Jesus is both Saviour and Lord. As Saviour He laid aside His Godhood and came to earth as a man and was born of a woman, born under the authority of the old covenant law, to redeem those under the law. He lived as any other man and was tortured for no reason other than spite and was killed.
After His death on the cross, He is clothed again with Godhood but not the Godhood He laid aside to become a man. The Father God, who was Lord God Almighty, strips Himself of His Godhood; the Holy Spirit does the same, to convey onto Jesus all power in heaven and on earth. This Jesus is the complete manifestation of the Godhead bodily, Colossians 2:9. Thus, to know the Saviour is very different from knowing the Lord.
To know the Saviour is to know the one who humbled himself completely, laying aside the life He knew as one of the triune God; laying aside His privilege, His majesty, His glory, and His honor as the creator and ruler of all life, to become a man and subject Himself to all the indecencies of manhood, to being born of a woman in a stable and placed in a manger for a bed. To know the Saviour is to know the ultimate act of love as He gave His life as God up and took on the life of a man and not the life of privilege but that of a working class, blue collar, man. It is to know the perfect mixture of humility and love personified.
To know the Saviour is to know the one who gave up His life as a carpenter to confront the ills of the society He lived in and reveal the love of His Father to His Father’s people and incur the shame and ridicule of those who had set themselves up as the rulers of His Father’s people. To know the Saviour is to know the one who gave His back to the whip, His beard to the roman soldiers, the strength of His torso, arms, and legs, to the cross, and His blood to the ground.
To know the Saviour is to know the self effacing God.
To know the Lord, however, is to know almost an exact opposite persona. The Lord took unto Himself the complete Godhood when it was offered without hesitation. There was no humility. He took up His position as Lord of Lords and King of Kings, the blessed only Potentate, and reigns over heaven with a rod of iron. There is absolutely nothing self effacing about the Lord. To assume you know the Lord because you know the Saviour is to make a fatal mistake in judgment.
The Lord has absolute control over heaven. There is no humility in His rule. The problem is; the scriptures muddy the waters concerning Jesus, the Saviour, and Jesus, the Lord. So much so that the Israelites thought both would appear at the same time. They thought the Saviour was the Lord but the two, though manifest in the same person, are vastly different.
I love Romans 10:9-10 for this reason. Though it is clear righteousness is gained through a belief that the saviour died for your sins, a belief of the heart that conveys the Saviour’s righteousness to the believer, eternal life is gained by a confession of Jesus’ Lordship, indicating believers must know the Lord as well as the Saviour. The two knowing are not the same. Those who know the Saviour must go on to know the Lord.
This is a salient point that is easily overlooked. While the Saviour laid aside all power and authority, the Lord took unto Himself all power and authority. Thus to know the Saviour is to be free of all commandments but to know the Lord is to know obedience. Stated another way, the Saviour delivered mankind from sin; therefore, mankind is delivered from the old covenant law that defined sin. Again, Romans 10:10, “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness.” Mankind cannot earn righteousness by behavior, but, mankind can receive righteousness by faith as a free gift. “Whom the Son sets free is free indeed,” John 8:36. That is free from sin, having been clothed with Jesus’ righteousness by faith.
However, while the Saviour laid aside all power and authority, the Lord took unto Himself all power and authority. Thus, to know the Saviour is a very different experience from knowing the Lord. Paul states in verse 9 of Romans 10, “That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” Paul’s point is that the Jesus who was raised from the dead is quite different from the Jesus who died. Jesus went from a place of ultimate humility to a place of ultimate power and authority literally overnight.
While a prince of a kingdom has no authority to command the subjects of the kingdom, he stands in the line of the throne and having been crowned as king, wields the authority of the kingdom. The prince goes from wielding no authority to wielding all authority over night. While there are no repercussions from disobeying the prince, there are huge repercussions for disobeying the king. Mankind must know the prince who sacrificed Himself for the good of His kingdom but mankind must also know the King who now rules the Kingdom. To disrespect the King by ignoring His edicts is to dishonor the prince who gave Himself for you.
In Romans 10:9, Paul states that an acknowledgement of the Saviour being made Lord is necessary to salvation. It is not enough to know the Saviour, the suffering servant who gave Himself for you; you must also know the Lord who wields all power. Thus your acknowledgement of the Lord is done by obedience, an honoring of His commandments. It is no coincidence then that Jesus’ first commandment after being made Lord was a commandment to wait for a baptism with the Holy Spirit or that when that commandment is obeyed a stream of words flow over the tongue, a confession of His Lordship.
Now, our modern churches deem this commandment personal to eleven men but Paul states that before we can be saved we all must confess the Lord. In other words, if there is no obedience to the Lord’s command, a command that causes a stream of words to flow over your lips, there is no salvation.
It is not enough to know the Saviour who died for your sins; you must also know the Lord who was raised for your salvation. To know the Lord is to know obedience; it is the role of a Lord to command. If Jesus is Lord, it goes without saying that He issued commandments and if He is Lord, His commandments must be obeyed. Thus, Hebrews 5:9 states that He grants eternal life to those who obey Him.
Therefore, the salvation of Ephesians 2:8, the salvation gained through faith without works, is salvation from sin. It is the salvation the Saviour purchased for all mankind through His death on the cross. Where would we be, however, if Jesus had not been made Lord? The Saviour had no authority to implement the salvation He authored. Having been made Lord, He was able to not only implement the salvation from sin; He was able to establish a new covenant and enforce it. The question of righteousness being answered, the Lord was able to go beyond the old covenant law to provide eternal life to those who accept His rulership over them.
This is because even though Jesus laid aside His Godhood to become a man, the Spirit of God had impregnated one of Mary’s eggs. Thus, though He was born a man and lived out His life as a man, even dying as a man on the cross, the seed of God was in His blood. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was laid on Him and by His stripes we are healed but the blood that ran out of these wounds provides the eternal life of the Son of God.
Jesus died under the authority of the old covenant law to redeem mankind from the law but His blood was not left in the dirt that drank it up. Jesus gathered up His blood at His resurrection and took it to heaven where it ratified the new covenant. There was no eternal life in the old covenant law; it was enacted with the blood of animals that are under the same curse as mankind. Jesus fulfilled the law through His death as a man. However, it is only through His blood that eternal life can be gained and His blood is sprinkled over the furniture of the new covenant, not the old covenant. Again, it is not enough to know the Saviour. You must also know the authority of the Lord to issue commandments; commandments that must be kept in order to obtain eternal life. You must know the Lord.
Consider Galatians 4:4. “When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might become sons of God.” From this verse we understand that the becoming of sons of God is subsequent to the redemption but this verse does not make it plain that two acts of faith is necessary. Jesus is both Saviour and Lord but to believe in the Saviour is a very different faith from a belief in the Lord. It is the Saviour who provides redemption but the Lord provides eternal life. It is the man, Christ Jesus who provides redemption but the Lord Jesus Christ provides eternal life.
Can you see that to believe Jesus laid aside His Godhood to come to earth as a man and as a man to take on Himself the penalties of mankind’s sin is very different from believing that Jesus was raised from the dead with all power? The two faiths are drastically different. The one is focused on Jesus’ humility, but the other is focused on the Father’s love and respect for His Son who bore the weight of mankind’s sin. The one is focused on Jesus’ death as a substitutionary act; the other is focused on Jesus’ authority to rule. These are two very different faiths for two very different salvations.
If Christians are redeemed from the law, they are redeemed from the Ten Commandments and redeemed from the old covenant’s ability to define sin. Christians are redeemed from sin. So what is John talking about in 1John, when he states, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us”?
Again, the truth is, Jesus is both Saviour and Lord. Though the Bible speaks of the two positions in such a way as to make the two seem as one, they are vastly different. The definition of a Saviour is vastly different from the definition of Lord. To believe in the Saviour is a different faith than a belief on the Lord. If Jesus is both Saviour and Lord then two faiths concerning Jesus are required to have fellowship with Him.
Two verses previous John says: “If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.” So, if Jesus is both Saviour and Lord and we know the Saviour, having accepted His death for sin as payment of our own debt of sin but have not believed on the Lord, we cannot say we have fellowship with Jesus, who is both Saviour and Lord. There is a reason John said we lie and do not the truth. The word, do, denotes action, as in obedience.
In the beginning of 1John, verses 1-5, John reminds His readers that he was with Jesus in the beginning and has firsthand knowledge of the message Jesus preached. This is not second or third hand information. Paul makes the same assertion, saying that he was caught up to heaven to hear the gospel he preached, a gospel of two faiths. If we are trusting in a one faith gospel, we need to re-evaluate what we believe. To deny the faith on the Lord as necessary to eternal life is to walk in darkness. The Lord is light and He is life.
The sin of 1John 1:8 is against the Lord. The word, sin, means, to miss the mark. Christians who have accepted Jesus’ death under penalty of sin of the old covenant law are redeemed from the law having been clothed with Jesus’ righteousness, a righteousness Jesus earned by keeping the law but Jesus established a new covenant after the old covenant was fulfilled. To miss the mark set by the new covenant is also sin. Christians are redeemed from the old covenant but then subject to the new covenant, subject to the Lord. To deny the Lord of the new covenant the honor of keeping His commandments is to “do not the truth.” It is to miss the mark of the new covenant. It is to walk in darkness.
If Jesus is your Saviour, you will revel in your freedom from the old covenant law; you will revel and delight in your freedom from guilt and shame. You will joy in your salvation and the righteousness you are now clothed with, which gives you the ability to stand in the presence of God without humiliation of sin. If Jesus is your Saviour, you will take joy in the relationship and fellowship of your God.
If Jesus is your Lord, you will be acutely aware of the commandments He issued and your need to carefully and daily keep them. If Jesus is your Lord, you will take comfort in the truth you are under His rule and under His authority. Your ability to stand in the presence of God without guilt or shame will take on a deep sense of honor as you realize Jesus is not just Saviour but Lord, Lord of Lords and King of Kings. You will experience a deep sense of respect; respect for your Lord and respect for yourself as you realize the respect He has for you. These experiences will help you realize your transition from mortal to immortal. Though all Christians, or followers of Christ, can stand in the presence of God without guilt or shame; while all Christians can fellowship freely with God, only those subject to the Lord can serve in the Lord’s court. Only those subject to the Lord can gain authority and rule in the Lord’s kingdom.
This is the reason Paul said, “I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all,” to the Corinthian Church. Paul was thankful that he knew the Lord, that he knew the Lord’s commandments. Paul was compelled to obedience because He knew the Lord. When Paul and Barnabus were whipped and thrown into prison, the praises they sang unto God were in tongues. They sang because they knew the Lord, but more importantly, they sang because the Lord knew them.
If Jesus is your Saviour alone, you will feel no compulsion to keep His commandments; no need to be obedient. Your salvation is not found in obedience to commandments; it is a free gift received by faith. Those who keep His commandments, however, abide in Him and commit no sin. Those who do not keep His commandments do not know Him. He is both Saviour and Lord. If they knew Him, they would keep His commandments (Jn. 15:10, 1Jn.3:6).
As you daily allow the gift of tongues to flow over your lips, you will begin to realize you are being made into the likeness of God. You will begin to take on the divine nature as you saturate yourself with the Holy Spirit daily and you will find the attributes of God overshadowing your old nature.
Ephesians 2:8 reads: “For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” The salvation spoken of here is salvation from sin. It is a free gift to you; purchased by Jesus through the perfect life He lived as a man and His death on the cross under penalty of disobedience. All you must do is accept that He died for you, took your sins in His own body and paid the price of your disobedience. Through this faith, you are clothed with the righteousness He earned as a man.
Hebrews 5:9 reads: “And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” By making the distinction that eternal salvation is gained by obedience, He has revealed that salvation by grace is temporal. In that He became the author of eternal salvation after being made perfect reveals He authored eternal salvation after His death on the cross. Therefore it is belief on the Lord, which carries an obligation of obedience, which conveys eternal salvation. It is the new covenant that conveys eternal life.
Now, let’s make this distinction. In John 15:10, Jesus said, “I have kept my Father’s commandments,” and it is His perfect keeping of His Father’s commandments that is imputed as righteousness to all who believe. In order for Jesus to be Lord, however, Jesus’ commandments must be kept. The Ten Commandments are the Father’s commandments. Jesus issued His commandments after He had fulfilled His Father’s commandments, after His resurrection.
Jesus died to convey righteousness on all who would accept His free gift of righteousness. Having become the perfect sacrifice for sin, He authored a new covenant to grant eternal life to those who receive Him as Lord. The choice is yours to make. You can revel in the very real truth that you have been saved from your sins or you can make your Saviour your Lord. To know the Saviour is to know ultimate love but to know the Lord is to know ultimate power. The two knowing are vastly different.
The Jews didn’t recognize the Jesus who was born of Mary and Jesus is not returning as Saviour; He is returning as Lord. Will the Church recognize the King if they have not practiced obedience to His commandments? Jesus is returning for His body; the body of Christ, but in order to be in Christ, you must keep His commandments, according to John 15:10. John tells us strait out, if we are not abiding in Jesus, we do not know Him, 1Jn.3:6.
Moreover, the curse of the old covenant law is pronounced on those who receive the holy sacrament of communion without recognizing that the body of the Saviour has become the body of the Lord. Paul calls this sacrament, “The Lord’s Table,” and says, “Because you eat and drink unworthily, many are sickly among you and some have died.” The only thing that can make you unworthy to receive the body and blood of the Lord is a disrespect of the Lord. Receiving communion is optional; if you do not recognize and know the Lord, if you do not feel a need to keep His commandments, do not eat and drink damnation to yourself.
Jesus purchased salvation from sin with His body, the body of man, but it was the blood of God that coursed through His veins. The old covenant was fulfilled with Jesus’ body through His perfect keeping of the law and His physical suffering and death under the penalties of disobedience but the new covenant, the covenant of the glory of the Lord, was established with Jesus’ blood. However, the Jesus who took His body back up after the resurrection was not the Saviour; it was the Lord.
The Saviour knows and recognizes every soul who has accepted His death for sin but the Lord knows those who obey Him. To know the Lord is to know obedience. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Lawless is a term that describes one who fails to keep the law. Now Galatians 4:4 clearly states that Christians are redeemed from the law and Ephesians 2:8 clearly states that salvation is obtained by grace, through faith, not of works, it is a free gift. So if Jesus is rejecting believers for practicing lawlessness, what law are they failing to keep?
Before Jesus died He said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” He said, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.” And He said, “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me.” He said, “Just as I have kept my Father’s commandments, you must keep my commandments” (Jn.15:10). It seems that most Christians fail to understand that Jesus issued His own commandments after fulfilling His Father’s. These commandments make up the law of the new covenant. While salvation from sin, which is the salvation of the old covenant, is clearly received by grace through faith and not of works, eternal salvation is obtained by obedience, obedience to the law of love.
The Pentecostal and Charismatic wing of the modern church recognizes the validity of the baptism with the Spirit but from these words of Matthew 7:21-23, we understand it is not enough to receive a baptism with the Spirit once. It is not enough to work miracles or prophesy or cast out demons. It is not enough to receive the Saviour, not enough to be redeemed from the law. We must practice obedience; we must honor the Lord by keeping His commandments. Moreover, we understand the Lord does not recognize those clothed with His righteousness as belonging to Him. The salvation of Ephesians 2:8 is temporal and eternal salvation is given to those who obey the Lord, Heb, 5:9.
Jesus is both Saviour and Lord. As Saviour He laid aside His Godhood and came to earth as a man and was born of a woman, born under the authority of the old covenant law, to redeem those under the law. He lived as any other man and was tortured for no reason other than spite and was killed.
After His death on the cross, He is clothed again with Godhood but not the Godhood He laid aside to become a man. The Father God, who was Lord God Almighty, strips Himself of His Godhood; the Holy Spirit does the same, to convey onto Jesus all power in heaven and on earth. This Jesus is the complete manifestation of the Godhead bodily, Colossians 2:9. Thus, to know the Saviour is very different from knowing the Lord.