Austin's Blog

Murray J. Harris writes that whenever worshipping Christians repeat the Church’s confession “Jesus is Lord,” they are:

1. Implying that the Christ of faith was none other than the Jesus of history (Acts 2:34-36),
2. Acknowledging the deity of Christ (John 20:28; Phil. 2:6-11),
3. Admitting the Lord’s personal rights to absolute supremacy in the universe, the church, and individual lives (Acts 10:36; Rom. 10:12, 14:8; 1 Cor. 8:6; Jas. 4:15),
4. Affirming the triumph of Christ over death and hostile cosmic powers when God raised him from the dead (Rom. 10:9, 14:9; Eph. 1:20-22; Col. 2:10, 15) and therefore also the Christian’s hope of resurrection (1 Cor. 6:14; 2 Cor. 4:14),
5. Epitomizing the Christian message (kerugma- Rom. 10:8-9; 2 Cor. 4:5) and defining the basis of Christian teaching (didache- Col. 2:6-7),
6. Declaring everyone’s accountability to the Lord, the righteous judge (1 Cor. 4:5; 2 Tim. 4:1, 8),
7. Making a personal and public declaration of faith (Rom. 10:9), which testifies to their being led by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3), and
8. Repudiating their former allegiance to many pagan “lords” and reaffirming their loyalty to one Lord through and in whom they exist (1 Cor. 8:5-6; 1 Tim. 6:15).[1]

[1] Murray J. Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text. (Grand Rapids, MI.: Eerdmans, 2005), 332