Savior And Lord: What Do These Words Mean?

SAVIOR & LORD
What Do These Words Mean?

A Story To Help
Darkness descended and a heavy sleet cut into the city. November 23, 1970 would be just another day for most, but tonight it would be one of rebirth! While the cold would gnaw into his tattered clothing, it would also bite through a wet uniform, and thus keep the guards in their huts, thought Ezekiel. It was a perfect night to flee this oppressive regime and cross no-man’s land to safety.

Kiel, as his friends called him, had been told about the way to freedom. Not only had Noah explained it, preaching at him for years, but Hannah had also told him that she’d pray for him. So, shutting the door to his past, he felt drawn to a new life with a bright future. He would escape with his best friend Susej.

Two high walls, separated by a dangerous space called no-man’s land, were between them and liberty. Determination to leave the old way, and the hope of a glorious haven, helped Ezekiel over the first hurdle, but nobody could have warned him about the dangers of the space between the walls.

There were land mines, sharp barbed wire coils and other traps to slow his progress or turn him back. Resolve pulled him through the muddy space as sirens blared, lights flashed and guards started shouting – and shooting! They would rather kill him than let him escape the clutches of their regime. A bullet hit Susej. Dying, he told Ezekiel to go on!

There it was – the gate to freedom! Avoid the temptation to go back, and avoid the traps and guards that would destroy. Follow the instructions given by Noah, accept that Susej had died for his freedom, keep to the narrow way. “Yes!” Ezekiel cried as he reached the checkpoint to his new country, “I’m here! I’m saved! I no longer belong to that dark regime. Tonight is one of rebirth!”

While the above events are fictitious, we know that many people tried to escape East Germany before the wall that separated the East and West finally came down. But this story may help to explain the title of this article.

Jesus As SAVIOR
“Giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son” (Col. 1:12-13 KJV).

When persons receive the Good News message (such as the back cover of this magazine) they come to recognize that they are under Satan’s control in this world. Ever since Adam and Eve’s fall in the Garden of Eden, the devil has been the ruler of all those on earth who have not received the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord (Eph. 2:2). But the serpent (Rev. 12:9 gives some names of Satan) keeps his subjects by ways that will eventually destroy their bodies and souls. In his domain, people “enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” (Heb. 11:25), but then discover that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

But God the Father draws souls to the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 6:44) to save them from Satan’s domain and from eternal judgment in hell. The Holy Spirit works in people’s consciences and hearts so they feel the burden and consequences of their sins. He makes them realize that there is no other way to gain eternal life (Acts 4:12). They discover that God’s beloved Son, the Man Christ Jesus, is the only “door” that leads to salvation (Jn. 10:9). Truly repenting of their sins, and believing that the Lord Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for all of their wrongs (past, present and future), sinners receive Him as their personal Savior from hell and damnation. In receiving Jesus, they recognize, like Ezekiel, that they can shout, “Yes! I’m here! I’m saved! I’m no longer in the dark regime, but now I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

This is what it means to have the Lord Jesus as Savior. He saved us from the judgment of hell, having paid our debt by dying on the cross of Calvary. God gave the Lord Jesus, His only Son, to pay our ransom so that we, believing in Him, might have eternal life (Jn. 3:16).

Jesus As LORD
To be saved from something, implies that we are saved to, or for, something else (Col. 1:13). For a drowning person to be saved from the water, he must be brought onto dry land. For Ezekiel, in our story, to be saved from the oppressive regime, he had to make it into the freedom of the new country.

Salvation from hell into heaven also implies salvation from Satan’s domain into that of the Lord Jesus Christ – being “translated into the kingdom of His dear Son” (Col. 1:13). As we are saved into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, we recognize that He is King and, therefore, Lord over all. That is His position by right and by the appointment of God (Phil. 2:9-11).

Being saved, we become empowered by the Holy Spirit of God (Jn. 14:16-17) to know and to do good for our new Lord and King. We should allow Him to rule over our lives and guide us in our actions. Even if we do not consciously give Him the authority over our lives, we are still in His kingdom. We may not always act like faithful subjects of the Lord Jesus who bought us at a great price (1 Cor. 6:20), but hesitance to obey, or refusal to let Him rule in our lives, does not negate His true position of being Lord and King. He is Lord over His people; that’s His rightful position. God has given Him that place (Acts 2:36). But He seeks to be Lord in our personal lives as well, in practical ways. When we do His will, following His commandments as seen in Scripture, we not only see Jesus as the Lord, but also as our Lord. That’s the true meaning of “Jesus as Lord.”

Knowing For Sure That He Is Your SAVIOR
How can you know for sure that Jesus is your Savior? If you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ: is truly God (Lk. 1:35; Rom. 1:3-4; Rev. 1:8), is truly human (Rom. 5:15; Phil. 2:7-8; 1 Tim. 3:15), is sinless (1 Pet. 2:22; 2 Cor. 5:21), died for your sins (Rom. 5:6-8), rose from the dead (Lk. 24:5-7; Acts 10:40), and ascended to heaven (Lk. 24:51; Acts 1:9-11), then confessing your belief with your mouth, the Bible says you are saved (Rom. 10:9-10).

Can you remember the day you asked Him into your life and received Him as your Savior? That day was your “second” birthday, when you were born again (Jn. 3:3), not into a natural family, but into the Family of God. You became God’s child (1 Jn. 3:1), a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17). But if you can’t remember the actual day, that’s not as important as remembering that you really did invite Him into your life to save you from hell and from your sinful ways.

If you haven’t repented of your sins, asked His forgiveness and invited Him into your life, or if you cannot remember for sure that you have done so, do it right now! Then record the date of your confession in a Bible or on a piece of paper that you can keep with other important papers, as the date you made sure of your salvation. It will be your “second” birth certificate to remind you that you have made sure that Jesus is your Savior, and that you have eternal life.

Knowing For Sure That He Is Your LORD
How can you know for sure that Jesus is your Lord? Is your moment-by-moment attitude sincere, and your prayer to the Lord Jesus, “Not my will, but Thine be done” (Lk. 22:42)? If this is your ever-present desire, and it indicates the true intent of your heart, it becomes the measure of the lordship of Jesus Christ in your life. This attitude of the heart will be seen in your actions.

Paul wrote, “For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Rom. 7:19). And just like Paul, the humbling realization of the truth of this verse in your life may be proof that you have made Jesus Christ Lord in your life. Only when the stark reality of the fact of having done (or continuing to do) the evil that you hate to do torments you, can you begin to possibly know that He is truly, and practically, your Lord! Upon receiving Jesus as Savior, He seals your conversion by having His Holy Spirit dwell in you (Eph. 1:13). God empowers you to do the good you should do and not do the evil that you should not do (Eph. 2:10). The measure of doing His works of righteousness, without being proud of it, will further indicate, even to others, that you have made Christ Jesus the Lord of your life.

Believe Him, receive Him and do His will, so that others may see that the Lord Jesus Christ is your Savior and Lord.

By Hank Blok