The Vows: Confess Jesus as Savior and Lord

Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?

Matthew 16:13-17 

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 

I love reading mystery books. I have some personal rules about mystery books. One is that the bad guy can’t be someone newly introduced at the end of the book; there have to be clues all along.  My biggest rule, though, is that the good guy has to figure out the mystery themselves. Often an author gets lazy and has the bad guy tell the whole story. They confess to everything, thinking they’ll get away with it. This is often the only way people think of confession. Admitting where they’ve done wrong. And certainly it is part of it. But confess has three meanings. To admit one’s guilt or fault; to reluctantly admit something; or the third meaning: to declare. Especially to declare someone’s religious faith.

So when we confess Jesus as Savior, we are declaring our faith in him. It’s like what Peter did when Jesus asked the disciples who people said he was. Peter declared, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

As United Methodists, we, too, confess Jesus. We confess that He is our Savior. Now, in our culture where Christianity is so engrained, it can be easy to simply agree with that statement, but sometimes we don’t consider what it means that He is Savior. 

For someone to be a Savior, that means someone needs saved. This is simple. So then, what are we needing saved from? In the Old Testament, God led His people in battle and saved them from their enemies. We don’t often go into battle. But in the book of Joel, we read a prophecy about a devastating locust swarm. But following their devastation, God will have mercy. Joel 2:28-32 says: “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But what is it we are being saved from? Locusts? No, we are being saved from something far worse, from sin, from guilt, from death, from separation from God. Romans 3:23 reminds us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and we know from Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death.

That’s the bad news, but the good news, as recorded in Romans 10:9-13 is this: 

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Jesus is Savior. And as we find in Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

We have done nothing to merit Jesus’ salvation — this is how God shows his love for us: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8). This is why we have to put our full trust in Jesus’ grace. Grace simply means God’s unmerited favor. We didn’t do anything to deserve it, and we can’t do anything to save ourselves.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9. 

Now, lots of people want Jesus as Savior, but they don’t want him as their Lord. Lord means he is our ruler. We surrender to him and obey his rules. We look to him to provide for us, and we pay him our loyalty and obedience. If we really are Christians, if we really confess Jesus as Savior, we must also confess He is Lord.  Everyone serves someone, but if Jesus is Lord, then Jesus alone is Lord. 

What does this mean then? It means that where he calls, you follow. There’s no “maybe” when it comes to following Jesus. I quoted Ephesians 2:8-9 to you earlier — saved by grace through faith — but it is followed by this in verse 10: For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

This means God has work for all of us to do. Not just the pastors and leaders, but all Christians. And the work God has for each of us looks different, because God created us differently. That’s one reason why we affirm that God has opened the church to people of all ages, nations, races; because while we are all different, God knows that. And he created us differently. So God doesn’t expect the same thing from us. He created us, and each on purpose, with a purpose. So calling Jesus “Lord” doesn’t mean we will all do the same work. It means we will work according to the job he gives us. 

This week, I want you to be reminded of what God thinks of you. He loves you enough to send his Son to die for you. Spend time with him thanking him for what he’s done. And spend time asking him what he would have you do.