thirteen times!  The name of Jesus appears 179 times with the word "Lord!"

The Word of God declares that it is the Gospel which has the power to save (Rom. 1:16).  The Gospel is defined in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, which says, "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures."  Notice that the word "Christ" is another word for "Messiah"; Israel was expecting their King to establish His Kingdom (Jn. 1:41; 4:25; Acts 1:6)!  There was no doubt that the One promised was to be obeyed!  He was to be Lord!

Salvation is for Christ's "followers," "disciples," and "servants!"

After all, Jesus is Lord!