What Does ALL Mean?

noun:
the whole of one’s possessions, energy, or interest: giving their all for what they believed.

God has made it abundantly clear that He prioritizes, deserves and, yes, requires our giving it all. That might sound demanding, but in fact it is part of the eternal covenant. All is His in the first place, He owns it all, including us:

(Psalms 100:3-5)
3 Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

The psalmist admonishes us to know this truth which endures to all generations. We are His.

(Psalms 144:15-B)
Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!

Happy are the people whose God is the Lord means just that: “Happy are the ones who have enthroned Him into the place of absolute lordship and mastery over everything”. It does not mean “happy are the ones who no longer lie, cheat or steal because they had a God-experience and now attend a fellowship”. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord of their lives.

The Ten Commandments, apparently prioritized by order of content (we’ll see Jesus’ response to a priority-commandment question by His disciples), starts off with this truth:

(Deuteronomy 6:4-5)
4 “ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Jesus, in fulfilling the righteous requirements of the Mosaic Law, did not do away with Commandment Number One, nor do I believe He was implying, “I’ll take care of that one for you by dying on the cross”. I believe He in fact both:
(A) Reconfirmed its validity for the NT saints; and thankfully also
(B) Made a way, through His atoning work, for us to walk in the intimacy of holiness so that we now have the freedom to choose to give it all to God, always.

After all, if Jesus took care of that one for us by His atoning work, then it would be logical to conclude that we now no longer needed to worry about coveting our neighbor’s wife or BMW, since He took care of them all for us.

(Mark 12:28-30)
28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “ Which is the first commandment of all?”
29 Jesus answered him, “ The first of all the commandments is:‘ Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. ’ This is the first commandment.

“This IS the first commandment” means it IS and REMAINS. Elsewhere in the gospels, Jesus clearly told folks when He was initiating a new way. He doesn’t say to them (or us) – “But now I tell you a better way that trumps your being commanded to be loving with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength”.

That is the foundation of our gospel message – not that we were set free from our sins to now go live our good and restrained-from-sin lives as we so choose, but rather that we were made free to finally be able to make the ongoing daily choice to completely surrender all to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and to enter that most holy place of intimacy. Yea God!

Jesus in fact made it clear that now that our lives were our own, our good choices would mean eternal life, and our poor choices would mean otherwise. Note that our Lord clearly was not speaking to the unsaved. He was speaking to those already His disciples:

(Matthew 16:24-27)
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “ If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

RE: My Own Journey.
The following verses in 2 Corinthians strike a resonant chord in my own life, and have been illuminated by the Holy Spirit to my mind and heart. Apparently this is something the Lord is wanting me to be attentive to, and to be working on.

The question to myself: what does “every thought into captivity” really look like? Can I get there? Can we get there? Are we called to get there – because if we are (and I believe we are) then there is sufficient grace to succeed in that goal:

(2 Corinthians 10:3-6 NKJVS)
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

For many years I read 2 Cor 10 as meaning casting down strongholds and arguments in others, as we present, declare, and defend the gospel message. True – but I have come to believe these verses pertain more clearly and more accurately to our own inner man. Oh help me God. How much of the authority of the Kingdom is available to us, to me, as we/I die to self?

We are called, charged and invited to surrender all. That is our calling, that is our victory, that is our shalom, that is our goal while awaiting His return. The creation continues to groan, waiting the revelation of the sons of God, the Spirit-led ones who will do the greater works. I don’t believe the creation will need to groan any longer once our Lord returns – so that would mean that the total surrender of the saints should be now, for us to fulfill our greater-works mandate. Makes sense.

The psalmist, rallying everyone and everything to praise, is encouraging the creation that its groaning days will be concluded:

(Psalms 98:7-9)
7 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord,
9 For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And the peoples with equity.

I digress.

Back to ALL.

Written in 1896 by Justin DeVenter, and now public domain is the song I have begun singing to the Lord. I believe He wants to hear it. He certainly deserves to hear it. He made a way for us to get to this place:

All to Jesus I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
- Refrain:
  I surrender all,
  I surrender all;
  All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
  I surrender all.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!