The saying "Jesus is Lord" serves as a statement of faith for millions of Christians who regard Jesus as both fully man and fully God. It is also the motto adopted by the World Council of Churches and by Kenneth Copeland Ministries.

Interpretation as a creed

Various Christian sects have argued over how to tell whether one is a Christian or not. They wrote creeds that acted as a sine qua non for membership within the fellowship. The statement "Jesus is Lord" has been described as the most basic Christian creed in existence.

Romans 10:9 of the New Testament Christian Bible says, "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

It is important to distinguish between the statement that Jesus is a Lord or Messiah figure versus stating that Jesus is LORD (all caps), the popular Hebrew euphemism for the tetragrammaton.

Interpretation as a political statement

The statement "Jesus is Lord" has been interpreted to assert that Christians should be involved in political process of their times. During the first century the phrase Jesus is Lord was intended by early Christians as a political contrast to the popular greeting amongst Roman citizens —- Caesar is Lord. This statement meant that Jesus himself and the early Christians were seen as a political threat. In the Roman world Caesar had come to view himself as Lord and was not open to being challenged. The statement that "Jesus is Lord" in its context was a statement that was viewed as political subversion, a direct challenge to the prevailing establishment and therefore meant that politics and religion were inextricably linked.

As a Worldview

The apostle Paul wrote, "We do not preach about ourselves, but we preach that Jesus Christ is Lord and that we are your servants for Jesus" (2 Corinthians 4:5 NCV). It is a mindset imperative not only in understanding the Christian story, but the very nature of truth itself. Jesus is Lord goes beyond a mantra or political statement and represents a worldview. Christians believe that there exists ultimate truth, meaning and reality whether people choose to stand beside it or not. It embodies an anchor in a world setting its mind on a postmodernist worldview.

This statement also represents a strong inclination to the present as indicated by the present tense. It also equates Jesus with eternal sovereignty. As humans cannot exist in the realm of eternity, Christians must deal and act in the present. C.S. Lewis stated, Where, except in the present, can the eternal be met?" Christians believe the eternal can be met in the person of Jesus and it is here that the need for truth and coherence is met. Endnotes