I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.

— John 8:24

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

— Matthew 16:16

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

— Acts 2:36

22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.

23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

— 1 John 2:22-23

5 He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

6 whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

— Titus 3:5-6

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

— Ephesians 2:1-3

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Bountiful supply of grace and mercy to you from Jesus Christ.

While making Christ Lord of your life and submitting to the lordship of Jesus is encouraging to believers, it is not leading to salvation. It is true that in order to be saved you must believe Jesus is the Lord God as Jesus said to people that they would die in their sins unless they believed that He is the Lord God. Jesus’s title, Christ, signifies that Jesus is the Lord just like Peter proclaimed that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. It would be nonsensical to trust in Jesus for salvation if you thought He was merely an ordinary sinful human like yourself. However, while you must believe Christ is the Lord God in order to be saved, making Him Lord of your life will not save you.

If that were the case, your salvation would not be based on Christ’s finished work but on the addition of your work of making Him your Lord. Salvation would be based on your frail efforts to submit to Him. Making Christ Lord of your life is not a decision you make moments before you believe. How can an unbeliever who is dead in trespasses and sins, under Satan’s control and without the Spirit of God in his or her life ever honestly and successfully promise submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ? If making Jesus the Lord of your life were a requirement for salvation no one could ever be saved. Lordship is a discipleship issue for the believer, not a salvation issue for the unbeliever.