Mateus 5

Mateus 5:33-35

William MacDonald: Here it is in a nutshell: First you must accept the truth of the Incarnation, that the Babe of Bethlehem’s manger is the Lord of life and glory, that the Jesus of the NT is the Lord (Jehovah) of the OT. Second, you must accept the truth of His resurrection, with all that it involves. God has raised Him from the dead as proof that Christ had completed the work necessary for our salvation, and that God is satisfied with that work. Believing this with the heart means believing with one’s mental, emotional, and volitional powers. So you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead. It is a personal appropriation of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is saving faith. The question often arises, “Can a person be saved by accepting Jesus as Savior without also acknowledging Him as Lord?” The Bible gives no encouragement to anyone who believes with mental reservations: “I’ll take Jesus as my Savior but I don’t want to crown Him Lord of all.” On the other hand, those who make submission to Jesus as Lord a condition of salvation face the problem, “To what degree must He be acknowledged as Lord?” Few Christians would claim to have made an absolute and complete surrender to Him in this way. When we present the gospel, we must maintain that faith is the sole condition of justification. But we must also remind sinners and saints constantly that Jesus Christ is Lord (Jehovah-God), and should be acknowledged as such. (Believer's Bible Commentary) Romans 14:7-note For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. James Denney comments: The truth which has been affirmed in regard to the Christian’s use of food, and observance or non-observance of days, is here based on a larger truth of which it is a part. His whole life belongs, not to himself, but to his Lord. ‘No one of us lives to himself’ does not mean, ‘every man’s conduct affects others for better or for worse, whether he will or not’; it means, ‘no Christian is his own end in life; what is always present to his mind, as a rule of his conduct, is the will and the interest of his Lord.’ The same holds true of his dying. He does not choose either the time or the mode of it, like a Roman Stoic, to please himself. He dies when the Lord wills, as the Lord will, and even by his death glorifies God. In Ro 14:14-note Paul comes to speak of the influence of conduct upon others; but here there is no such thing in view; the prominence given to the Lord three times in Ro 14:8 shows that the one truth present to his mind is the all-determining significance, for Christian conduct, of the relation of Christ. This (ideally) determines everything, alike in life or death; and all that is determined by what is right. (Bolding added) (St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans by James Denney in The Expositor's Greek Testament - NOTE - this downloads 84 MB Pdf - quote is on page 703) Middletown Bible comments: How we do what we do is even more important, and every believer needs to make sure he does what he does as unto the Lord. The real issue is the fact that "WE ARE THE LORD'S." We belong to Him spirit, soul and body! He is our Master and we are His slaves. This is our Christian liberty: we are FREE to serve Christ as His love-slaves! No believer "lives to himself" (Ro 14:7). Why not? This is explained in 2Co 5:14, 15, "For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again." We no longer are to live for ourselves. We spent all of our unsaved life living this way (1Pe 4:1,2-note). Rather we are to live for the One who died and rose again for us. — — Christian living is LIVING UNTO HIM--to serve Him, to honor Him, to please Him, to gladly obey Him. We are to MAGNIFY HIM whether it be by living or by dying (see Php 1:20, 21, 22, 23-note). Even our dying is to be a service rendered unto Him (compare Jn 21:19). Our living and our dying are in His hands because we belong to Him. He rules our days and the length of our days. Death does not change the relationship. He is our Lord when we are alive. He is our Lord when we are dead. If anything, death IMPROVES the relationship because to depart and to be with Christ is FAR BETTER (Php 1:23-note) and is considered "GAIN" (Php 1:21-note), and to be absent from the body is to be PRESENT WITH THE LORD (2Co 5:8). Christ died and rose and revived (lived again) for this purpose, that He might be LORD (Php 2:9, 10, 11-note). — — (1) I am not my own Lord (1Co 6:19-note, 1Co 6:20-note). (2) I am not Lord and Judge over my fellow believers (Ro 14:10-note). (3) HE IS LORD and I am His servant and love slave, serving with my fellow believers, accountable to Him and to Him alone! (Romans 14 Comments) (Bolding added) H C G