Is Christ really the ruler of your heart?

Imagine what it’s like when Jesus Christ, God’s Son, sits and rules unrestrained on the throne of our hearts as an indwelling power. What kind of life do you think a person will lead, if Jesus is their true Lord and Master, all the time?

How many people can truly say that Christ is Lord in their hearts? In how many people’s hearts does He rule? Jesus Himself says, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’, and not do the things which I say?” Luke 6:46. Life proceeds from the heart. Christ is the life, the light of men. We are true Christians when He becomes the absolute ruler on our heart’s throne. That is Christianity. There are many things that go by the name of Christianity, but only very few people are true Christians. As far as the majority of so-called Christians are concerned, it would be blasphemy to say that Christ is sitting on the throne of their hearts.

Stop sinning!

A person would not have to ask for forgiveness if Christ were Lord. Think hard about it! If Christ is the only ruler on our heart’s throne day and night, for what should we then ask for forgiveness? If everything went according to His leading, His will, all day long, for what should we then ask for forgiveness? People wrongly call Him “Lord, Lord!” without doing His will, going their own way without obeying Him. They seek Christ, but not for the purpose of making Him Lord. He would like to guide your life if you so desire.

Most people want to receive help in their need – forgiveness for their sins – but who wants Him as Lord? It is false, nonsense, hypocrisy, and play-acting to call Him Lord if you do not want to have Him as Lord. Then you must stop calling Him Lord. However, if you want Him to lead you, then stop sinning. What have we lost by having Him as Lord? We have lost everything that is evil! We have lost everything that is worthless! What do we gain? We gain wisdom and the love of God and of Christ. Our love of God causes us to keep His commandments. (1 John 2:5)

Sin is a transgression of the law, but there is forgiveness to be had if we fall. Man’s natural reasoning and cleverness ruin him and cause him to sin. Having Christ as Lord in one’s life is heaven on earth. Imagine how safe it is when He, who is Wisdom, guides our steps, and when Christ, who is love personified, sits on my heart’s throne. Everything, yes everything is good when love itself rules! (1 Corinthians 13:7)

The power of having Christ as Lord

This is the nature of love! Then Jesus Christ, God’s Son, sits and rules unrestrained in the heart as an indwelling power. The vast majority of people have Him as a guest, and when the Father and the Son visit the heart once in a while, people taste a bit of its sweetness. This is the truth about most so-called Christians. This is exactly how it is!

However, when Christ has been sanctified as Lord in our heart, He resides there. He has received the heart as a permanent residence. Love has entered in, and it never leaves. It leads and guides everything! You get a taste of it when love is on a visit, but when love is Lord, you will possess it constantly. Then you become someone who practices love, and its qualities suit you. As a rule, people have love visiting them several times; therefore, it goes up and down with those who seek God. Once in a while they taste the sweetness of the Lord’s nearness, but when He withdraws, they are uncertain, groping around in the dark.

The person who has received the love of Christ as an indwelling power receives everything that is written in 1 Corinthians 13. Christ rules in such a way that they are always content. Unfortunately, it is a fact that Satan himself rules in the hearts of so-called Christians. Having praised God for a long time, they are suddenly full of Satan. Christ rules for a brief period, and then? Then there is a coup-d’état, and it is revealed who really rules there. Everyone who wants to go his own way says, “There has to be a limit!” But what a heavenly atmosphere is produced in us and around us when Christ is Lord!

Believe in God’s Word! To sanctify means to separate and remove. It means unrestricted power. A king should actually be an absolute king. Nothing wrong ever happens when Christ is the absolute ruler, because He dictates only love and goodness. A better government does not exist. When He who is perfect rules, everything is perfect; it is one hundred percent truth.

Christ is a strict Lord, but He thinks only of my best. I want to recommend my Lord! Install Him as your ruler! Love is such that it does not think of itself; it thinks only of what is best for the others. Therefore, I advise you to sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts!

This article was first published in Norwegian in BCC’s periodical “Skjulte Skatter” (“Hidden Treasures”) in January 1952 with the title “Christ as Lord.”
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