CHRISTOLOGY: THE DOCTRINE OF MESSIAH

This study on the Lordship of the Messiah will be discussed in three major sections: first, the theology of Lordship; second, making the
Messiah Lord of one’s life; and third, the application of the Lordship of the Messiah to some specific areas.

I. THE THEOLOGY OF LORDSHIP

The first major section is the theology of Lordship. We will discuss this in three areas: first, the meaning; second, the Lordship of the Messiah; and third, the relationship of Lordship to salvation.

A. The Meaning of the Terms 
In order to understand what is meant by Lordship, we need to discuss four specific terms.

1. Jehovah
First and foremost is the term Jehovah. In Hebrew that name is comprised of four Hebrew letters, which correspond to the English letters YHVH. In most English translations, this name of God is translated as LORD, with all four letters capitalized. In others, the word Jehovah is used.

This name for God, LORD or Jehovah, is used in the Hebrew Bible a total of 6,832 times and has five specific aspects. First, the root meaning is “to be.” It emphasizes God as the eternal, self-existing One (Ex. 3:14). Second, it emphasizes God as a covenant-keeper especially in His relationship to Israel, because God is related to Israel by covenant (Gen. 15:12-21). The third aspect emphasizes God as the unchanging One (Mal. 3:6). The fourth aspect emphasizes God’s righteousness and emphasizes Jehovah as the Judge because of His righteousness (Gen. 18:25-26; Ps. 11:4-6). The fifth aspect emphasizes God’s love in that, as Jehovah, He is both the Redeemer and Savior of the sinner (Is. 63:7-9; Jer. 31:1 6). This is a product of Jehovah’s love.

2. Adon
The second specific term used in the concept of Lordship is the Hebrew word Adon which is translated three ways in English Bibles: “master”; “lord,” when used of a human being; and “Lord,” with a capital “L” when used of God. Whereas YHVH or Jehovah is translated with all four letters capitalized – LORD, Adon is translated with only the first letter capitalized – Lord.

The word Adon is used of both God and man. It is used of man more than three-hundred different times in the Hebrew Bible and carries seven different aspects: first, it is used of a man as being the lord of his wife (Gen. 18:12); second, it is used as a polite address, like the Old English my lord (Gen. 23:6); third, it is used as the lord of a slave (Gen. 24:12); fourth, it is used as the lord of property (Gen. 42:30); fifth, it is used as the lord of the house (Gen. 45:8); sixth, it is used as a title of veneration (Num. 11:28); and seventh, it is used as a court term (I Sam. 26:17).

However, it is also used of God, and thirty times it is used in conjunction with the term Jehovah or YHVH, emphasizing His special Lordship (Ex. 34:23; Deut. 10:17; Ps. 97:5; 114:7; 135:5; 136:1-3; Is. 1:24; 3:1; 10:16, 33; 19:4; Mic. 4:13; Zech. 6:5). These usages of Adon in conjunction with Jehovah show five different aspects of meaning: first, Adon emphasizes God as a master; second, God as Lord; third, God as sovereign; fourth, that God is owner of this world; and fifth, that God is the One in control of this world.

3. Adonai
The third specific term is the Hebrew word, Adonai, which is built on the second one. It is a plural form meaning “my Lords,” emphasizing God as a master. Whereas the singular Adon is used of both God and man, the plural Adonai is used only of God. It is used a total of 449 times: 135 times it is used all by itself; 315 times it is used with the name Jehovah; 310 times it is Adonai Jehovah and 5 times Jehovah Adonai.

These usages have three different aspects: first, the fear of the Lord is the source of wisdom (Job 28:28); second, it emphasizes God’s ownership of the world (Ps. 8:1-9); and third, it emphasizes God’s claim of absolute obedience (Mal. 1:6). By way of application to Lordship concepts, the name Jehovah emphasizes our dependence upon this Lord and the term Adonai emphasizes the obedience that this Lord requires from us.

4. Kurios
The fourth specific term is the one main Greek term used: Kurios. In classical Greek, it was used in three ways: first, to emphasize someone as being an owner; second, as one being in full authority; and third, as one who has lawful power of disposal. It was never used of the Greek gods whatsoever.

In the Septuagint, it is used as the Greek equivalent to Jehovah 6,156 times of the 6,832 times that Jehovah appears. It is also used to translate the terms Adon and Adonai. Kurios is used for both God and man, and it is also used of another Hebrew term, Baal, emphasizing ownership. The New Testament follows both the classical and Septuagint usages; it expresses the ideas of obedience and submission, and it is the address of respect. It is used of the ownership of an animal (Lk. 19:33) and ownership of a slave (Lk. 16:3; Mat. 13:27; 25-26; Acts 16:16-19). It is used as a court term (Mat. 27:62-63) and of a husband as the lord of his wife (I Pet. 3:6).

B. The Lordship of the Messiah
The second area of the theology of Lordship is the Lordship of the Messiah. Concerning the Lordship of the Messiah per se, three points should be made.

1. The Messiah Is the Lord of the Old Testament
The first point concerning the Lordship of the Messiah is that He is the Lord of the Old Testament. This is obvious in three different ways.
The first way is that in the Old Testament God referred to Himself as the I AM, and Yeshua (Jesus) refers to Himself as I AM. (Jn. 8:58; 18:5-6).

The second way this is obvious is that many “Jehovah passages” in the Old Testament are applied to Yeshua in the New Testament. For example, in Psalm 102:12, 25-27 God is addressed as Jehovah; these verses are quoted in the New Testament in Hebrews 1:10-12 and are applied to Yeshua. Another example is Isaiah 6:5, where God is addressed as Jehovah; John 12:41 applies that verse to Yeshua. It is clear that Jehovah in the Old Testament is often the same as Jesus in the New Testament.

The third way this is obvious is that the Old Testament Hebrew terms Adon and Adonai are also applied to Yeshua in the New Testament. For example, in Deuteronomy 10:17 God is addressed as Adon or Adonai, and this verse is quoted and applied to Jesus in I Timothy 6:15. Isaiah 6:1, 8-10 are applied to Yeshua in John 12:39-40. Isaiah 53:1 is applied to Jesus in John 12:38. Psalm 110:1 uses the term Adonai, which is applied to Yeshua several times in the New Testament (Mat. 22:41-45; Mk. 12:35-37; Lk. 20:41-44; Acts 2:34-36; Heb. 1:13). Clearly, then, Jesus is the Lord of the Old Testament.

2. The Messiah Is the Lord of the New Testament
The second point concerning the Lordship of the Messiah contains twelve facets.

The first facet is that the Greek term Kurios is the Greek word that corresponds to Jehovah, Adon, and Adonai in the Old Testament. Kurios is applied to Yeshua in the New Testament in all the various shades of meaning that are found in the Old Testament. In fact, Kurios is used of Yeshua 747 times.

The second facet is that He is Lord of all (Acts 10:36; Rom. 10:12; Eph. 4:4- 5).

The third facet is that He is the Lord of glory (I Cor. 2:8).

The fourth facet is that He is the LORD of LORDS (Rev. 14:14; 19:16).

The fifth facet is that because He is Lord, all angels are in subjection to Him (I Pet. 3:22).

The sixth facet is that because He is the Lord, He is the head of humanity (Rom. 14:9; I Cor. 11:3).

The seventh facet is that because He is Lord, He exercises headship of the universe (Eph. 1:21 2).

The eighth facet is that because He is Lord, He is also the head of the church (Eph. 1:22, 23; 5:23; Col. 1:18; 2:19).

The ninth facet is that because He is the Lord, He is the lord of the sabbath (Mat. 12:8; Mk. 2:28).

The tenth facet is that He is the Messiah Lord (Mk. 1:3; Lk. 2:11; 3:4). In fact, the common rabbinic name for the Messiah was “King Messiah,” and this rabbinic concept is reflected in referring to Yeshua as “Lord Messiah” in the New Testament.

The eleventh facet is that He is also known as the Lord God (Lk. 5:8; Jn. 20:28).

And the twelfth facet is that He is also the Lord of the believer (Jn. 13:13 14; II Cor. 4:5; 12:8; Eph. 6:9).

3. Conclusions about the Lordship of the Messiah
The third point is some conclusions concerning the Lordship of the Messiah. Based upon the fact that He is the Lord of the Old Testament and Lord of the New Testament, there are seven specific conclusions about the Lordship of the Messiah.

First, He is the Creator. Because one must be Lord to be the Creator, He is the Creator. That is why John 1:1-3 emphasizes that all things were made through Him and without Him there would be nothing that now exists, for He is the agent of creation.

Second, He is the Covenant-Keeper. The primary meaning of the term Jehovah is to emphasize God as the Covenant-Keeper and that is what He is. He will make sure that all God’s covenants are indeed fulfilled.

Third, He is self-existent. Because another key meaning of the term “Jehovah” emphasizes God as the self existing One, so Yeshua is self existent. His existence is not dependent on any other element.

Fourth, He is Master. A master is someone who must be obeyed. The fact that He is our Master means that we must obey Him; we must render our obedience to Him.

Fifth, Yeshua is Owner. He is the Owner of the world because He created the world. He is the Owner of all humanity because He created all humanity. But He is also the Owner of every believer in a special way because of re-creation in that we are a new creature, a new creation in Him by virtue of regeneration. Because He is our Owner, He has the right to place us and to deal with us as He so wills.

Sixth, He is the Ruler. As Lord He must be Ruler, and this points out that He is our sovereign Ruler and can do as He wills.

And seventh, He is central to everything. He is central to the universe, central to human existence, central to our faith, and central to our salvation.

C. The Relationship of Lordship to Salvation
The third area of the theology of Lordship is its relationship to salvation. The issue is this: must there be a commitment to the Messiah as Lord of one’s life in order to be saved?

Many say, “Yes, for a person to be saved he must make a commitment to the Messiah and make the Messiah Lord of his life. If he does not make the Messiah Lord of his life then he is not saved.” There are some good men who actually teach this. For example, Arthur Pink writes: “Those preachers who tell sinners that they may be saved without surrendering to the Lordship of Christ are as erroneous and dangerous as others who insist that salvation is by works.”

A second example, also from Pink, in his work entitled Studies on Saving Faith, states:

I might point out that those who do not believe that the Messiah must be accepted as Lord of one’s life in order to be saved do not teach that a person can be saved by accepting Yeshua as savior and rejecting Him as Lord. What they are saying is that the unbeliever does not really have that concept in mind. This will be discussed in more detail later.

A third example of those who teach Lordship salvation is from John Stott: “I am suggesting therefore that it is as unbiblical as it is unrealistic to divorce the Lordship from the saviorhood of Jesus Christ.”

Fourth, J. I. Packer writes this:
“Or will it leave them supposing that all they have to do is trust Christ as a sin bearer not realizing that they must also deny themselves and enthrone Him as their Lord? The error we might call only believism.”

Another example of Lordship salvation is:
“If one does not give over the control of his life to the Lord when he receives Him as Savior, he cannot be saved.”

Perhaps the most common example is the Four Laws booklet: the fourth law says that we must individually receive Yeshua as Savior and Lord, then we can know and experience God’s plan for our lives.

1. A Clear Definition of the Gospel 
To resolve the issue of Lordship salvation, there must be a clear definition of the gospel. There are two options in dealing with the question: is salvation by grace through faith alone, or is it faith plus the commitment of one’s life to the Lordship of the Messiah? One of these two options has to be a false gospel. By way of definition of the gospel, the issue of Lordship salvation allows only two options: is one saved through faith alone, or is it faith plus the commitment of one’s life?

In the Scriptures there are examples of uncommitted believers, people who are obviously saved but not committed. One example is in Acts 10:14. Peter was a believer. He had certainly made the Messiah Lord of his life in various facets, but he had a hard time submitting to the Lordship of Yeshua in the issue of going to the home of a Gentile, and in the issue of killing and eating unkosher or unclean things. Another example of an uncommitted believer would be Barnabas in Acts 15:39; yet, as with Peter, the lack of commitment was temporary. A better example would be the converts of Ephesus in Acts 19:18-19. These are clearly said to be believers, but they are uncommitted believers. Their lack of submitting to the Lordship of the Messiah was continual and willful, unlike Peter and Barnabas where it was merely temporary and momentary. There are examples in the New Testament of saved people who lacked commitment in one or more areas of their lives, where it was obvious that Yeshua was not the Lord of their lives in those specific areas.

2. The Meaning of the Word “Lord” in Relationship to Salvation 
In trying to resolve the issue, one must take into account the meaning of the word “lord.” As pointed out earlier, the term “lord” has a number of different facets and aspects. Even if we limit the aspect of Lordship to salvation, there are variations in the concept within Scriptures. In discussing the aspect of the Lordship that saves, three things should be noted.

a. Lord Means “Master”
First of all, the expression “Lord” in the title “Lord Jesus” means more than just becoming the master of one’s life. It is not simply Lord Jesus in the sense of “Master Jesus.” Rather, the term “Lord” emphasizes Jesus as God, and so the term “Lord Jesus” emphasizes Him as the God-Man. Jesus emphasizes His humanity. Lord emphasizes His deity. So Lord Jesus means He is the God-Man.

I Corinthians 12:3 states that no man can say: Jesus is Lord [except of] the Holy Spirit. Unsaved men may say it in the sense of “master,” but Lord also means “the sense of being God,” and one can recognize the deity of Yeshua without being willing to make Him sovereign over a particular matter, as Peter did in Acts 10:14. One can accept Yeshua as God, but that does not mean he is making Him the Lord of every aspect of his life. Peter knew about the deity of the Messiah, he believed it, and he accepted it, but he failed to make Him the Lord of his life in that one area at that point of time.

Accepting the Lord Jesus is to accept Him as the God-Man and not as the sovereign over every area of our lives. When the Bible says that the unbeliever must believe on the Lord Jesus the Messiah, it simply means he is accepting Him as the God-Man. That is what he is believing and accepting when he is saved. He is not making Him, at that point, the sovereign over every area of his life. The issue for salvation, then, is Lord Jesus as the God-Man, not Lord Jesus as the Master-Man.

b. Lord Means “Jehovah”
The second thing to note is that the Messiah must be Lord in the sense of Jehovah in order to be qualified as Savior, for only God can save. However, His personal Lordship over the individual’s life is not a condition for salvation.

c. Kurios Means “God” 
The third thing to note is that the Greek term Kurios has the meaning of “God,” which was something new with the Septuagint. In the New Testament, the term Kurios is used of God, of a husband, of a master, of a Roman officer, or simply as the title “Sir.” The Lordship over a believer is only one aspect of Kurios. This one aspect alone cannot be made a condition of salvation.

d. What it Means to Accept Jesus as Lord
So, must the Messiah be master of every area of our lives in order to be saved? Is that what it means to accept Yeshua as Lord, or does it mean merely to accept Yeshua as the God-Man because He must be both God and man to qualify as Savior? There are five key passages that speak to this issue.

(1) Romans 1:1-4

In these verses, Paul clearly spells out the gospel. He points out the humanity of Yeshua by referring to Him as the Son of David. He also points out the deity of the Messiah by calling Him the Son of God. In these four verses, he pointed out the humanity and the deity of Yeshua. This is what saves. What saved the believing Romans was the fact that Yeshua was both God and man; His Lordship emphasized His deity, not His mastership over everyone’s life.

In fact, Paul does not even discuss Yeshua as Lord of one’s life until he gets to Romans 12. But he discussed the Lordship of Yeshua in the sense that Yeshua is God and that is what one believes when he accepts Yeshua as Lord – that He is the God Man, not that He is the Lord over every individual aspect of our lives.

(2) Romans 10:9-10

According to these verses, in order to be saved, we must confess Jesus as Lord. This is not Lord in the sense of becoming a master in every facet of our lives, but rather Lord in the sense of deity. We must confess the Lordship of Yeshua. The term Lordemphasizes His deity, and the term Jesus emphasizes His humanity, so what must be confessed is the God-Man for salvation. We own Him as the God-Man in order to be saved. We do not own Him as the master of our lives in order to be saved.

(3) Acts 2:36
Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified.

This verse declares that the Father made him both Lord and Christ or the Messiah. The term Lord emphasizes the deity; the term Christ means “Messiah,” which emphasizes His humanity. Again, we own Him as the God-Man in order to be saved.

(4) I Corinthians 12:3
Wherefore I make known unto you, that no man speaking in the Spirit of God says, Jesus is anathema; and no man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit.

We know that people can mouth the words: Jesus is Lord without owning Him as the Lord God. Again, this verse emphasizes that Yeshua must be both God and man to qualify as Savior.

(5) Philippians 2:8-11

Here again, we must confess Yeshua the Messiah as Lord in the sense that He is God, not in the sense that He becomes the master of our lives at the time that we are saved.

These five passages which are often used to teach Lordship salvation do not, in fact, teach that. The aspect of Lordship that saves is His deity. Indeed, Yeshua must be God in order to be able to save us. When we accept Him as our Lord, at the time of salvation, we are accepting Him as God our Savior. We are not making Him Lord of our lives and committing every aspect of our lives at that point. It requires some spiritual growth before one attains that goal.

Let me close the discussion about the relationship of Lordship to salvation by drawing an analogy. The two terms “Jesus” and “Lord” have various facets. For instance, “Jesus” points to His real humanity, that died for our sins. The name “Jesus” emphasizes His humanity as the example of our life (I Pet. 2:21; I Jn. 2:6). The name “Jesus” implies the Second Coming (Acts 1:11; Zech. 12:10). The name “Jesus” has these various aspects. Do we have to believe all these aspects in order to be saved? No, we have to believe only the first aspect to be saved: that He, as a man, died for our sins. The term “Lord” also has various aspects. It could mean “God” or “creator” or “king” or “sovereign.” Do we need to believe all of these facets to be saved? Again, the answer is “no.” Only the first point is necessary for salvation: to believe that He is God.

When we own Him as Lord, we own Him as God, and that is what saves us. We do not own Him as master in every facet of our lives at the moment we believe. That is something which may happen after salvation, but is not part of it.

All scriptures are in the American Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

This study will continue in our next Shofar with Part II. Making the Messiah Lord of One’s Life, and Part III. Applications of the Lordship of the Messiah to Specific Areas. ~ editor

RECOMMENDED READING

If you enjoyed this Bible study, Dr. Fruchtenbaum recommends the following messianic Bible studies (mbs):

mbs 011: The Suffering Messiah of Isaiah 53
mbs 012: The Messiah of the Old Testament
mbs 013: What the New Testament Says About Jesus
mbs 014: Why Did the Messiah Have to Die?
mbs 025: Jesus’ Right to David’s Throne
mbs 028: The Olivet Discourse
mbs 032: The Baptism and Temptations of Jesus
mbs 035: The Three Messianic Miracles
mbs 036: The Three Sabbath Controversies Between Jesus and the Pharisees
mbs 044: The Transfiguration of Jesus
mbs 052: The Names and Titles of the Messiah
mbs 054: The Incarnation
mbs 056: The Triumphal Entry
mbs 060: The Upper Room discourses
mbs 062: The Feasts of Israel
mbs 063: The Deity of the Messiah
mbs 065: The Servant of Jehovah
mbs 067: The Seventy Sevens of Daniel
mbs 070: The Death and Burial of the Messiah
mbs 075: The Resurrection of the Messiah
mbs 078: The Present Work of the Messiah
mbs 094: The Sermon on the Mount
mbs 127: The Birth and Early Life of the Messiah