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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman The
Romans' 10:9 Declaration
Paul
also wrote that "no one can say that 'Jesus is Lord' except by the
Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3). I've
done the experimentation in relation to this verse.
Anyone, even an atheist can easily say the words "Jesus is
Lord". Maybe that's why
our verb "say" in Paul's Greek text is a present active Greek
participle. That suggests that
a true declaration of Jesus being Lord is only spoken by one who is
inherently a presently active servant of the Lord Jesus.
That's more than a simple verbal declaration. The
Romans 10:9 declaration, then, is a heart-felt, Spirit-prompted
declaration, not a casual repeating of words.
If there is no heart-felt conviction that Jesus is your Lord, there
is no salvation. Maybe it's why Paul penned the Greek subjunctive
verb "homologeo" (declares in English) meaning "to be in
agreement with what you say". A subjunctive Greek verb is an action of possibility, not
necessarily of certainty. The
declaration here is only validly certain when spoken from the heart, not
just the mouth, when you are in total agreement with what you declare.
It's why no
one can legitimately say "Jesus is Lord" apart from God's Spirit
living within the heart.
All
of this matters these days because confessing to be Christian can be
advantageously cool when it helps to promote a personal cause.
Celebrities, influencers, and politicians can wear a cross on a
necklace, hold a Bible in their hand, and quote Scripture as they declare
their Christian faith. That is
meaningless if not accompanied by demonstrations of fruit of the Spirit in
their lives. It's a fake
declaration of faith. They
speak lies since Jesus said, "they speak what their heart if full
of." Never
be fooled by the words you hear that are not confirmed by lives lived.
When I hear mouths declaring Christian faith but see lives that
lie, deniers of truth, sexual predators, rappers of innocence, arrogant
narcissists, lovers of luxury, victimizers of the powerless, weaponizers
of justice, economic imperialists, seekers of superiority, Nero-like
nationalists, and addicts to self, I hear false claims of faith.
When
I say that declarations of Christian faith can be advantageously cool,
history proves that. Just the
one man, the fourth century Roman Emperor Constantine, declared his empire
to be Christian, making Christianity cool.
That didn't end well. There
was no "Golden Age", only a distortion of Biblical Christianity.
I
was actively involved in the Jesus People Movement of the 1960's and
1970's, a valid Christian revival. Once
the movement caught the attention of the secular media, talk of Jesus
throughout western culture became cool.
I recall the rock albums "Jesus Christ Superstar",
"God Spell," and many pop songs with lyrical allusions to Jesus
that made Billboard's top hits. That
didn't make the songs or the artists Christians.
Of course, there were valid Christian artists with their songs,
like Paul Clark, Phil Keaggy. Love Son and others that blessed me.
Being
Christian has never been cool. It
has cost the lives of thousands over the centuries.
The greatest growth of Christianity happened in its first three
hundred years when there were ten state-sponsored periods of horrible
persecution. That didn't feel
cool. Clearly,
the Romans' 10:9 declaration that Jesus is Lord, is my Lord, is more than
a matter of the mouth. It's a
matter of the heart, prompted by the Spirit of God.
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