The Lord of Grace
Salvation is all about the grace of God. There is absolutely nothing that you can do to save yourself or earn Godʼs favor. Paul says, “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). All boasting is excluded because our works are irrelevant. Salvation comes through the grace of God as we place our faith in Jesus Christ. If you want to follow Jesus, you only need to accept His call. All it requires is faith: Do you believe that Jesus is who He says He is?
But keep in mind that while this is simple, itʼs not easy. Faith in Jesus Christ means believing that He is Lord (according to Rom. 10:9). Have you ever thought about what that word “Lord” means? We sometimes think of it as another name for God, but itʼs actually a title. It refers
to a master, owner, or a person who is in a position of authority. So take a minute to think this through: Do you really believe that Jesus is your master? Do you believe that He is your owner—that you actually belong to Him?
Paul is so bold as to tell us: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). The same Lord who by His grace set us free from sin and death now owns us. We belong to Him, and He calls us to live our lives in obedience to His rule.
The problem is, many in the church want to “confess that Jesus is Lord,” yet they donʼt believe that He is their master. I hope you see the contradiction in this. The call to be a disciple of Jesus Christ is open to everyone, but we donʼt get to write our own job description. If Jesus is
Lord, then He sets the agenda. In a very important sense, your dreams for your life are irrelevant. If Jesus Christ is Lord, then your life belongs to Him. He has a plan, agenda, and calling for you. You donʼt get to tell Him what youʼll be doing today or for the rest of your life.
3. Evaluate your approach to following Jesus. Would you say that you view Jesus as your Lord,
Master, and Owner? Why or why not?
Yes I do know that God has a plan for me and that nothing I do will change that. I understand that in life there have been and will be situations where I have to trust in God as my Master. While, in many areas of my life, I submit all my plans and desires to God, there are times that I don't. Sometimes my selfish nature wants to exclude Jesus from the equation and I try to do things that are from my will and not His. FULLY submitting to God as my master is something I can definately keep in mind as I go throughout life.
ReplyDeleteI think for a long time I have confessed that Jesus is my God and Savior; I would even say He was Lord, but I didn't really let Him be Lord of my life. There were areas in my life that I didn't let him in. A part of me didn't want to give some things up. In the end I was the one missing out on what God had more me. An unexpected Love.
ReplyDeleteI'm in a place over the past few years of letting Him fully into ALL AREAS of my life. Those dark areas that I don't want others to know about, I've given to Him now.
It's like God is doing a makeover on a house, the house being us. He knocks on the door of the house to begin the remodel. We let Him in. Then, He starts messing the place up, breaking walls down, getting rid of things, throwing things out. We freak out, ' o my gosh, God what are you doing? You're making a mess. I love that poster, what are you doing?' He keeps moving further into the house doing demo work. We lock ourselves in our room, the last place that's ours, knock, knock, knock. God wants in...But God this is the last things that's mine, it's dark in here, it's messy, I don't know if I want to let you in here. Knock, knock, knock. When we let God fully in to ALL rooms, He demos...then the remodel can begin and He begins a beautiful work of putting the place back together more beautiful than anyone could have ever imagined.
It's scary, it's uncomfortable, it can be embarrassing, but you are not alone.