14 January 2024
ACKNOWLEDGING CHRIST AS LORD
(Going Forward in Christ: GFIC 2)
Confessing and committing our life to Christ as our Lord in surrender is the sign of true faith. This is also the seal of our salvation, as the Bible says: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with the heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Rom.10:9-10). Christ died for our sins and rose again as the Risen Lord to guarantee our salvation. The Lord Jesus said, “I Am the Resurrection and the Life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die…Because I live, you also will live” (John 11:25; 14:19b). This is eternal life – to be with Jesus in Heaven when we die.
It is only when we make Jesus the Lord of our life then we will experience His power to transform our sinful nature and character to become holy. Many so-called “Christians” do not experience a new life because they have not surrendered totally to Christ. The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he becomes a new creation. The old is gone and the new has come” (2 Cor.5:17). The “old” refers to the life of moral and spiritual bondage of evil habits and character. The “new” refers to the power of the transformed life of peace, joy and victory. The reason for this change is because we allow Christ to take over our life and let Him live through us. He cannot and will not do this unless we surrender to His Lordship.
Acknowledging Christ as Lord also enables us to grow spiritually and in faith. Christ will then fill us with His Holy Spirit Who will inspire faith in us. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher, Counselor and Guide Who gives us wisdom and understanding of spiritual truths which will help us grow in the knowledge of Christ and in faith. The Holy Spirit will instil a spiritual hunger in us to seek God more and to study the Word of God. The Bible says, “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God” (Rom 10:17). The word “hearing” also means “obedience”. In other words, when the Holy Spirit gives us understanding of God’s Word, He will also make us obey what it says. It is in accepting and obeying God’s Word that we will grow in faith and in spirit.
There are no “short-cuts” in Christian living if we are serious in wanting to grow in our spiritual life and in our walk with Christ. It begins with Lordship, then discipline in studying God’s Word and walking in obedience. All these cannot happen unless we are willing to surrender totally to Christ. As the lyrics of the hymn says, “All to Jesus I surrender; All to Thee I freely give…I surrender all, I surrender all. All to Thee my Blessed Saviour, I surrender all”.
The Apostle Paul tells us what surrender means: “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless, I live. Yet, not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God Who loved me and died for me” (Gal.2:20). To be “crucified” means to die to self so that the resurrection life of Christ might reign in us. By faith in Christ Who loved and gave His life for us, we will have victory as we walk faithfully with Him.
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