Lord But Not Savior?

8/28/15 Reggie 60's?

Does Jesus need to be our “Lord” in order to be our “Savior”? We know how hypocritical it is when people only verbally trust Jesus as Savior but who don’t allow His Lordship to change their lives. But I think we all as Christians fall short in honoring Jesus as our Lord at various times and to various degrees. This is part of the sin we are saved from. This sin will diminish as our commitment to Jesus as our Lord grows. But, on the other hand, is it possible for Jesus to be our “Lord” but not our Savior? I’m starting to wonder if this is not only possible, but even more common. Let me explain what I mean.

In so many of my outreach conversations, I come across people of various religious persuasions who don’t seem as much concerned about eternity as they are about the present. Whether they revere Buddha, Krishna, Mary or Mohammed, their focus seems to be on temporal blessings rather than the blessings of a right relationship with God for eternity. They have an idol to worship in exchange for material blessings like health, prosperity, blessings for their family, status. Those who profess to be Christians are no different. If we only worship an unbiblical version of Jesus based on our worldly desires, then we may have created an idol, a “Jesus” of our own imagination who has the power as “Lord” to give us what we want, without the need to be our “Savior”.

But God’s temporal blessings are not limited to people of faith. Beginning with God’s grace in delaying the punishment of Adam for the sin of rebellion against God, none of us are punished immediately for our sins. In fact we are given life and talents and possessions long before and regardless of whether we put our faith in Jesus. We should never take our temporal blessings to be proof that all is well in our relationship with God. In fact, they may only be a distraction from our need for salvation from the consequences of our sins. Our worldly blessings are only a taste of the spiritual blessings we can have in Christ. Reggie, a man I reached out to today who is incidentally blind in one eye, turned out to be a believer and told how his “eyes were opened” when he became a Christian. “I used to think I was just lucky, but then I realized the blessings I’ve had all along when I received the ultimate blessing – salvation in Jesus!” I could tell by the joy in his one good eye that Jesus is both Lord and Savior! “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”