The Liberty of Christ’s Lordship

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When one repents [1] and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, he changes from being a slave of a false master to a slave of the rightful Master [2]. Before his conversion, a man believes, whether he is conscious of it or not or whether he admits it or not, that someone or something is his lord. That is, someone or something other than the God of the Bible, the sole true God. Consequently, he acts according to that belief, heartily obeying the will of his “god” and “lord,” however that will is communicated. And the way that will is communicated is, in practice if not in theory too, an alternative revelation or alternative bible. This framework is a way you can understand how other belief-systems, religions, worldviews, ideologies, etc. work.

            But that is not the primary point here. The main point here is an aspect of Christ’s Lordship that is easy to overlook: the liberty it brings when you embrace it! When you believe Jesus Christ is your Lord, you receive His law, the sum of all His commands in His Word, as your law. In other words, His will becomes your will. However, when you receive Christ as your Lord, though you become enslaved to Him, you simultaneously become free from all other “lords.” Remember how Jesus said, in Matthew 6:24, that no man can serve two masters? Well, since, upon conversion, Christ becomes your Master, you are loosed from your slavery to all other masters. Therefore, you are free from the rules and commandments of men and of other sources that are not God and His Word [3]. Your conscience is liberated to only be concerned about what One thinks, and that One is God Himself (Galatians 1:10)! You only have to be concerned with pleasing Him! You only have to be concerned with obeying Him! And, when you do sin, you will confess and repent of your sins, and your Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous, will bring you FULL forgiveness and FULL cleansing from your sins (1 John 1:8-2:1; cf. Proverbs 28:13)! Salvation means being under Christ’s yoke, but it is a joyful and rest yoke, unlike those of all others (Matthew 11:28-30; cf. 1 John 5:3)!

            O believer! O Christian! This is only PART of the freedom Christ has purchased for you! By faith, keep it, protect it, and treasure it! Let NO ONE and NO THING steal it from you (Galatians 5:1)!

[1] Repentance means a “change of mind,” which will, naturally, lead to a change of action-Matthew 21:28-32, cf. 3:8

[2] My thoughts here have been inspired by Kent Brandenburg, especially, but not limited to, these two posts on his blog: 1) https://kentbrandenburg.com/2024/11/25/crucial-to-a-gospel-presentation-explain-belief-part-three/ and 2) https://kentbrandenburg.com/2024/12/05/crucial-to-a-gospel-presentation-explain-belief-part-four/. This does NOT, however, mean I endorse everything he says and does as being Biblical, so keep that in mind! This reference only means I find what he says on this topic to be Biblical.

[3] Just a note for clarity’s sake: this freedom, however, does not free you from submission to and obedience to civil laws, because God commands such submission and obedience in all cases, with the only exception being if this submission and obedience leads you to disobey any of His rules and commands in His Word (Romans 13:1-7; cf. Acts 5:29).