The term “Lord” is a special title of authority and is used frequently in the Word of God. When used in the New Testament with reference to believers, Lordship is always applied to the individual, for the Lord Jesus is Lord to each one of us. He is Head of the church, but Lord over us as individuals. The title directs our thoughts to Him to whom we owe our allegiance and whom we are called to serve and obey. He is also Lord to those in the world, although many do not recognize His title. Over those who do not acknowledge it now, the authority of the title will be vindicated to its Possessor by God’s almighty power in a coming day. However, He is especially presented now as Lord to those who are His own.
Unrestricted Authority
If Jesus is Lord to us at the present time, He is Lord in all the unrestricted authority which the title expresses. The claim of the authority is absolute, and it must be met by absolute and willing subjection. Of course, we recognize that the title of Lord for believers is founded in grace and redemption, as we learn from Romans 14 and many other scriptures. However, this does not change the degree of that authority, for we read, “Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:8). Nothing can be more absolute than this language, for it describes an authority that is binding on us at all times and in all places.
While this authority is absolute, it is a delight to the believer to contemplate, if he is walking with the Lord. The believer is set free from every other authority and tyranny, to be subject to Him alone. When other authorities are involved, His supreme authority is to be recognized, as, for example, the relationship of the parent with the child: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord” (Eph. 6:1). It is a relationship that will never be laid aside. Amid the “gods many, and lords many” (1 Cor. 8:5) that seek to rule men’s minds in this world, it is wonderful to our souls to know that “to us there is but one God, the Father . . . and one Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 8:6).
When thinking of the infinitude of God’s grace, let us not forget Christ’s title as Lord. A believer may profess many truths of the highest possible character, and yet his soul may be lacking in this most essential point — the witness of a good confession. It is to Christ Jesus my Lord personally, as rejected in the world and coming again in glory, that I am to show my loyalty here in the world. It is a principle that binds me to Him at all times and in all circumstances. I am to confess His name and paramount claims where they have been rejected, and His Lordship is the bond of my fellowship here in this world with those who are separated from it by the cross.
The Practical Side
The practical side of all this is the principle of subjection. It is this that gives stability to my course through the conflicting elements of this world and which will produce a practical conformity to Christ. He has not redeemed us and set us loose to follow our own will. He has said with infinite grace, “If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love” (John 15:10). We are “elect . . . through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience” (1 Peter 1:2), and thus my whole course through this world ought to be governed by the question, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). Love is the constraining principle of all true Christian action, but the will of the Lord who has loved us is just as necessary to guide the outgoings of that affection.
The principle of subjection to the Lord leaves the heavenly portion of the believer as bright as ever, but it furnishes a strong bridle of restraint for the operation of self-will down here. More than this, subjection is the regulating principle of Christian fellowship.
Finally, let us notice that Christ has left us a perfect example of all this. All that was heavenly in Him, all that connected itself with His conscious, unbroken communion with the Father, all that is contained in His declaration, “We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen” (John 3:11), as far as it was seen on earth, was in lowly subjection to the Father’s will.
Adapted from The Girdle of Truth, Vol. 9