How often do you say Jesus is Lord?
When I was a freshman in college, I went with some friends from the Baptist student group on campus to a weekend retreat. There was a lot of wonderful Christian fellowship and devotional time. We talked a lot about the Bible and I heard a lot of people say Jesus is Lord.
I had never been around that many people using that title Lord for Jesus so frequently. It was kind of surprising, but also made it clear to me how much these people loved Jesus.
On the second day of the retreat we broke up into small groups of about seven or eight people. The topic for discussion was: When did you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and why?
I wish you could have heard the heartfelt testimonies of these college kids whose lives had been transformed when they became Christians and committed their lives to Christ.
And they all used that phrase, referring to Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
It was a big deal at the time
It was a little intimidating for me because I was in a group with the president, vice-president, and another officer of the Baptist student organization, they were all seniors, and here I was, a lowly freshman.
Fortunately, because I was the last to share my story, it gave me time to think about and find the courage to say what was in my heart.
First of all, and this did require a lot of courage at the time, I explained I did not think of Jesus as my “personal” Lord and Savior, because that specific terminology was not in the Bible. I did however think of Jesus as Lord and as Savior.
Their version of what it meant to say Jesus is Lord was almost like a formula. It seemed they had a bunch of hoops you had to jump through, certain things you had to say, in order to be a Christian, and in order for them to think of you as a Christian.
When I didn’t use their terminology of “personal” Lord and Savior for Jesus, their eyeballs got bigger and they leaned forward in their chairs, almost in disbelief.
You shouldn’t just say Jesus is Lord
But then I explained that it wasn’t just saying you believed Jesus was your Lord. To me, being a Christian meant to follow Christ. Then I shared a little of my experience, which I have talked about here on the podcast from time to time, when I got serious about my faith in high school and made a commitment to follow Christ in my life.
It kind of forced all these very thoughtful Christians to peek out of their boxes and see someone else’s experience as valid, even if it was different from their own.
In the many years since that time, I often think about what it means to say Jesus is Lord.
His disciples called him Lord. People in the early Church called him Lord. And Christians have called Jesus Lord for 2,000 years.
Many Christians say Jesus is Lord often in daily conversation. They have a deep and sincere reverence, love for, and devotion to Jesus. You can see it in their eyes and the way they treat others with so much love.
Sometimes though, it seems to me anyway, others use the phrase in a way that sounds like they’re just saying the words, because that’s what they think they’re supposed to say in the Christian culture they’re part of. But at least they’re showing some degree of respect to Jesus.
But there are folks who just say Jesus is Lord and not live it
The thing that bothers me is when people say Jesus is Lord of their lives, but they don’t live their lives in a way that gives much evidence that Jesus is guiding them.
Now, I realize that may sound a little judgmental on my part, and it probably is. So I have to remember that you never really know what is someone’s heart, and that I need to be more careful not to be so judgmental.
When I see someone I may think is just saying the words but not living the life of Jesus, it’s actually a good reminder to look more carefully at my own life instead of someone else’s, and see how I can follow Jesus better.
What do you mean when you say Jesus is Lord?
So what does it actually mean to say Jesus is Lord?
What does the word Lord even mean? It’s not a word we used very much today in its original meaning from the Bible in the time of Jesus.
The Greek word for lord used in the New Testament is kyrios. It means someone with supreme authority.
It can refer to God. It can refer to Jesus as the Messiah. But it can also refer to someone in a position of authority and power, the owner of something. It’s a title referring to someone who deserves honor and respect. And it can be the way servants would greet their master.
You can usually tell how the word is used depending on the context, whether it’s referring to God, to Jesus, or to a person of authority and power.
The implication here is that when you recognize someone as your lord, you recognize and submit to their authority. You do what they tell you.
To say Jesus is Lord requires something of you
So let’s come back to the question, what does it mean to say Jesus is Lord?
To say Jesus is Lord, and to sincerely mean it, means to live your life in obedience to Jesus, to follow his teachings, and in effect, to surrender completely to Christ’s authority in your life.
But why would you do that? Why would you give up your own autonomy, your own way of doing things, your own plans and desires to surrender to Jesus and his way of living?
It can only be because of the difference Christ has made in your life. When you feel your sins forgiven, and you feel redeemed from all the mistakes you’ve made, when you feel your life turn from a materialistic to a spiritual perspective, and experience the healing presence of Jesus’s love, you want to, you can’t help but, love Jesus, choose to follow him, devote yourself to his teachings, and surrender to his authority.
Jesus said it simply.
If you love me, you will keep my commandments.John 14:15 ESV
In other words, just to say Jesus is Lord is not enough. Jesus expects us to follow and obey him.
Jesus doesn’t want lip service
In fact, he even warns about just giving lip service to honoring him and recognizing him as Lord.
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’” Matthew 7:21-23 NLT
Jesus is warning us that it’s not enough just to call him Lord. We have to do God’s will in order to enter heaven. And just because you’re doing things you think are right and in obedience to Jesus, doesn’t necessarily mean you are. You be following Jesus in one part of your life, but disobeying God’s commandments in another. Jesus requires your whole heart and a full commitment of your whole life to him.
To say Jesus is Lord means examining your motives
The more I think about Jesus’s words here, the thing that stands out to me is we need to examine very carefully our motives. Some people go through all the right motions and say all the right things, but their motives are not really in total surrender to Christ.
To say Jesus is Lord and mean it, is to surrender completely to Christ and follow where he leads you.
Why is it not enough to just recognize Jesus as and call him your Lord? For the same reason it’s not right to say you’re going to wash the dishes, mow the yard, wash the car, or perform some task and then not do it.
To say Jesus is Lord necessarily includes the acts of obedience to Jesus, the doing of what he teaches.
A two-way bond of loyalty
To say Jesus is Lord, in the deeper spiritual sense, means entering into a covenant bond of loyalty. No matter what happens, you will be faithful and obey. When times are good, you will be faithful to Jesus. When times are challenging, you will be faithful to Jesus. When you are honored by society because of your faith, you will be faithful to Jesus. When you are persecuted because of your faith, you will be faithful to Jesus.
You will remain loyal and obedient under all circumstances.
And the beautiful thing is, in this relationship we have with Jesus as our Lord, it’s not just about how we recognize and obey Christ, but what Christ does for us as well.
When you surrender to Christ and his way of life, Christ, in turn, protects and guides you, heals and redeems you, inspires and empowers you. It’s a two-way covenant relationship of love and loyalty.
What Christ gives you
Think of the things Christ gives you when you surrender to him. There’s too much to mention it all in this short podcast episode, but here are just a few things Christ gives you.
Jesus said,
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. John 14:27 NIV
If you’re like me, you could use a whole lot of the peace that comes directly from Jesus. That sounds pretty good.
Jesus gives us eternal life and protects us from being separated from God.
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. John 10:27-29 NIV
Unity with God
Jesus reemphasizes this unity with God and the assurance that God loves us, when he prayed for his disciple just before the crucifixion.
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:20-23 NIV
Everything else Jesus gives those who surrender to him as Lord is summed up in the fact that he loves us.
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. John 15:12 NIV
The key words here are: as I have loved you. Jesus is talking directly to his immediate disciples, but you and I and all those who call him Lord are included in his declaration of love.
When you surrender to Christ and with all sincerity can say Jesus is Lord, you not only give yourself to him, but he gives himself to you. It’s a two way relationship.
Remaining faithful when you say Jesus is Lord
It’s easy to say Jesus is Lord when everything in your life is going well and when you are in the company of those who also call Jesus Lord.
But it’s not always so easy when your faith is challenged.
Jesus warns us that sometimes the consequences of following him would be persecution. He wanted us to be alert to the temptation to deny him when things get challenging.
If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. John 15:20 NIV
Jesus wanted us to be prepared when this happens. And he shares the consequences of being faithful to him, as well as being unfaithful, which might include saying Jesus is Lord in one instance, but denying it in another, either in the way we speak or by our actions.
His own disciples faced this very thing. Early in the book of Acts, Peter and John heal a lame man in front of the Temple. You can read that in Acts, Chapter 3. The Jewish leaders were greatly disturbed because of this and the fact the disciples were preaching about Jesus being raised from the dead.
Facing opposition when you say Jesus is Lord
The Sanhedrin forbid them to speak in the name of Jesus. In effect, they were commanding Peter and John to deny Jesus was their Lord. But the two apostles held firm to their faith.
Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:18-20 NIV
Nothing could stop Peter and John from being faithful to Jesus and preaching about him to the people.
And throughout the history of the early Church, there were many Christians who refused to deny Jesus as their Lord, even though it meant they were persecuted and killed. They remained faithful.
You may not live in a place where Christians are persecuted for believing in Jesus. But there are places in the world where this happens all the time.
We all have opportunities each day to let our lives say Jesus is Lord. And we all face temptations each day, some much more subtle than others, to deny Jesus as Lord.
When it’s hard to follow Jesus
Once, Jesus was teaching some pretty deep concepts about what it meant to be one of his followers. A lot of people, who had been faithful to him and had followed him around listening to him and were considered his disciples, now had a hard time accepting what he said and turned away.
On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. John 6:60, 66 NIV
Think about that for a minute, some of Jesus’s followers, the Bible calls them disciples, couldn’t handle something Jesus said and they quit following him. Jesus was not really Lord to them. They only followed up to a point until their personal opinions or lack of understanding got in the way.
I’ve often wondered why they turned away from Jesus. Instead of leaving, they could have asked him to explain these difficult teachings.
Have you ever put yourself in the shoes of those disciples who quit following Jesus? I don’t think I ever have until right now. It’s kind of uncomfortable. It’s easier to be judgmental of them than to try to understand what was going on in their hearts.
When you don’t understand something
The question for you and me is: If we don’t understand something Jesus says and it doesn’t go along with our own ideas, do we just quit following Jesus, or only follow him partially? Or do we continue to follow him when we are afraid or confused?
After those disciples left, Jesus asked the twelve,
Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:67-69 NLT
Another time Peter spoke up for his fellow apostles, acknowledging their commitment to Jesus.
Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10:28-30 NIV
Here again is the promise of what comes to you when you embrace Jesus as Lord.
Being faithful to Christ
When you say Jesus is Lord in your life, it means you will be faithful to Christ even when things might not make sense or when things are hard to understand. Or when times are difficult. Why? Because you trust him. You love him. And you know Christ will always guide you in the way that is best for you and will glorify God the most.
It’s okay to have doubts. It’s okay not to understand at times. It’s okay to ask questions. But when you are committed to following and obeying Christ in every situation, when you truly surrender to Jesus as Lord, that commitment will far outweigh your doubts and fears.
To think of and say Jesus is Lord may seem completely normal to you. I hope so. But I know many Christians who don’t used that terminology when talking about Jesus. The word Lord itself is not nearly so important as the concept it represents, but it should feel perfectly normal for you to be able to say Jesus is Lord.
Are you ever reluctant to say Jesus is Lord in your life?
If you are reluctant to call Jesus Lord, it’s helpful to see often people in the Bible call him Lord. And it may be helpful to ask yourself if there are any parts of your own little world you want to hold on to and not surrender completely to Christ.
To say Jesus is Lord doesn’t mean you have totally surrendered to Jesus every moment of every day perfectly. But it does mean you’re on the path and walking in the right direction. You’re committed to following Christ to the best of your ability and obeying his teachings and example in your everyday life, again, to the best of your ability.
What Does it Actually Mean to Say Jesus Is Lord?
It means to accept Jesus as the Messiah and follow him. It requires a commitment on your part. It requires surrendering your will to follow where Christ leads you. It means you see and accept Christ’s power and authority in your life. It means being loyal and faithful to Christ in everything you do and openly acknowledging him in everything you do, both by words and actions.
And it includes the blessings that come as a result.
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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and church mentor. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by learning to think, pray, and love like Jesus. Contact him here.
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Bible References
John 14:15 ESV
15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Matthew 7:21-23 NLT
21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.
22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’
23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’”
John 14:27 NIV
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
John 10:27-29 NIV
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
John 17:20-23 NIV
20 My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—
23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
John 15:12 NIV
15 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
John 15:20 NIV
20 If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
Acts 4:18-20 NIV
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges!
20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
John 6:60, 66 NIV
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
John 6:67-69 NLT
67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.
69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”
Mark 10:28-30 NIV
28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel
30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
