Creator, Father, King #196

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Gossip! Rumors! Speculation! Theories! Hearsay!

As Jesus traveled through Palestine teaching, healing, and performing astounding miracles, huge crowds followed him. Yet people’s opinions greatly differed regarding Jesus’ true identity.

So one day, when Jesus and his disciples entered Caesarea Philippi, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

Interesting guesses . . . but all wrong.

Then Jesus got personal with his disciples: “But who do you say I am?”

Peter, never shy about speaking first, boldly answered in one of Scripture’s great confessions: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” ( Matthew 16:13-20).

Peter’s confession hit the mark. He acknowledged Jesus was God’s Son (implying Christ’s deity) and the Messiah—God’s promised Savior for the sins of the world. Bull’s-eye, Peter!

What’s It Mean?

In the first century AD, lots of people mistook Jesus’ true identity. It’s no different today. Ask ten people on the street who Jesus is, and you might get ten different answers, including some of the following:

• a good man
• a great prophet
• a martyr
• the leader of a religious movement

Sadly, many people today might not know what to say because they haven’t given Jesus any thought at all.

But the topic of Jesus’ identity is as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago. So now the Savior’s question comes to you: Who do you say Jesus is?

As today’s passage from Romans 10 implies, it’s a question of eternal significance. No sinner is justified (or made right with God) apart from faith in Christ (Romans 5:1; Galatians 2:16). To receive God’s forgiveness and experience his salvation, you must believe in Jesus’ true identity, trust in his saving power for your life, and be willing to openly declare it.

If you haven’t already, confess Jesus as Lord, trust in his saving work on your behalf, and receive his salvation today!

Now What?

Read the full account of Peter’s great confession of Christ in Matthew 16:13-20.

Did You Know?

After Peter’s confession, Jesus told Peter he was “blessed . . . because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being” (Matthew 16:17). Our saving faith doesn’t spring from our own sinful hearts; it is a gracious gift from God.