The Hardest Questions Jesus Asked — Part 3
Why Call Me Lord?
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” — Luke 6:46 (KJV)
“Until the will and affections are brought under the authority of Christ, we have not yet begun to understand, let alone accept, his Lordship. The cross, as it enters the love life, will reveal the heart’s truth.” Elisabeth Elliot
There is a question Jesus asked that should cause every believer to stop and examine the condition of his or her heart. It is a question that reaches beyond religious activity, church attendance, biblical knowledge, and even verbal expressions of devotion. It confronts the difference between what we profess with our mouths and what we demonstrate through our lives.
Jesus asked, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
It is a question that exposes one of the greatest contradictions in the Christian life: calling Jesus Lord while refusing to live under His lordship.
We can become very comfortable with the language of Christianity. We sing about Jesus, pray in His name, quote His Word, and speak openly about our commitment to Him. But Jesus makes it clear that our confession must be accompanied by obedience. It is not enough to acknowledge His authority with our lips if we continually resist that authority with our lives.
The question is not simply whether we believe in Jesus. It is whether we are willing to obey Him.
The Difference Between Calling Him Lord and Making Him Lord
The word Lord carries the idea of authority, ownership, and supreme rule. To call Jesus Lord is to acknowledge that He has the right to direct our lives. It means recognizing that our lives are not ultimately our own and that His will takes precedence over ours.
Yet there is a difference between recognizing the meaning of a title and living in submission to the One who holds it.
A person can acknowledge Jesus as Lord in principle while resisting Him in practice. We may readily surrender the areas of our lives that are convenient while holding tightly to the areas we prefer to control. We may obey when His instructions agree with our desires but hesitate when obedience requires sacrifice, change, or discomfort.
We want Jesus to be Lord of our salvation, but are we willing for Him to be Lord of our decisions? We want Him to bless our plans, but are we willing to surrender those plans when He directs us differently? We want His promises, His protection, and His provision, but are we equally willing to embrace His instructions?
This is where the question becomes personal.
It is possible to want the benefits of following Jesus without embracing the responsibilities of following Him. But biblical discipleship does not allow us to separate His blessings from His authority. We cannot consistently claim His lordship while reserving the right to govern our own lives.
The Problem of Selective Obedience
One of the greatest challenges of discipleship is that we can become selective about which instructions we are willing to follow.
We obey the things that fit comfortably into our lifestyle but struggle with the things that require us to make adjustments. We embrace the Scriptures that encourage us but sometimes resist the ones that confront us. We welcome His direction when it confirms what we already want to do, but we may become reluctant when His Word challenges our preferences.
Selective obedience is still disobedience.
Consider Saul in 1 Samuel 15. God gave him specific instructions concerning the Amalekites, but Saul chose to carry out those instructions selectively. He spared King Agag and kept the best of the livestock. When confronted by Samuel, Saul attempted to justify his actions by appealing to the religious purpose behind the sacrifice.
Samuel’s response was unmistakable:
“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).
Saul wanted the appearance of obedience without the discipline of complete obedience. He was willing to do much of what God commanded, but he was unwilling to do all that God commanded.
That is a dangerous place for any believer to find himself.
We must be careful not to substitute religious activity for genuine submission. Serving in church, giving financially, participating in ministry, and maintaining spiritual routines are valuable, but none of these things can replace obedience to God’s Word.
The question Jesus asks is not how much religious activity we can demonstrate. It is whether we are actually doing what He says.
Obedience Reveals the Reality of Our Devotion
Jesus made this principle clear in John 14:15:
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
Notice the connection between love and obedience. Jesus did not present obedience as an optional addition to our relationship with Him. He identified it as an expression of our love.
This does not mean that we earn God’s love or salvation through perfect performance. We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9). But the grace that saves us also begins transforming us. Genuine faith produces a desire to please the One in whom we have placed our trust.
Obedience is not the price we pay to become His; it is the response of a heart that belongs to Him.
Our obedience may not always be perfect, and we will have moments when we stumble, struggle, and need correction. But there should be a genuine willingness to respond when Jesus speaks. A surrendered heart does not make peace with disobedience. It remains teachable, responsive, and willing to change.
The question is not whether we have reached perfection. The question is whether we have settled who has the authority to direct our lives.
Building on the Right Foundation
Immediately after asking this question, Jesus gives an illustration that brings His point into focus.
“Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock…” (Luke 6:47–48).
Jesus describes a person who not only hears His words but puts them into practice. When the flood comes and the waters beat against that house, it stands because it has been built on a solid foundation.
He then contrasts that person with someone who hears His words but does not obey them. That person builds without a foundation, and when the flood comes, the house collapses.
The difference between the two builders was not what they heard. Both heard the words of Jesus. The difference was what they did with what they heard.
This is a sobering reminder that biblical knowledge alone does not establish a strong spiritual foundation. We can know the Scriptures, understand biblical principles, and even teach others what God’s Word says, yet fail to build our own lives upon it.
The strength of our spiritual foundation is demonstrated through our obedience.
When the storms of life arrive, it becomes evident whether we have merely heard the Word or whether we have built our lives upon it.
The Lordship Question We Must Answer
Jesus’ question in Luke 6:46 is not intended to be directed only at those outside the church. It is a question every believer should be willing to examine personally.
Have we given Jesus complete access to our lives, or have we established boundaries around the areas we prefer to control? Are there instructions we have heard repeatedly but continue to postpone? Are there convictions we once held firmly but have gradually compromised? Are we willing to follow Him only when His direction agrees with our preferences?
Perhaps the most dangerous place a believer can occupy is a place of religious familiarity without genuine submission. We can become so accustomed to hearing the words of Jesus that we lose the urgency of responding to them.
But hearing without doing is not the discipleship Jesus described.
He is not looking for people who simply acknowledge His position. He is calling people who are willing to submit to His authority.
A Final Challenge
It is possible to spend a lifetime talking about Jesus while never fully surrendering the right to govern our own lives. We can call Him Lord in our worship, confess Him as Lord in our conversations, and proclaim Him as Lord in our churches, yet resist His lordship when His instructions interfere with what we want. That is the contradiction Jesus confronts with this question.
The issue is not whether we know the right words. It is whether our lives reflect the reality of our confession.
If Jesus is Lord, then His Word must carry greater authority than our opinions, His will must take precedence over our preferences, and His direction must be more important than our personal plans. We cannot reserve the right to overrule Him whenever obedience becomes inconvenient.
Jesus is not asking for a place in our lives; He is calling for authority over our lives. He does not want to be merely acknowledged, admired, or occasionally consulted. He wants to be obeyed.
So let the question search your heart today:
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
It is one thing to call Him Lord. It is another thing to live as though He truly is.
Add a practical obedience responseStrengthen the opening with a hook
