According to The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church (BOD, ¶ 324.9, Question d), a question for provisional members for elders reads, “How do you interpret the statement Jesus Christ is Lord?
My Common Answer
In Romans 10:9, 13, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, though shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoeover shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
In I Corinthians 12:3, “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”
In Acts 2:21, 36, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
1. The message was Jesus is Lord and Christ, and the same response is Jesus Christ is Lord.
2. The confession Jesus Christ is Lord is the same response and mirrors the high Christology of the message proclaimed by the Apostles, even after their experience of Pentecost.
Therefore, I understand the confession when a person calls on the name of the Lord begins one’s conversion. I have made up my mind this means and begins a conversion. Conversion can occur without speaking in tongues and without legalism. Also, water baptism or a specific way of performing water baptism is not equated to salvation conversion or one’s default salvation experience. Unfortunately, we short-change people to put salvation all into water baptism. By grace and the work of Christ on the cross is what saves us.
Now, I believe strongly both ways. A congregation flows in the greater Spirit-filled stream of Christianity; and God does not want stagnate churches.[1] Additionally, I am absolutely convinced a congregation is converted solely by the grace of God through faith.[2] I am also convinced one is absolutely saved by grace through faith without legalism and standards of dress. In other words, I understand a conversion can occur without Apostolic Pentecostal distinctive doctrines, speaking in tongues, and standards of dress. Therefore, the community experience with Methodist people helped me understand God reveals heavenly principles through constructive human events.
I experienced an encounter with God that made me spiritually free. For instance, my experience led me to understand the new birth is not just validating facts, completing what a pastor says, or one punctiliar event. The experience also made clear that salvation does not depend on specific ways of performing water baptism, speaking in tongues, or having standards of dress. These things do not guarantee one’s new birth.[3] On the other hand, the spiritual change that makes me a new person in Christ is a more mature definition. Human events do not change people, but a spiritual experience God does will change lives. As a result of this trial, God spoke to me and said, "My grace is sufficient for thee."[4] I used to believe assurance was only the “proposition” once saved and always saved. On the other hand, I now have the witness of the Spirit assuring me I am one of God's children. The more mature view of assurance took away my guilt and removed my fears. We can therefore say an immense theological transformation took place in my life. My experience led from understanding holiness as a skewed view of legalism into understanding the UMC practices of holiness as a spiritual work of God. First, I learned not to create categories.[5] Second, I learned not to quantify someone's spiritual experience or sojourn with God.
My Professional Technical Essay for Board of Ministry’Answer
Jesus Christ is Lord is the original confession started by early Christians in the church.[6] First, the oral message proclaimed a God throughout history performing redemption for His children. Specifically, God revealed Himself by fulfilling the spoken word in redemptive acts. The Jewish people consequently came to know the One True God by His actions. The "I Am that I Am" statement is not just a concept that God is the self-existent One.[7] The statement emphasized the faith needed by Moses and the Israelites in order to experience redemption.[8] The speech spoken by "I Am" revealed that Yahweh is the One True God that redeems. On the other hand, the ancient Near East people were very pluralistic in their religions.[9] Most religions only knew god as a concept. On the other hand, the Israelite God, Yahweh, was the only deity acting out the spoken Word through redemption. We can therefore say Lord became known as the God who delivers people. For that explanation, the followers who taught Christ is Lord ascribed the same divine uniqueness of Yahweh to Jesus. Besides, the name Jesus meant Yahweh has become my salvation.
Second, Yahweh was the proper covenant name used by the Israelites. The Hebrew people protected the holy pronunciation of the name Yahweh in a form called the Tetragrammaton. Later, the Tetragrammaton (e.g., Yahweh in Hebrew without vowels) was translated into the name [FONT='TITUS Cyberbit Basic','serif']κύριος[/font] (e.g., kurios) in the Greek Septuagint (LXX).[10] Then, the disciples quoted passages and allusions from the Hebrew Bible and LXX to proclaim the deity of Jesus as Lord. As a result, the Apostles effective proclamation and explanation of Christ being Lord meant early believers adopting the message as their confession. Hence, the core message of Jesus Christ is Lord also became the core confession of the early church.
Third, the written tradition from Israelite scriptures communicated God was going to send a Messiah. Messiah is the Hebrew concept for the Greek-speaking concept Christ.[11] From the beginning, God had the redemptive work of Christ in mind.[12] Moses and the prophets also wrote about a Messiah coming to fulfill the purpose of deliverance. Again, the disciples took Hebrew Bible and LXX passages to explain the same divine uniqueness ascribed to Jesus. The Apostles proclaimed that Jesus is Lord and Christ.[13]The effectual use of Christ in proclamation along with the explanations ascribed towards Lord brought conviction to the early Christians. Specifically, the early hearers started to realize the same Lord at Creation also came as Christ to redeem. The belief that Christians had personally encountered the resurrected Christ after His death generated the confession.[14] Gordon Fee carefully explains the ultimate Christian confession: “Jesus (the crucified One) is (by his resurrection) Lord (of all the universe).”[15] Hence, only a personally generated revelation of the Spirit can prompt one to truly make the confession at conversion. The message also convicted the sin in the hearts of the hearers. As a result, the conviction at conversion led Christians to confess Jesus Christ is Lord.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][1][/font] I Cor. 12:1-7; Rev. 3:14-22.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][3][/font] John Wesley mentioned, "How many are the baptized gluttons and drunkards, the baptized liars and common swearers…the baptized whoremongers, thieves, extortioners?" Witherington interpreted Wesley by stating, "He stresses that one can and must be born again outside of baptism if one does not manifest the marks of the new birth subsequent to baptism." Ben Witherington III, The Problem with Evangelical Theology: Testing the Exegetical Foundations of Calvinism, Dispensationalism, and Wesleyanism (Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2006), 194; Rom. 6:1-7; II Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 4:23-25; Col. 3:9-11.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][5][/font] Rom. 14.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][6][/font] Ben Witherington III, The Many Faces of the Christ: The Christologies of the New Testament and Beyond (New York, N.Y.: Crossroad, 1998), 75, 96.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][7][/font] "We ought not to translate the phrase 'I am that I am' as if it were an ontological statement, a statement about God's being, but rather we seem to be being told something about God's activity or self-revelation in his activity. The focus then is not on God's being self-contained, self-existent being. Normally when God was going to act or had just revealed himself, he was given a new title or name (cf. Gen. 16:13)." Ben Witherington III and Laura M. Ice, The Shadow of the Almighty: Father, Son, and Spirit in Biblical Perspective (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2002), 10-11.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][9][/font] Witherington and Ice, The Shadow of the Almighty, 5.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][10][/font] "It seems probable that the Tetragrammaton YHWH is a shortening of the whole phrase eyeh asher eyeh into a personal name. They need to know not merely God exists, but that God does and will soon act on their behalf." Witherington and Ice, The Shadow of the Almighty, 11-12; Gen. 18:1, Gen. 19:1; Exod. 3:10-15, Exod. 20:2.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][12][/font] Rom. 14:9.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][13][/font] Acts 2:29-36, Acts 5:31, Acts 10:34-43; Rom. 10:9; I Cor. 1:9, I Cor. 8:6, I Cor. 12:3; Eph. 4:5.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][14][/font] According to Witherington (The Many Faces of Christ, 77), “The confession then would have three parts, the first having to do with what Jesus was in himself by physical birth and then as a result of the work of God’s Spirit in his life after death, and finally what he was to and for believers ever since the resurrection, namely, our Lord.”
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][15][/font] Gordon D. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit and the Letters of Paul (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994), 157; I Cor. 2:10-13, I Cor. 12:1-3, I Cor. 15.
After Reading my answer, what is your response or critique of my answer? Thank You!
God Bless Everyone,
Holyroller125
My Common Answer
In Romans 10:9, 13, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, though shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoeover shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
In I Corinthians 12:3, “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”
In Acts 2:21, 36, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
1. The message was Jesus is Lord and Christ, and the same response is Jesus Christ is Lord.
2. The confession Jesus Christ is Lord is the same response and mirrors the high Christology of the message proclaimed by the Apostles, even after their experience of Pentecost.
Therefore, I understand the confession when a person calls on the name of the Lord begins one’s conversion. I have made up my mind this means and begins a conversion. Conversion can occur without speaking in tongues and without legalism. Also, water baptism or a specific way of performing water baptism is not equated to salvation conversion or one’s default salvation experience. Unfortunately, we short-change people to put salvation all into water baptism. By grace and the work of Christ on the cross is what saves us.
Now, I believe strongly both ways. A congregation flows in the greater Spirit-filled stream of Christianity; and God does not want stagnate churches.[1] Additionally, I am absolutely convinced a congregation is converted solely by the grace of God through faith.[2] I am also convinced one is absolutely saved by grace through faith without legalism and standards of dress. In other words, I understand a conversion can occur without Apostolic Pentecostal distinctive doctrines, speaking in tongues, and standards of dress. Therefore, the community experience with Methodist people helped me understand God reveals heavenly principles through constructive human events.
I experienced an encounter with God that made me spiritually free. For instance, my experience led me to understand the new birth is not just validating facts, completing what a pastor says, or one punctiliar event. The experience also made clear that salvation does not depend on specific ways of performing water baptism, speaking in tongues, or having standards of dress. These things do not guarantee one’s new birth.[3] On the other hand, the spiritual change that makes me a new person in Christ is a more mature definition. Human events do not change people, but a spiritual experience God does will change lives. As a result of this trial, God spoke to me and said, "My grace is sufficient for thee."[4] I used to believe assurance was only the “proposition” once saved and always saved. On the other hand, I now have the witness of the Spirit assuring me I am one of God's children. The more mature view of assurance took away my guilt and removed my fears. We can therefore say an immense theological transformation took place in my life. My experience led from understanding holiness as a skewed view of legalism into understanding the UMC practices of holiness as a spiritual work of God. First, I learned not to create categories.[5] Second, I learned not to quantify someone's spiritual experience or sojourn with God.
My Professional Technical Essay for Board of Ministry’Answer
Jesus Christ is Lord is the original confession started by early Christians in the church.[6] First, the oral message proclaimed a God throughout history performing redemption for His children. Specifically, God revealed Himself by fulfilling the spoken word in redemptive acts. The Jewish people consequently came to know the One True God by His actions. The "I Am that I Am" statement is not just a concept that God is the self-existent One.[7] The statement emphasized the faith needed by Moses and the Israelites in order to experience redemption.[8] The speech spoken by "I Am" revealed that Yahweh is the One True God that redeems. On the other hand, the ancient Near East people were very pluralistic in their religions.[9] Most religions only knew god as a concept. On the other hand, the Israelite God, Yahweh, was the only deity acting out the spoken Word through redemption. We can therefore say Lord became known as the God who delivers people. For that explanation, the followers who taught Christ is Lord ascribed the same divine uniqueness of Yahweh to Jesus. Besides, the name Jesus meant Yahweh has become my salvation.
Second, Yahweh was the proper covenant name used by the Israelites. The Hebrew people protected the holy pronunciation of the name Yahweh in a form called the Tetragrammaton. Later, the Tetragrammaton (e.g., Yahweh in Hebrew without vowels) was translated into the name [FONT='TITUS Cyberbit Basic','serif']κύριος[/font] (e.g., kurios) in the Greek Septuagint (LXX).[10] Then, the disciples quoted passages and allusions from the Hebrew Bible and LXX to proclaim the deity of Jesus as Lord. As a result, the Apostles effective proclamation and explanation of Christ being Lord meant early believers adopting the message as their confession. Hence, the core message of Jesus Christ is Lord also became the core confession of the early church.
Third, the written tradition from Israelite scriptures communicated God was going to send a Messiah. Messiah is the Hebrew concept for the Greek-speaking concept Christ.[11] From the beginning, God had the redemptive work of Christ in mind.[12] Moses and the prophets also wrote about a Messiah coming to fulfill the purpose of deliverance. Again, the disciples took Hebrew Bible and LXX passages to explain the same divine uniqueness ascribed to Jesus. The Apostles proclaimed that Jesus is Lord and Christ.[13]The effectual use of Christ in proclamation along with the explanations ascribed towards Lord brought conviction to the early Christians. Specifically, the early hearers started to realize the same Lord at Creation also came as Christ to redeem. The belief that Christians had personally encountered the resurrected Christ after His death generated the confession.[14] Gordon Fee carefully explains the ultimate Christian confession: “Jesus (the crucified One) is (by his resurrection) Lord (of all the universe).”[15] Hence, only a personally generated revelation of the Spirit can prompt one to truly make the confession at conversion. The message also convicted the sin in the hearts of the hearers. As a result, the conviction at conversion led Christians to confess Jesus Christ is Lord.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][1][/font] I Cor. 12:1-7; Rev. 3:14-22.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][3][/font] John Wesley mentioned, "How many are the baptized gluttons and drunkards, the baptized liars and common swearers…the baptized whoremongers, thieves, extortioners?" Witherington interpreted Wesley by stating, "He stresses that one can and must be born again outside of baptism if one does not manifest the marks of the new birth subsequent to baptism." Ben Witherington III, The Problem with Evangelical Theology: Testing the Exegetical Foundations of Calvinism, Dispensationalism, and Wesleyanism (Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2006), 194; Rom. 6:1-7; II Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 4:23-25; Col. 3:9-11.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][5][/font] Rom. 14.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][6][/font] Ben Witherington III, The Many Faces of the Christ: The Christologies of the New Testament and Beyond (New York, N.Y.: Crossroad, 1998), 75, 96.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][7][/font] "We ought not to translate the phrase 'I am that I am' as if it were an ontological statement, a statement about God's being, but rather we seem to be being told something about God's activity or self-revelation in his activity. The focus then is not on God's being self-contained, self-existent being. Normally when God was going to act or had just revealed himself, he was given a new title or name (cf. Gen. 16:13)." Ben Witherington III and Laura M. Ice, The Shadow of the Almighty: Father, Son, and Spirit in Biblical Perspective (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2002), 10-11.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][9][/font] Witherington and Ice, The Shadow of the Almighty, 5.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][10][/font] "It seems probable that the Tetragrammaton YHWH is a shortening of the whole phrase eyeh asher eyeh into a personal name. They need to know not merely God exists, but that God does and will soon act on their behalf." Witherington and Ice, The Shadow of the Almighty, 11-12; Gen. 18:1, Gen. 19:1; Exod. 3:10-15, Exod. 20:2.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][12][/font] Rom. 14:9.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][13][/font] Acts 2:29-36, Acts 5:31, Acts 10:34-43; Rom. 10:9; I Cor. 1:9, I Cor. 8:6, I Cor. 12:3; Eph. 4:5.
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][14][/font] According to Witherington (The Many Faces of Christ, 77), “The confession then would have three parts, the first having to do with what Jesus was in himself by physical birth and then as a result of the work of God’s Spirit in his life after death, and finally what he was to and for believers ever since the resurrection, namely, our Lord.”
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'][15][/font] Gordon D. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit and the Letters of Paul (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994), 157; I Cor. 2:10-13, I Cor. 12:1-3, I Cor. 15.
After Reading my answer, what is your response or critique of my answer? Thank You!
God Bless Everyone,
Holyroller125
Last edited:
