Do You Know the Lord…?
There is a phrase, most often used in a question form, to describe one’s relationship to the Lord and one’s salvation. It is not uncommon for individuals to ask others, “Do you know the Lord as your personal Savior?” There is nothing wrong with this phrase, but it can so easily be used in a way vastly different from the way the Bible uses it.
The concept of a personal savior does not reside in emotion, but in obedience to the Truth.
The correct answer to this question is not to be found by looking internally and then telling others about the emotional ties we have to Jesus. Such an approach is clothed in subjectivity. Take the most radical aspect of “Christianity” in our land and ask a devotee to that religion if he feels a closeness to Jesus. Ask him if he “knows the Lord as a personal Savior.” Because of the teaching he has found in what might be called radical “Christendom” his affirmative answer would be quickly rejected by many.
So, how do you decide if you know the Lord? The apostle John answers this in one brief sentence. “He who says I know Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). The question, “Do you know the Lord,” is not answered by looking inwardly and then verbalizing a subjective feeling which comes from one’s personal religious background. It comes by looking at the Bible and then at how devoted one is to obeying the Lord. The God-given answer is not found on one’s lips, but in one’s life.
What is amazing is how much “political incorrectness” God then uses in this verse. The Holy Spirit of God makes it so clear. That individual who minimizes obedience to God while at the same time claiming that he knows the Lord as his personal Savior is a liar. God said that man is a liar!
How does all of this confusion come about in our day? Consider the preaching of Peter on Pentecost. He told the Jews, “…God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). There are two aspects of deity in this verse. Jesus is both Lord and Christ.
Many today readily “accept Jesus as a personal Savior” but very few “accept Jesus as a personal Lord.” The acceptance of Jesus as Lord results in obedience to all that He asks of us. Those who asked what they should do because they had crucified the Son of God were told to repent and be baptized in the name of the Jesus Christ. The expression “in the name of Jesus” means by His authority. It is not enough to want Jesus to be our Savior, we must also make Him our Savior.
Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior? Do not answer this just with words. The real answer is not found in your lips, but in your life! Let Him be Lord of all of your life!