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Referenced:: Joshua 24:14-15, John 12:24-26
(this passage is used 6 times in the Gospels, including here in John)]
As my wife and I were watching a Christian movie recently one of the main characters in it asked someone that claimed to be a Christian a great question that went something like this: “Regarding your life and Jesus—is it by addition or submission?” That’s what I am addressing today about your life and our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
What does that question mean ? Is your relationship with Jesus one of addition or one of submission? Straight to the point it means this: Did you simply add Jesus to the many other casual interests of your life and you pay little heed to what He says to those that would follow Him or have you submitted (truly submitted) your life to His lordship and have become a true disciple of Jesus Christ?
There is an eternal difference between whether it is by addition or by submission; what is the truthful answer about your relationship with Jesus?
Let me offer you some examples of those that by addition name the name of Jesus:
1.) Emperor Constantine in the 4th century claimed to have become a Christian but from all accounts all he did was add Jesus to his list of the other gods he worshipped. He proceeded to blend the history and practices of the true church into his other pagan ways, including officially moving Christian worship from the Seventh Day Sabbath to Sunday worship and imposed them upon all the people under his rule. Some historians ascribe to him the change from keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread to celebrating Easter instead and attaching many of its heathen beliefs and practices to Christianity. Can you see the glaring contradictions between just adding Jesus to one’s life style versus submitting to Jesus Christ and thereby experience the regeneration of the human spirit and a complete make-over of one’s mind and heart?
2.) Then there are organizations that name Jesus as part of their religious thought and theology but do not believe in Him as the only begotten Son of God, the second Person of the Godhead, and the only Savior. I speak in reference to those such as of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints (Mormons) who follow Joseph Smith, the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW’s) who follow Charles Russell. These mention the name of Jesus and might have our Bible (albeit reinterpreted or retranslated to suit their doctrines) but are in no way His followers and obedient to the written Word of God—the Holy Bible.
3.) And what about the churches today from the small in number to the mega-churches, which hardly, if ever, use the Holy Bible, mention the Name of Jesus in their meetings, or talk of repentance for sin and the faithful obedience to the Word of God; usually not a people about the business of building the kingdom of God but rather looking for larger offerings to build bigger buildings and their own kingdom?
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Simply adding Jesus to the list of things one knows about and pays lip service to has not changed that man or woman’s eternity, which that does not end well !!!
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There are many thousands of churches and “Christian” organizations and multiplied millions of people that have added Jesus to their vocabulary and limited discussions but have not received nor do they know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Simply adding Jesus to the list of things one knows about and pays lip service to has not changed that man or woman’s eternity, which that does not end well!
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Referenced: Luke 6:46, Matthew 7:21-27, Acts 19:13-16, Titus 1:16]
Set against this thing of “adding” Jesus to the things that one claims are part of or important to his or her life, in stark contrast to adding Jesus is the act of submitting your life to Jesus as Savior and the Lord of your life—resulting in a much different outcome after one dies.
Submitting to Jesus is not like adding a new acquaintance to your phone directory or a new skill or educational degree to your resume. Those that have only added Jesus to their list of “I know about these things” cannot stand under the pressure of life-threatening physical needs or spiritual persecution. Those that do not know the love, power, or promises of our Lord personally do not have the advantages that true believers do in the face of such things.
Simply stated: Someone that you do not know well, you will not trust when the chips are down—or when the antichrist has power over your life. Submitting to the care and lordship of Jesus Christ is about turning your life completely over to another and being totally committed to the Godhead. It is to result in complete changes in your life’s description and the resume of what and who you are.
That resume of a true follower of Jesus includes the words disciple, servant, and for those that draw the closest to Him in love and obedience, He calls them friends!
Referenced: Exodus 21:5-6, Luke 16:13, Romans 12:1-2, John 15:14-15]
In a time of great need can we trust and
do we trust our very
closest friend? Yes—that is to be Jesus who is
God!
Referenced: 1 John 5:10-13, Romans 8:35-39]
I love the words to an older chorus that we began singing back in about the 1970s: Its words were these: “I have decided to follow Jesus, I have surrendered my all to Jesus, The cross before me, the world behind me, Though none go with me, still I will follow, No turning back, no turning back.”
Although our churches are full of people that have only added Jesus to their list of mere acquaintances—people who sing along with true Christians—those words are the heartfelt declarations of a people that have submitted to Jesus.
What are just a few things that define submitted ones? I will let the Word of God answer that question!
Referenced: John 3:16-18, Romans 10:9-10, 2 Corinthians 5:15, Galatians 6:14-15, Philippians 3:7-15, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Malachi 3:16-17, Matthew 25:19 & 21]
Consider the words to this old and dear hymn:
• All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live. I surrender all, I surrender all. . .
• All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow. Worldly pleasures all forsaken; Take me, Jesus, take me now.
• All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee. Fill me with Thy love and power. Let Thy blessing fall on me; I surrender all, I surrender all, all to Thee my Blessed Savior, I surrender all.
Today’s simple discussion is intended to be a loud trumpet blast for all who say they know Jesus and believe that they are His followers; it is a call to examine that belief. Since becoming a Christian, if you are unchanged or hardly different from what and who you used to be before becoming a follower of Jesus, then something is very wrong in your spiritual life, and that can be eternally and irreversibly catastrophic.
Should you discover that you have only added Jesus to your vocabulary, and have not received Him into your heart and made Him Lord over your entire life, then I urge you to do it today as our tomorrows are in danger of ending unexpectedly.
With ... The Right Word© ... Brother Scott
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