CONFESSING JESUS AS LORD
By Terry A. Chrisope
Christian Focus Mentor. 351 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978 1 845 509 620
‘Jesus is Lord’ is the bottom line of the New Testament and a life commitment that Christians long to deepen into a joyful, every-moment posture.
Whether this book will help you with that is another question. Don’t worry, it’s theo-logically sound. It’s more about who it is aimed at. On the one hand it is not a highbrow ‘academic’ book, in that the author pauses to explain some theological concepts that an academic work might presume; on the other, it assumes a knowledge of theological issues that is more demanding than you might want if you are only looking for inspiration and pastoral help.
Lordship salvation?
Originating in the ‘Lordship salvation’ debates, Chrisope’s book was developed from his much shorter work published in 1982. That controversy centred on whether someone could initially accept Jesus as saviour but not as Lord. Some writers argued in favour of this, saying it avoided legalism. Probably the best known name weighing in against was John MacArthur.
The first two-thirds of the book are a highly detailed biblical theology of Lordship, working through a huge number of texts, building a picture of the authoritative Lordship of God, and of salvation as deeply entwined with Jesus’s role as Lord of a Christian’s life. The last third of the book deals with the implications of this for the Lordship debate and Christian living. Throughout, Chrisope provides practical applications for individual believers and the church.
So it is a sound, exhaustive defence of the biblical view that Christians confess Jesus as Lord. What it is not is a page-turner. If you are thinking through ‘Lordship salvation’ issues, if you like reading long stretches of biblical theology or if you’re writing an essay on ‘Does the Christian faith require us to accept Jesus as Lord?’, then this is for you. If you’re looking for a basic introduction, a devotional work to ignite your passion or something pastoral to help with issues, this may be too ponderous and detailed. That’s not a weakness, it’s just not the main aim.
