The Lordship of Jesus Christ

By Tommy Shipp

The book deals with the importance of accepting Christ as Lord and practical implications of this commitment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664203853

Tommy Shipp

Tommy Shipp is a graduate of Louisiana College and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served as a pastor in Alabama, Louisiana, and Oregon. He served for thirty-two years as pastor at First Baptist Church of French Settlement, La. He and his wife, Edwina have been married since August 24, 1963 and are the parents of three grown children and several grandchildren and great grandchildren.

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Copyright © 2020 Tommy Shipp.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Unless otherwise cited scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (NASB)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0384-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0383-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0385-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020916804

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/29/2020

Contents

Introduction

Receiving Christ as Lord

Is it Worth the Sacrifice?

The Guidebook

PART 2: SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Chapter 1 The Principle of Faith

Chapter 2 The Principle of Love

Chapter 3 The Principle of Faithfulness (Integrity)

Chapter 4 The Principle of The Fear of the Lord

Chapter 5 The Principle of Prayer

Chapter 6 The Principle of Faithful Witnessing

PART 3: FOLLOWING CHRIST IN EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE

Chapter 1 Following Christ in Choice of a Vocation

Chapter 2 Christ is Lord of all the seasons of our life

Chapter 3 Christ is Lord of our bodies.

Chapter 4 Christ is Lord of our Relationships

Chapter 5 Christ is Lord of our Time

Chapter 6 Christ is Lord of Our Material Goods

Chapter 7 Christ is Lord of Our Mind

Chapter 8 Christ is Lord of our Political Life

Chapter 9 Christ is Lord of the Church

Chapter 10 My Life Belongs to My Lord

PART 4: OVERCOMING HINDRANCES

Chapter 1 Overcoming Distractions

Chapter 2 Your Enemy, the Devil

Chapter 3 Dangerous People

Chapter 4 Other Hindrances to Holy Living

Under our Lord’s Protection

Bibliography

Introduction

It is my deep conviction that if we trust Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior it will make a positive difference in the way we live. However, many times I have talked to people who claimed to have received Christ but who seemed to have little or no commitment to following Him.

I have written this book to encourage those who have tried to trust Christ to take them to heaven but who have no commitment to following Him to truly trust Him as their Lord and Savior. I have also written to encourage those of us who are followers of Christ to wholeheartedly and faithfully submit to Him every area of our lives. If we can trust Him to take us to heaven someday, we can trust Him to be our Lord today.

This book contains many Scripture quotations and many references to Scripture that are not quoted. I encourage you to look up Scripture references that are not quoted unless you are already familiar with them. Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations are from The New King James Version.

But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works" (James 2:18).

Receiving Christ as Lord

Lord: Ruler, Owner, Master

God created us to worship Him and to reflect His character. But we have all fallen short. The Bible says that All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). The Bible also says that The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Because of sin we die physically. But the Bible warns us that there is a worse death following physical death. This is called the second death. It involves being cast into hell. All whose sins are not forgiven are going to hell. Hell is not just for the worst sinners, but for all sinners who are not forgiven. Scripture declares that whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all (James 2:10). We all fall short and are unable to earn forgiveness and eternal life.

However, God has made a way for us to be forgiven and to live forever with Him. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, became a man and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. He took on human nature without ceasing to be God. As a human he could suffer and die; as God He was able to pay for all our sins. In the mystery of the Trinitarian nature of God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one. There are not three Gods, but only one, who exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The price for our salvation has been paid by God. Now Scripture teaches us that if we will trust Christ as our Lord and Savior we will be forgiven and have eternal life.

When we receive Christ as our Savior, we become children of God and have everlasting life (John 1:12, 6:47). We don’t do anything to earn this great salvation; it is an absolute gift (Rom. 6:23).

However, I fear that many who think that they have received Christ as their Savior have not understood that you cannot receive Him as Savior without at the same time receiving Him as Lord. They believe that they can trust Him to take them to heaven without any real commitment to Him. They may live in drunkenness or adultery. Many of them neglect prayer, Bible reading, and public worship. Some show little respect for the name of God and little concern for the spiritual welfare of their own children. Yet they say they expect to get to heaven because they have received Christ as their Savior. If you are of this number, be warned; you cannot receive Christ as your Savior without accepting Him as Lord.

Let us be clear. I am not adding anything to the Bible requirement that you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior to receive eternal life. When you accept Christ as your Savior, you become a child of God and have an eternal home with Him. You do not have to wait to see if you will be good enough to be saved. You are saved the moment you receive Christ as your Savior by faith. But you cannot receive Him as your Savior without at the same time receiving Him as your Lord. Consider three facts that point to the truth of this statement.

1. Jesus came to save people from sin, not just from punishment. The angel told Joseph that …He will save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). If you are expecting Jesus to save you from hell, but not from sin, you are looking for a kind of salvation that God does not offer. If you are expecting Jesus to take you to heaven, but you have no desire to serve Him, you are looking for a kind of salvation that God does not offer. Jesus came to save us from our sins. Rebellion against His authority is sin. If He is to be your Savior, He must be your Lord.

2. To trust Jesus is to trust a Savior who claims the right to be your Lord (John 13:13). He calls us to follow Him. He makes it abundantly clear that his call is not a call to a casual commitment. Consider His words recorded in Luke 14:33- So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. Discipleship is demanding, but how can you trust Him to take you to heaven if you don’t even believe that His way is best for you on earth?

3. The Bible teaches that to be saved sinners must repent (Lk. 13:3, Acts 3:19, 11:18, and 17:30). The same Bible teaches that all who trust in Christ have eternal life (Jn. 3:16, 6:47). Repentance is not something added to faith in Christ for salvation; rather, it is an essential element of that faith. To repent means to have a change of mind; it means to say no to sin and yes to God. God commands you to accept His Son as your Lord and Savior. When you do this, you have committed yourself to obey God; you have repented.

When we receive Christ as our Savior and Lord, we do not immediately become full-grown Christians; we still have a lot of growing to do. But we immediately become children of God and possessors of eternal life. We have made a great commitment. For the rest of our life we should be seeking to honor Christ as Lord of every area of our life.

Is it Worth the Sacrifice?

When I urge you to surrender daily to Christ as Lord of your life, I am recommending a very demanding way of life. A young unbeliever once expressed to me that Jesus could have gotten people killed. I replied, What do you mean, ‘could have?’ Many have been killed for following Jesus. Jesus warned His apostles that, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service (John 16:2).

The question is not whether following Jesus is demanding; it is. The question is whether it is worth the price. Jesus said, Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matt. 5:11-12).

Many have expressed in both word and action that they think following Jesus is worth any price. The Apostle Paul suffered years of