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Christ's call.
Christ’s call was not merely to believe in Him but to be His
disciple, and that involves more than “making a decision” or believing certain
doctrinal facts. A disciple is one who learns of Christ with the purpose of
obeying what he or she learns. Jesus did not commission His disciples to go and
make believers of all nations, but disciples; the terms are not synonymous,
although there can be no salvation without believing (Matt. 28:20). When Peter
preached the first sermon to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius, he said,
“He is Lord of all" But Peter had not always recognized and bowed to His
lordship. When, prior to that visit he saw a vision of a sheet being let down
from heaven, containing all kinds of animals, reptiles, and birds, he heard a
voice say, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat" “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I
have never eaten anything impure or unclean” (Acts10:13–14).
He set his opinion
against the Lord and received a well-deserved rebuke. If Christ were lord of
his life, he could not have said, “Surely not,” to Him. If he said, “Surely
not,” that was a negation of His lordship. Have we not sometimes done what
Peter did? When the Holy Spirit has prompted us to pray, to witness, to give,
to break with some sin, to respond to a call to missionary or other service,
have we said, in effect, if not in words, “Surely not, Lord”?
When speaking to a large crowd, Jesus concluded His message
with these challenging words: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not
what I say?” (Luke 6:46)..
Acknowledging Christ’s lordship is more than repeating the
chorus “He is Lord, He is Lord" Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi was a patriot and
mystic. He sincerely admired Jesus as a man, but on one occasion he said, “I
cannot accord to Christ a solitary throne, for I believe God has been
incarnated again and again" He was willing to concede to Him equality with
Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius, Zoroaster, and the rest, but not a unique and
solitary throne. Yet that is exactly what He demands and deserves. “O Lord, our
God, other lords besides you have ruled over us,” said Isaiah (26:13). Note
that he did not say “instead of you,” but “besides you" Israel did not want to
entirely reject Jehovah, but they invited other gods to share their allegiance.
But God will tolerate no rivals, no divided loyalty. No normal wife would be
willing to share her husband’s love with another woman, but that was what
Israel had done.
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