Giving the Great Commission, Christ said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me" (Matt. 28:18). Peter declared at Pentecost: "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah" (Acts 2:36). We do not "make Christ Lord" as the modern-day terminology coins it when we get saved--He is Lord and to accept Him we cannot divide His offices as Savior and Lord, because He couldn't be Savior without being Lord of all (Acts 10:36).
We are rejecting Christ if we don't accept Him for who He is and acknowledge His lordship over our lives (i.e., lordship salvation as opposed to easy-believism that denies this doctrine). We trust Him as our Savior and submit to Him as our Lord--obedience is the only test of faith. We must surrender unconditionally and give up the ship and helm of our lives to His leadership. He is the new Captain of our soul and the Master of our fate.
When we refer to the good Lord or simply the Lord we are generally referring to Christ Himself--that is the exclusive privilege that God the Father has bestowed on Him. The Father is Lord also, and there is one Lord, but we give the nomenclature of Lordship to Christ in deference to His role as executing and completing our salvation and rising on our behalf from the dead.
We are to pray in His name and not just attach the phraseology "in Jesus' name, amen!" at the terminus of our prayers for good measure--this implies to His glory and will! We have the privilege to pray in His name that angels don't have and can boldly approach the throne of grace in His name (cf. Heb. 4:16). We are given authority over demons and Satan's dominion of darkness in His name.
When Jesus preached and taught, He did not do as the Pharisees and scribes had done: He taught as one having authority and as no one had dared preach before Him; because He didn't footnote His sermons by quoting the so-called authorities and interpretations, but made His own pronouncements: "Verily, verily, I say unto you," or "Amen, amen I say unto you." His formula was not to say like the prophets, "Thus saith the LORD." but He said boldly and audaciously proclaimed, "You have heard it said, but I say unto you so and so. The people were heard saying, "Never has a man spake like this man!" If He relied upon an authority, His teaching would not have the authority of what the Father told Him to say. He was His own authority! One of the reasons they objected to Him was because He was making Himself equal to God.
In application, God wants us to not despise prophesying and urges us to speak the Word of God boldly as if they were oracles of God. A prophet today speaks to the edification of the body of Christ and proclaims what God has revealed to him. A prophet speaks to men on behalf of God, while a priest speaks to God on behalf of men. Modern prophecy doesn't consist in foretelling in as much as forthtelling. Jesus never prefaced His words but dared to speak out and tell it like it is. Soli Deo Gloria!
We are rejecting Christ if we don't accept Him for who He is and acknowledge His lordship over our lives (i.e., lordship salvation as opposed to easy-believism that denies this doctrine). We trust Him as our Savior and submit to Him as our Lord--obedience is the only test of faith. We must surrender unconditionally and give up the ship and helm of our lives to His leadership. He is the new Captain of our soul and the Master of our fate.
When we refer to the good Lord or simply the Lord we are generally referring to Christ Himself--that is the exclusive privilege that God the Father has bestowed on Him. The Father is Lord also, and there is one Lord, but we give the nomenclature of Lordship to Christ in deference to His role as executing and completing our salvation and rising on our behalf from the dead.
We are to pray in His name and not just attach the phraseology "in Jesus' name, amen!" at the terminus of our prayers for good measure--this implies to His glory and will! We have the privilege to pray in His name that angels don't have and can boldly approach the throne of grace in His name (cf. Heb. 4:16). We are given authority over demons and Satan's dominion of darkness in His name.
When Jesus preached and taught, He did not do as the Pharisees and scribes had done: He taught as one having authority and as no one had dared preach before Him; because He didn't footnote His sermons by quoting the so-called authorities and interpretations, but made His own pronouncements: "Verily, verily, I say unto you," or "Amen, amen I say unto you." His formula was not to say like the prophets, "Thus saith the LORD." but He said boldly and audaciously proclaimed, "You have heard it said, but I say unto you so and so. The people were heard saying, "Never has a man spake like this man!" If He relied upon an authority, His teaching would not have the authority of what the Father told Him to say. He was His own authority! One of the reasons they objected to Him was because He was making Himself equal to God.
In application, God wants us to not despise prophesying and urges us to speak the Word of God boldly as if they were oracles of God. A prophet today speaks to the edification of the body of Christ and proclaims what God has revealed to him. A prophet speaks to men on behalf of God, while a priest speaks to God on behalf of men. Modern prophecy doesn't consist in foretelling in as much as forthtelling. Jesus never prefaced His words but dared to speak out and tell it like it is. Soli Deo Gloria!
In Cor. 12:3 it says, "No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit. This means no can keep on saying that in spite of the pressure against it. Once must be committed to His lordship and ownership of their lives, and faith in His divinity.
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