I made
up my mind to tell everybody that Jesus Christ is Lord and I believe this is to
the Glory of God the Father in Heaven.
I am so
much blessed because I can take part in this glorious work of God. I will keep writing the articles on the Bible
topics focused on the Person and Work of our Lord Jesus Christ until either He
comes or I go to Him.
What does it mean. “ Jesus Christ is
Lord?”
We read
in, Philippians 2:9-11
“Therefore God exalted Him to the
highest place
and gave Him the Name that is above
every name,
that at the Name of Jesus every knee
should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the
earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”
The New Testament human writers employed the Greek
word, κύριος, kýrios for designating Jesus Christ, it meant,
“a
person exercising absolute ownership rights; lord (Lord).”
We read in, 1
Corinthians 1:2;
“Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that
are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every
place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.”
The Jehovah's
Witnesses deny that Jesus is God in flesh. Therefore, they have produced a
Bible, the New World Translation that reflects their theological bias against
Christ's deity. But, their Bible cannot completely remove all the references
that show who Jesus really is. Such is the case with the phrase, “to call upon
the name of the Lord.”
We can see in the
Bible where the Old Testament believers “call upon the name of the Lord,” as a
reference to God. Literally, in Hebrew this is “call upon the name of Jehovah
[YHWH].” This phrase with its variations “calling upon...”and “called upon...”
etc., occurs eleven times in the Old Testament in the King James Version, which
the Jehovah's Witnesses used as their Bible for many years.
“Jehovah” is an
English(ized) form of the Hebrew four letters YHWH from which we get God's name
“Jehovah” or “Yahweh.” Most modern English Bibles translate the four letters “YHWH”
into the word “Lord.” This is done because no one knows the true pronunciation
of God's name and also because the Jews wanted to avoid violating the
sacredness of God's name if they pronounced it incorrectly. Nevertheless, in
every instance of this usage “Lord” in the Hebrew phrase, “call upon the name
of the Lord,” it is the Hebrew “YHWH” in the original and is always in
reference to God and to God, the everlasting God, alone.
Around 250 B.C.,
the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek by Jewish scholars. This
translation is called the Septuagint and is known by the designation LXX. The
Hebrew phrase to “call upon the name of the Lord [YHWH],” of course, was also
translated into Greek. For example, in Joel 2:32 it says, “...whosoever shall
call on the name of the LORD [YHWH] shall be delivered...” This Greek
translation in the LXX is “hos an epikalesatai to onoma kuriou,” literally,
"whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord."
When we look at
this phrase in the Old Testament, we see that “to call upon the name of the
Lord" was used to designate prayer to God in 1 Kings 18:24, 37 and Psalm
116:4.
Clearly, the phrase
is used of God in reference to prayer to Him. The phrase is never used in
reference to anyone else other than God. Remember that “call upon the name of
the Lord [YHWH]” in Hebrew was translated into Greek by the Jews in the LXX and
they rendered “YHWH” into the Greek “kurios,” which means “lord."”This
phrase was then used of Jesus in 1 Corinthians 1:2.
“Unto the church of God which is at Corinth,
to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that
in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and
ours,” (1 Cor. 1:2). “...call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ...” NASB,
ASV, ASV1901,
“...call on the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ...”KJV, NJKV, NIV, RSV,
“...calling upon
the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours,” NWT.
NOTE: In the Greek,
it is literally, “Call upon the name of the Lord OF US, Jesus Christ.” This is why the English says, “Call upon the
name of OUR Lord.” Therefore, the phrase is the same.
This is clear evidence that Jesus is called YHWH since the same phrase used
to address God is also used to address Jesus.
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