Why Do You Call Me, Lord?

 Luke Chapter 6, verse 46 in the Bible (any bible, any version) is a very interesting verse that I believe many Christians skim over without letting the words sink in. First of all just to be clear, I will list that same verse as written in many different but popular versions so you can see it isn't difficult to understand regardless of what account you read.

• American Standard Version (AVS) "And why do ye call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not the things which I say?"
• Amplified Version (AMP) "Why do ye call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not practice what I tell you?"
• Easy to Read Version (ERV) "Why do ye call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' but you don't do what I say?"
• English Standard Version (ESV) "Why do ye call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not what I tell you?"
• Phillips Version (Phillips) "And what is the point of calling me, 'Lord, Lord,' without doing what I tell you to do?"
• King James Version (KJV) "And why call ye me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not the things which I say?"
• New International Version (NIV) "Why do ye call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do what I say?"
• The Voice Version (VOICE) "What good is it to mouth the words, 'Lord, Lord,' if you don't live by my teachings?"

It should be abundantly obvious by the many versions I listed that Jesus, if speaking today, would have been saying something like, 'Why do you even bother calling me Lord or calling me your Savior, or why even believe you're Mine or have any part with Me when you're not doing or obeying anything I've said, taught, instructed, or commanded?'

It's also obvious by this same verse that Jesus IS NOT speaking to the world or anyone outside of genuine Christianity because "the world" consists of atheists, agnostics, non-believers, hypocrites, pagans, and infidels, and these do not address Jesus as their "Lord." Jesus, therefore, is speaking to the only group of people that claim Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives! He's directly speaking to 'Christians'. Every person who pronounces Jesus as their Lord should carefully consider this admonition. Scripture explains why it is so very important to not only be "hearers of the Word but doers also" (James 1:22). AND THAT because, Luke 6: 47-49 " Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” And again, if we simply interpret this in simple terms is saying:

'Whoever hears what Jesus has said and actually does what He has told us to do, is like a man whose faith runs deep and is built on the bed-"Rock" (Jesus).  And when any trouble of any kind rises to shake that man's faith he will not be moved because his faith was built on TRUTH (Jesus). But if a man's faith is built on any other belief, philosophy, religion, ideology, creed, teaching, or doctrine, when he is tested by any trouble of any kind he will fall and his fall will be great because his belief and faith were not invested in Jesus ... the solid Rock.

Another interesting scripture that ties into the one above, and is of an even greater concern is from Matthew 7:21-26 Jesus is speaking,  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! Jesus is warning, not even the person claiming to be a Christian will enter heaven ... only those who do the will of God will enter, or in other words, only those believers who not only have heard the Word, but do it. OBEDIENCE TO GODS WORD IS NECESSARY TO ENTER HEAVEN. A person must be a doer of the Word not just a hearer. Examine this verse carefully!! Since Jesus is speaking to people "claiming" to be Christians because they are addressing Him as Lord, He is literally telling them "I never knew you" AND HE'S CASTING THEM AWAY even though these are those among us who prophesied in His Name. They even cast out demons in His Name. And they did many wonders in His Name, yet Jesus is telling them He doesn't know them? How can that be? What distinguishes them from any other person claiming Jesus as their Lord because these did the same thing yet they are rejected by Jesus? What happened?" Jesus gives us the answer, "depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness." They were turned away, even though they claimed Jesus as Lord and even though able to prophesy, cast out demons etc. they KNOWINGLY, WILLFULLY, AND DELIBERATELY DISREGARDED AND REFUSED TO DO AS JESUS ASKED. They were disobedient! They may have worshipped Him in word, but their deeds proved otherwise. They despised and defied Gods law, not wanting to obey by surrendering to Gods Word and HIS will.

If you are not obeying His Word, Jesus is not your Lord. You can Prophecy, speak His name, confess you're a Christian, never miss a church Sunday, use His Word and make the devil flee, have biblical knowledge, preach or teach, be the most generous person, tithe as you choose, go to prayer meetings, volunteer in a hospital, go on mission trips, etc. but if you aren’t a DOER of Gods Word, not just a listener, hearer, or reader, and DON'T OBEY what scripture teaches, is Jesus really your Lord? 

If you don't do what you know to do, its a sin (James 4:17). This verse is meant to make  the need to obey God and is often referred to as the "sin of omission." A sin of omission is a sin of inaction, or not doing something related to God’s law. How can inaction result in sin? Is there really such a thing as a sin of omission? Hearing brings knowledge, but James confirms that knowledge is useless if no action is taken after learning it. If we are to properly follow God, knowledge cannot be the final step. In Romans 1:18-23, Paul applies this concept to people who claim to know God but fail to follow His laws. Speaking of these people in verse 21, Paul writes, “Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God.” As a result, these people “became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Here we see a sobering example of people who had the knowledge of God at their fingertips—they knew who He was! Yet their knowledge was useless because it did not cause them to change the way they lived. Clearly, it is not enough to simply have knowledge of God and His way. We cannot be scholars only, failing to put His precepts to proper use in our lives. God requires that we put knowledge into action. Ultimately, everyone who learns the knowledge of God and His way of life through the Word must also choose a life of obedience to that knowledge.

Until He Comes,

-Pat-