Receiving Christ as Lord

(Article for publication week of 2-20- AD 2014)

"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name" (John 1:12).

The poor sinner who receives Christ by faith alone, must receive Him for all that He is. You must receive Christ as Lord and Saviour, or you cannot be saved. I have heard a number of people say, when asked of their salvation, "I accepted Jesus as my Saviour when I was twelve years old (for example), but I made Him Lord of my life when I was thirty (for example). Dear reader, if you have "accepted Jesus as your Saviour", without receiving Him as absolute Lord, you are not saved. There are many of you, who were brought up in or around the church, and you walked the aisle and joined the church, but you kept on living like the world. You went to the football games on Friday night, and you went to the dance on Saturday night, and you went to Sunday School on Sunday morning. You "accepted Jesus", but you never repented of your sins, and you continued to live like you wanted to. You were not saved, and if you are still living like you want to, you are still not saved. You can't have Christ as Saviour, without receiving Him as Lord. You can't have Christ and the world too. God hath made His eternal and coequal Son both Lord, and Christ (Acts 2:36).

Now there are some of you who "accepted Jesus" ( as some say) when you were a child, but remained unconverted, who have matured and settled down. You got married and had children, got a good job, and you live quite respectfully. Perhaps the preacher convinced you to start "working in the church." You describe your experience thusly, "well I accepted Jesus when I was quite young, but I backslid for awhile, but now I am serving Him again." Friend, if you got morality and ethics and respectability, without being born again, you are still lost.

There are a few of you who I hope are really saved (the Lord knoweth) who "accepted Jesus" (as some say) when quite young, and continued to live like the devil, who now say you have made Christ your Lord, and appear to be walking with Him. The only thing I will say to you is that if that is really true, that you "made Christ your Lord" sometimes after a profession of faith, that is when you were truly saved. But you ought to examine yourself if you really are in humble submission to Christ as your Lord.

Dear reader, you cannot have Christ as Saviour without receiving Him as Lord. When Saul of Tarsus was converted, he cried out , "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?"! Unless you are totally surrendered to Christ and to His will and His ways, you are not saved. You cannot have Christ while your heart is wedded to the world. God has raised His eternal and coequal Son from the dead and seated Him at His Own right hand and hath made Him both Lord and Christ. You will one day confess His Lordship and bow down to Him. Every knee shall bow to the Lord Jesus Christ, and every tongue will confess His Lordship. Christ is Lord over everybody and everything. Saved people are tickled to death about that and love to bow to Him now. Lost people are mad about it, but at the day of Judgment, you will be forced by an omnipotent God to bow down to His Son. Dear reader, if you are not presently rejoicing in the Lordship of Christ, you are not saved. You better listen to Brother Floyd and heed my warnings. I am trying to be faithful to your souls because I will have to face you on the day of Judgment. May the Lord conquer you by efficacious grace, and bring you to bow to the Lordship of Christ. Eternity will be long and miserable without Christ.