Weird Ideas: God's Son, Our LordSample

Proclaiming with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” is to proclaim him the ruler of your life, the lord of the world, and Yahweh himself. But there’s a third thing going on in this phrase from Romans 10:9 as well.

In Jesus’s day, Rome didn’t care what gods you believed in and worshiped. As long as you said, “Caesar is Lord” and gave your allegiance to him, believe in whatever you want.

Paul is doing something subtle here. To confess “Jesus is Lord” is to make an exclusive claim. Jesus is Lord; Caesar is not.

When we call Jesus “Lord,” we are not just saying something true about him. We are pledging our allegiance to him first and foremost above all things in our life. This is why the Apostles’ Creed does not simply call him Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Lord. It says, our Lord. It’s to say “He is mine, and I am his.” It’s to swear loyalty and fidelity. That’s what faith is.

Many people believe Jesus existed. Some even believe he’s God. Good. But so what. Even the demons believe that and shudder. God wants more than for you to understand some truths about Jesus. He wants you to give your allegiance to him. Faith is allegiance, not just mental assent to a set of facts. The Latin word for faith, fides, may capture this best. Here we see the word “fidelity.” Not just faith, but faithfulness. I think of the US Marines motto Semper Fidelis (Semper Fi for short). What are they saying? I believe that the US Marines always exist? No. They’re saying: To the US Marines I will always be faithful. When it comes to Jesus, he invites us to do the same.

“I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord” is to say “Jesus, I pledge my life to you.” I put my hope in you. My trust in you. To you I give my allegiance. That’s faith. And so those who put their faith in Christ can say:

Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let Earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

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