“….No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:3
I lead a Bible study discussion group on Thursday mornings. To get us into the study, teach us Biblical truths and help us answer pertinent questions, we have a teaching time for leaders on Tuesday morning. One of the leaders had a dear lady in her group ask about how she should address Jesus. She thought He should be addressed as just “Jesus” not “Lord.” I wasn’t sure exactly where she was coming from. In prayer, we ask in the name of “Jesus,” but the name the “Lord Jesus” seems more appropriate. Sometimes we can get so carried away with getting it right, we miss the point. I thought of the verse, “No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” Any religious or secular person can talk about “Jesus” and feel totally free to do so. You don’t have to be a child of God to talk about the historical Jesus. But when we call him our “Lord” and “Savior,” that’s a different story!
A couple years ago, my daughter and I had the privilege to go on a tour entitled, “The Footsteps of the Apostles Paul and John.” Aside from my trips to Israel, it was the most rewarding two weeks I have spent in my lifetime! We toured parts of Turkey, Greece and Italy, including the island of Crete. Before we left home, I hoped I wouldn’t be bored with all the ruins of cities in the Bible. After all, didn’t they all look alike? I was in for a huge surprise! Everywhere we went, stories from the New Testament came to life and I saw them through new eyes! The ruins of Ephesus were fabulous, obviously a wealthy city where the tomb of the Apostle John is located. Then there was the Isle of Patmos where the book of Revelation was written. But, for me, the most interesting city of all was Corinth in Greece.
Our tour guide in Greece was a young woman, a believer, one of only four guides in the country who was a believer. She enthusiastically spoke about the ruins of each city and read the Bible passages applicable to each. Her favorite was Corinth, and I quickly saw why. In the Apostle Paul’s day, Corinth was a busy harbor town, a heavily traveled crossroads linking Europe with the Aegean Sea. In the first century when Paul visited Corinth, it was the most beautiful, modern and industrious city of its size in Greece. The temple of Aphrodite stood atop the Acrocorinth. There were many other temples of various gods and goddesses and one dedicated to the “unknown god.”
The government leaders didn’t care who the people worshipped, they could worship any god or take part in any religious service, but they could not say, “Jesus is Lord.” Only Caesar could be worshipped in that way. Since the Romans ruled, “Caesar was lord.” If a Roman citizen had anything against a Christian and wanted to do them harm, he could haul them before the temple of Caesar and make them say, “Caesar is lord.” If they refused, they would be taken outside the city and killed. There was no appeal in the courts. We can see why Paul wrote to the new Christians in Corinth these words, “I tell you no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” It was a matter of life or death! I wonder as the days get darker around us, will we boldly take a stand for Christ? May God give us the courage to be like the early believers and say, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain,” Philippians 1:21.
Your friend, Jean