Part 6: A Great Diagnostic Question

The gospel presents Jesus as the Lamb of God (Savior), the Son of God (the Messianic King of Israel), the Baptizer in the Spirit (the Lord of the harvest), and the divine Son of Man, who will come in the clouds with great glory at the end of time to judge the living and the dead and rule forever over God’s new creation.

Looking back on my own journey to faith in Christ, I did not initially know that he is the Baptizer in the Spirit. I was not aware there was even such a thing! My conception of Jesus was incomplete, but it was enough for me to be saved. I realized by revelation that Jesus is the Truth and really risen from the dead just as the Bible says. I believed in my heart, in a basic way, that he died for my sins so that I could be forgiven (the Lamb of God) and that, because he rose again, he deserved my lifelong devotion and service (the Lord). According to Paul, it is an inner belief in his resurrection that makes us right with God and a public acknowledgement of Christ’s lordship that saves us.

...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. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Romans 10:9-10 (ESV)

Peter confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, which was the equivalent as confessing that he is Lord.

We must have our eyes opened to the reality of Jesus’ being the Lamb of God and the Lord in order to be saved, and we must confess this publicly.

Water baptism is the formal means to make such a declaration of allegiance to the risen Lord.

Since everything depends on the Holy Spirit opening our eyes to who Jesus really is; when we share the gospel, we would be wise to follow Jesus’ example by asking our hearers some form of the question Jesus posed to his disciples. Let me read it to you.

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Matthew 16:15-17 (NLT)

We might reword it a bit to fit our context, such as follows.

Who do you say that Jesus was or is?
What are your thoughts as to who Jesus really was or is?
Do you think Jesus was more than a mere man?
Do you think there was anything special about Jesus?
Do you agree with what the Bible says about Jesus?

Regardless of how we ask the question, the answer will open a window into the heart of the responder. It will help us understand whether the Spirit has revealed Jesus to them yet. It will help us assess where they are on their faith journey and how we might be able to help them to go farther down the path.