Is Jesus the Lord of your life… or do you just say He is?

by    12th November 2002    0 responses

Matthew 7.21-23   Expand passage

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

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When I first read this passage, it scared the living daylights out of me! I initially took it to mean that saying, “Lord, Lord!” is not enough to be saved. Suddenly the salvation that I depended upon was not so sure, I’d certainly repented of my sins, and I’d confessed that Jesus was the Lord of my life, but what about the other part? The part that says only he who obeys the will of the Father will enter the kingdom of heaven? Many stupid questions suddenly entered my brain, questions such as: Did I obey the will of Father enough to qualify for my place in heaven?

The reason it scared me was because I misinterpreted it, and thankfully, God has now shown me what it means. Straight away, I want to say this. You cannot earn your place in heaven, salvation is not something that can be bought or earned in any way. It is a gift from the Father, a gift that costs nothing and is freely available to everyone. Every person on this Earth has done something wrong; everyone has sinned in one-way or another. It would be a pretty arrogant and closed-minded person to say that they had never done anything wrong in their lives. For these sins, we deserve to be punished, and God is a just God who punishes sins.

This might worry you, perhaps you think you’ve sinned a lot in your life and now you fear the punishment of God. Well don’t worry! You’ve been given a choice, either you can accept the punishment yourself, or you can turn to Jesus. If you accept Jesus as Lord of your life, if you turn to Him and admit your wrongdoings and turn from those wrongs, God will save you. Jesus came to Earth to accept the punishment for the sins of the world, the sins you’ve committed have already been punished on Jesus. If you accept Him as Lord, as far as the Father is concerned, the punishment and debt has been paid.

So, turning to Jesus and accepting Him as Lord, is enough to cleanse you from your sins. Well what about this passage in Matthew 7, what is Jesus saying to us here? Is He saying that calling on His name is not enough, like I thought when I first read it? Not at all! This is what Jesus is saying:

“If I am the Lord of your life, and if you really believe that I am the Son of God. If you believe that all authority has been given to me, and that I am the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, then you will obey me. If you truly believe all these things that you are saying about me, then you will do what I’m telling you to do because of who I am. And I’m telling you to obey the will of my Father.”

In John’s Gospel, chapter 14, verse 15 it says: “If you love me, you will obey what I command”

This is not meant as a guilt-trip, Jesus is saying that if you really love me, then you will do what I command you to do. Remember, we don’t serve a terrible God, we serve a God who is very loving and caring. Sometimes He may ask us to do difficult things, but they are things for our benefit or the benefit of others.

I’m writing this article to challenge you, to make you ask yourself: “Do I obey Jesus and Father like I should?” You can’t call Jesus Lord of your life, and then ignore everything He tells you to do. Is Jesus really the Lord of your life? Or do you just say He is? I don’t know about you, but when I stand before God, I don’t want Him to tell me He never knew me. I don’t want to be called an evildoer.

You might ask, “Well how do I know what God wants me to do?”, “How can I obey Him if I don’t know what He wants?” There’s a simple answer to that question, and that’s to read your bible! And if you don’t have one, then Crossring supplies you with a wonderful on-line version! The Bible tells you everything you need to know, it tells you how to live in a way that is pleasing to God. Yes, God does have a specific, individual will for our lives, but He also has a general will that He wants every Christian to follow, and that can be found in the Bible.

We don’t read our Bibles enough, the answer to every problem can be found between the covers of this one great book. If we really believe that it is the inspired Word of God, then shouldn’t we make more of an effort to read it? But don’t just read the Word, take heed of it. Act on what you read, put it into practise. Someone who buys a video recorder, reads the instructions but completely ignores them is going to miss some of their favourite TV shows, because they didn’t program the machine correctly.

Accepting Jesus, as Lord is much more than just saying the words, it’s a decision in your heart to truly follow Him and turn from your sins. Read your Bible and find out how Jesus lived, find out how God wants you to live and do it. I hope you’ve enjoyed this article and that God has spoken to you in some way. God bless you.

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Andy has been a Christian since his teens when he began to develop his relationship with God. He is an Elder in his local church and leads a home group. Andy has a passion for teaching and writing. He lives near Southend, Essex, with his wife. Andy is responsible for writing much of the content on Crossring.

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