Confessing or just saying

[K2CHRIST]

Rm 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead

One of our foundations of theology is that we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. So what does that mean?

I have to confess Jesus Christ as my Lord, because He tells me thing to do, and I try to do them because He is my Lord. I may not always do a great job at them. I may make mistakes as I try to do what He tells me, but the point is that He is Lord because I get personal instructions from Him

For example He once told me to open up a Christian book store. That cost me a bunch and I don't know I did all that great of job at it. But I did it, because He is my Lord. And He talks to me everyday. And He has instructions for me, everyday. And I usually do them, because He is my Lord.

Now I say usually because I am human. I forget to do them sometimes, and He sometimes comes back and asks, "What happen with that, Karl?" He is a very loving person. In fact He is love. But it is also written: Prov 3:12 For whom the Lord loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights

Yeah, I know He delights in me. I get corrected!!

Never-the-less, I believe in my hear that God raised Him from the dead. How else could I be hearing from Him? And how could anyone that believe God raised Him up not be hearing from Him? That is what I often don't understand.

So I confess Him as Lord, but sometimes it seem people just say He is Lord. It seems they are not hearing instructions given to them personally. It often seem like they think He is still dead or perhaps they think He is in some far off place called heaven so that He can't be heard from?

Rm 10:6-8

But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,

 

[for_his_glory]

Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. 11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

God speaks to us in so many different ways for what He wants us to do, but some people just do not take the time to listen or wait for His instruction. Many say they believe, but bear no fruit as they truly have not the Spirit of God dwelling in them. Plans of a fool will perish, but the plans of Gods instruction will bring about Gods favor in our lives as we prosper in the Lord.

 

[Free]

Rm 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead

One of our foundations of theology is that we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. So what does that mean?

I have to confess Jesus Christ as my Lord, because He tells me thing to do, and I try to do them because He is my Lord. I may not always do a great job at them. I may make mistakes as I try to do what He tells me, but the point is that He is Lord because I get personal instructions from Him

For example He once told me to open up a Christian book store. That cost me a bunch and I don't know I did all that great of job at it. But I did it, because He is my Lord. And He talks to me everyday. And He has instructions for me, everyday. And I usually do them, because He is my Lord.

Now I say usually because I am human. I forget to do them sometimes, and He sometimes comes back and asks, "What happen with that, Karl?" He is a very loving person. In fact He is love. But it is also written: Prov 3:12 For whom the Lord loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights

Yeah, I know He delights in me. I get corrected!!

Never-the-less, I believe in my hear that God raised Him from the dead. How else could I be hearing from Him? And how could anyone that believe God raised Him up not be hearing from Him? That is what I often don't understand.

So I confess Him as Lord, but sometimes it seem people just say He is Lord. It seems they are not hearing instructions given to them personally. It often seem like they think He is still dead or perhaps they think He is in some far off place called heaven so that He can't be heard from?

Rm 10:6-8

But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,

What that means is found in the context:

Rom 10:13 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (ESV)

That is taken from Joel:

Joe 2:32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls. (ESV)

So we can see that at least in part, confessing Jesus Christ as Lord is to confess that he is God, that he is Yahweh.

 

[K2CHRIST]

What that means is found in the context:

Rom 10:13 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (ESV)

That is taken from Joel:

Joe 2:32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls. (ESV)

So we can see that at least in part, confessing Jesus Christ as Lord is to confess that he is God, that he is Yahweh.

So what does it mean to "call on the name of the Lord"?

It's the very same questions as whether we are confessing or just saying Jesus Christ is Lord!

There is a difference between saying Jesus Christ is Lord and confessing Jesus Christ is my Lord.

A person can say Jesus Christ is Lord because they learned the saying from reading their Bible. Yet to confess that Jesus Christ is your personal Lord is to confess that you are getting instructions from Him.

In the same way you might hear a person say, "Jesus Christ" and it could even have the same meaning as "Oh, hell". So have seen people get frustrated and simply exclaim out of frustration "Jesus Christ" or "Oh, hell", or "darn it", or any number of number of other little sayings to express their frustration. But that is clearly different from me asking my Lord (Jesus Christ) to advise me on a problem, knowing that He is the Wonderful Counselor as well as my Lord. I call on Him expecting and answer from Him, and it is probably going to be from that still small voice of His that gives me instructions.

So I call on Him 'Jesus Christ" who is the One who comes in the name of the God, expecting instructions that will help me with my problems. Others say His name, but they are not really calling on Him. They can be just saying His name and could even being using it in vain.

He said His sheep hear His voice. If someone's understanding of Rom 10:13 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.", does not also include that they will hear His voice, they have not considered the entire Bible, nor have they gotten the correct understanding, because understanding comes from His voice. And the Lord does speak!

Prov 3:6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Prov 5:1 My son, give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding

So it is not our understanding of the verses in the Bible, it is His. And so we need to incline our ears to His understanding. And His sheep do hear His voice. And so they call upon His name, so that they will get help from Him who they hear from. And that is different from someone just saying His name.

So again, "Are we confessing or just saying He is Lord?"

As for me, and so others my come to know: He told me to post this morning. I have lots of work to do. I have a business that He set me up with, and I personally would prefer (for selfish reasons) to be working on that business, because like others, I would like more money also. But when He and because He, my Lord, told me that He wanted me posting this morning I did it. Maybe I didn't do that good at it, but if you ask me, I will be honest and confess that He is my Lord. I'm not just saying it.