What Does It Mean That Jesus Is My Lord?

The Second Article of the Creed is the longest, confessing Jesus Christ—conceived, born, crucified, died, buried, risen, ascended, and coming again. But Luther’s explanation of it opens with a phrase that makes the whole sweeping story intensely personal: “I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord.”

What does it mean to call Jesus “my Lord”? Luther explains it not in terms of raw power or authority-over-me first, but in terms of rescue and belonging. Jesus is my Lord because he “has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.” His lordship, in other words, is the lordship of a redeemer—one who bought me back at the cost of his own blood (1 Peter 1:18-19). To be “his own” is not slavery; it is rescue. I belonged to sin, death, and the devil; he paid to make me his.

And notice the purpose of this redemption, which Luther states beautifully: Christ did all this “that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.” The goal is not merely forgiveness in the abstract but life with him—to be his own, now and forever, living under his gracious rule and sharing his resurrection life.

This is why “Lord” is such good news, not a threat. In the ancient world, a lord owned and protected his people; to belong to a good lord was security. To confess Jesus as “my Lord” is to say: I am not my own; “you were bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20)—and the One who owns me is the One who died to have me. He “delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13). So his lordship is the safest place in the universe: to be owned by the Christ who loved me enough to buy me with his own blood.