One of the most common phrases used in Christian circles is the phrase, “accept the Lord,” as in, “I accepted the Lord when I was 19 years old” or, “We’re praying that my mother will accept the Lord.”
Interestingly, that phrase can’t be found in any English translation of the Bible, and the idea of “accepting Jesus” can only be found in a couple of fairly modern translations. Why is that? One reason is because, from a standpoint of theological truth, the phrase is inappropriate. The word “lord” carries an historic connotation of describing one who possesses supreme authority. Thus, lords aren’t people whom lesser people “accept.” They are people whom lesser people are supposed to honor, revere, and obey.
We’ve lost the original meaning of the word “lord” in modern societies. But think of the movies you’ve seen that are set in past history in which someone addresses a king as “my lord,” or “my lord, the king.” That helps us better grasp what a lord is. Lords are rulers. You don’t “accept” them. You submit to them. You might rebel against them. But you don’t “accept” them, because that would imply your being above them and having the right to appraise them.
For these reasons, to say, “I accepted the Lord” indicates, at best, a deficient understanding of the word “lord,” and at worst, a deficient understanding of who Jesus is. Our coupling the verb “accept” with the noun “lord” is somewhat analogous to an army private oddly saying, “I accepted the general back in 2018.” Army generals, of course, by virtue of their superior rank, aren’t people whom privates “accept.” Rather, they are people whom privates are supposed to honor, revere and obey.
The closest synonymous New Testament phrase you can find to the modern phrase “accepting the Lord” is found in John 1:12: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.” But the words receive and accept are not always synonymous. One might “receive a king” for example, which would imply some sort of grand welcoming ceremony. But to “accept a king” could imply either reluctance or superiority on the part of the one doing the accepting. Moreover, anyone who reads the context of John 1:12 quickly realizes that John believed that to receive Jesus was also to believe in Him, and specifically to believe that He existed from eternity, created everything, and is the Light of the world (see John 1:1-13). Again, not a person to “accept”!
The Greek word most often translated “lord”—as in “Lord Jesus Christ”—in English Bibles is kurios. Here’s a scripture passage that illuminates the meaning of that word. Look for the four times Paul uses it:
Slaves, in all things obey those who are your Masters [kurios] on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord [kurios]…. Masters [kurios], grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master [kurios] in heaven (Col. 3:22, 4:1).
To Paul, Jesus was every bit as much lord over His followers as was any master over his slaves. Both earthly lords and our heavenly Lord are to be feared and obeyed, he said.
But imagine a first-century slave saying to his owner, “I remember when I accepted you as my lord.” His master would likely respond, “You obviously don’t understand who I am, or our relationship. I purchased you. I own you. For you to tell me that you ‘accepted’ me is insulting, because it elevates you above me.”
I suspect that any reader would be at least mildly insulted if anyone whom they appraised as an equal (or below equal by some measure) said, “I accept you.” So who are we to be “accepting” the Son of God?
Jesus, of course, is not just any Lord. He is “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev. 1:5). He is the “King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15). He is our “Master and Lord” (Jude 4). He is someone whom we can respectfully and honorably receive, believe in, love, submit to, and obey. But He isn’t looking for anyone’s acceptance, nor does He need it. On the contrary, we need to be accepted by Him! So let’s purge our Christian vocabulary of the phrases “accept the Lord” and “accept Jesus.” Our Lord deserves better!
