Who Do You Say I Am?

Last week, we looked at Jesus’ question to the man by the pool of Bethesda, “Do you want to be made well?” Through that question, Jesus reached a man who had spent years near the place of healing, yet remained trapped in disappointment and helplessness. In that place, Jesus offered him healing and grace.

This week, Jesus turns to His own disciples and asks a different kind of question: “Who do you say I am?” Let’s read this account from Matthew 16:13-28. 

Matthew 16:13-28 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

The first question Jesus asked His disciples was, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

That was a safe question. It allowed the disciples to report what others were saying. They could talk about Jesus without exposing themselves.

They told Him what they had heard. Some thought He was John the Baptist. Some thought He was Elijah. Some thought He was Jeremiah. Others said He was one of the prophets.

Today, those answers may sound insulting, as if the people were lowering Jesus. But in those days, these were not small names. The crowd was placing Jesus among the great men of God.

John the Baptist was the fiery preacher who came in the spirit and power of Elijah. Like Elijah, he called Israel to repentance and prepared the way for the coming of the Lord.

Elijah was one of Israel’s greatest prophets. He stood almost alone between God and a nation on the verge of total apostasy. On Mount Carmel, he summoned Israel to a decisive confrontation and called down fire from heaven, revealing the power of the living God. Many believed Elijah would return before the coming of the Messiah. So when people called Jesus Elijah, they saw Jesus as a prophet who would confront apostasy, challenge corrupt powers, and call Israel back to God.

Jeremiah was the prophet who carried God’s burden for an apostate people and warned Judah of coming judgment. But Jeremiah did not speak with cold condemnation. He grieved over the very people he had to confront and wept over the judgment he had to announce. So when people called Jesus “Jeremiah,” they sensed in Him the voice of God, the sorrow of God, the compassion of God, and the warning that history was again reaching a crisis.

For about four centuries, Israel had no prophet. Malachi was the last prophetic voice they had heard. So when people called Jesus “one of the prophets,” it was no small thing. It meant they believed God was speaking to Israel again, calling His people back to truth, covenant, and repentance.

So the crowd was not dismissing Jesus. They were honoring Him.

But even their honor was too small.

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

It was almost unfathomable for them to recognize that the God they worshiped, the Messiah they longed for, the Desire of Ages, their Redeemer, was standing before them in person.

After all, He did not come the way they expected. 

So here is the question for us.

Do we recognize Jesus only as a great teacher, a powerful preacher, or a miracle worker? 

Or do we recognize Him as the One who sees our sin and still comes near? The One who can redeem what we can’t repair? 

Many people think highly of Jesus. Muslims honor Him as a great prophet, and when they speak His name, they often say, “Peace be upon Him,” as an expression of reverence. But respect is not the same as recognition. It is possible to honor Jesus deeply and still not know who He really is.

So Jesus turns from public opinion to personal confession and asks his disciples the second question: “But who do you say I am?”

This is no longer a safe question. It is possible to know what others believe about Jesus, repeat the right doctrine, and defend Jesus in public, yet still not surrender to Him in private.

So Jesus pressed the disciples. After all the healings, miracles, and teachings, who do you say I am? 

At some point, borrowed faith is not enough. Admiration is not enough. Respect is not enough. Even religious familiarity is not enough.

Jesus is not asking, “Do you think highly of Me?”

He is asking, “Who do you say I am?”

Because the real issue is whether we recognize Him as our Lord and Savior.

Peter answered immediately, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

That word Messiah means “the Anointed One.” In the Old Testament, anointing with oil meant that the person was set apart for God’s purpose. Priests were anointed to stand between God and the people. Kings were anointed to rule over God’s people. Prophets were called and empowered to speak God’s word.

But Jesus is not merely another prophet, priest, or king. He is the Anointed One.

He is the Prophet who embodied the Word of God.
He is the Priest who offered Himself for our sins.
He is the King who will reign with the authority of God.

So when Peter said, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God, he essentially confessed that Jesus is the One that God promised from the beginning. He is the One Israel waited for through the ages. He is the One who would save us from our sins. He is the One before whom every knee will bend.

This is no ordinary answer and Jesus acknowledged it. 

Matthew 16:17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 

If Jesus is only a teacher, we can learn from Him and remain in control. If Jesus is only a healer, we can seek His help and still keep our own lives. If Jesus is only a giver of blessings, we can use Him for what we need and walk away when we are satisfied. If Jesus is only an example of a good moral person, Christianity becomes imitation and performance.

But if Jesus is the Messiah, then He is not merely useful to my life. He is Lord over my life. And if He is Lord, admiration is not enough. Respect is not enough. Correct doctrine is not enough.

The only faithful response must be ultimate surrender to His will.

Even though Peter gave the right answer, he still did not understand what that confession meant.

Like many in his day, Peter expected a Messiah who would conquer by power, defeat Israel’s enemies, restore the kingdom, and make Israel great again. He was not expecting a Messiah who would suffer, be rejected, and die.

Now notice what Jesus says after Peter’s confession. He began to speak about His suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection.

This information may sound random. But it is not. 

Before they could understand the Messiah’s mission, they had to face the Messiah’s identity.

That is still true for us.

Until we face who Jesus is, we cannot understand what Jesus came to do in our lives.

If Jesus is only a prophet, His death looks like failure.
If Jesus is only a teacher, His death looks like a tragedy.
If Jesus is only an example, His life becomes a standard we struggle to copy.

This matters deeply, even within Christianity, especially in Adventism.

We can find many Adventist statements, including in Ellen White devotionals, that urge us to imitate Christ, follow His example, and reflect His character.

Those statements are true. Jesus is our example. But He is not just only our example.

If we separate His example from His grace, His cross, and His righteousness, Christianity becomes performance. His life becomes a measuring rod, and we spend our lives asking whether we are obedient enough, pure enough, and faithful enough.

That is where legalism begins.

Legalism is not always rejecting Jesus. Sometimes legalism is admiring Jesus while forgetting why He came. It is looking at His perfect life without resting in His saving grace. It is trying to imitate the Savior before we have received Him as Savior.

But Jesus did not come merely to show us how a good person lives. He came to save sinners. He came to redeem what we could not repair. He came to give us a righteousness we could never produce on our own.

If Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, then His death becomes the center of God’s saving grace.

Here is another problem we must be careful of. 

Peter was ready to confess Jesus as Messiah, but he was not ready to accept a suffering Messiah. So when Jesus spoke plainly about the cross, Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.

That is what happens when we want Jesus to be Lord, but only on our terms.

We want Him to save, but not through suffering.
We want Him to reign, but not through the cross.
We want Him to bless our plans, but not overturn them.

Peter’s problem was not that he failed to confess Jesus as Messiah. His problem was that he wanted to define what the Messiah should be.

Could that be our problem too?

Is it possible that we want Jesus to save us, but only on our terms?

That is why Jesus’ response to Peter was so severe. He turned, looked at His disciples, and rebuked Peter. 

“Get behind me, Satan!” Those are strong words.

But Jesus is not saying Peter has become Satan. He is exposing the temptation behind Peter’s words. Because this was not the first time Jesus had heard this kind of proposal.

In the wilderness, Satan had already offered Jesus a crown without a cross. He showed Him the kingdoms of the world and offered Him glory without suffering, power without obedience, and a throne without sacrifice.

Now, through Peter, that same temptation came again. A Messiah without suffering. A kingdom without a cross. Salvation without sacrifice. And Jesus rejects it immediately. “Get behind me, Satan.”

In other words, Peter had stepped out of the place of a disciple. He was no longer following Jesus. He was trying to lead Jesus.

That is the danger. 

The moment we try to correct Jesus, manage Jesus, or tell Jesus what His mission should look like, we are no longer following Him. We are standing in His way.

Then Jesus turned to the disciples and the crowd and showed them what it means to follow a crucified Messiah.

Matthew 16:24 “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

That is not the invitation Peter expected. Jesus said that the way of the Messiah is the way of the cross, and the way of the disciple is also the way of the cross.

To deny ourselves does not mean we hate ourselves. It means we stop making ourselves the center. We stop insisting that Jesus must serve our ambitions, protect our comfort, and bless our version of success. To take up the cross means we surrender the life we keep trying to save.

That is why Jesus said, 

Matthew 16:25 “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”

This is the great reversal of the kingdom. The life we cling to is the life we eventually lose. The life we surrender to Christ is the life we finally find.

Then Jesus asked one of the most searching questions in Scripture.

Matthew 16:26 “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”

That question exposes the danger beneath Peter’s thinking. What if we gain the kind of Messiah we wanted, but lose the salvation we needed? What if we gain success, comfort, approval, security, and control, but lose our soul? What if Jesus does not merely want to improve our lives, but save us from the life we keep trying to build without Him?

So the question, “Who do you say I am?” cannot remain a statement of belief only.

If He is the Messiah, then He must define the path.
If He is the Lord, then He must lead.
If He is the Redeemer, then He must save us not only from our sins, but also from our false ideas of life.

Peter wanted Jesus to avoid the cross.

Jesus says, “No. The cross is not a detour from My mission. The cross is My mission.”

And then He says to us, “Follow Me.”

So when Jesus asks, “Who do you say I am?” He is not looking for a borrowed answer from the crowd. He is not looking for a religious label. He is not looking for admiration from a distance.

He is asking for the answer of the heart.

And if He is the Messiah of our hearts, then the only faithful response is not merely to admire Him, explain Him, or defend Him.

The only faithful response is to follow Him and to surrender to Him.

Discussion questions

1. What is the difference between admiring Jesus and surrendering to Jesus? 
2. Where are we most tempted to want Jesus to be Lord, but only on our terms? 

Anonymous: Kiran’s question is so essential: how we take Jesus and who He is to us personally. It’s the difference between life and death for us.

You can admire Jesus, preach Him, tell people about Him, and honor Him, but if you don’t accept Him as Savior, as God, we’re not going anywhere. We’re stuck. We have to take Him more seriously than that, and it changes everything. It changes our perspective on life.

I know how that feels. I’ve gone from an artificial relationship to a genuine one, to where He becomes everything to me. It changes how we live, how we see Him, how we need Him, and how we accept carrying our cross every day because He said so and because we love Him. He becomes everything in our lives. We end up living our whole lives for Him.

But none of it means anything without Him.

Don: I think you’re right. I think that’s very well said. But I’m wondering how that actually works in practice. How can I trust Jesus both as an example and as a Savior?

Sharon: For me, one of the human analogies that comes to mind is marriage. I can date, I can live with someone, I can have an ongoing relationship, but that doesn’t include the commitment of a lifelong partnership that comes when you say, “You and I are together until death do us part.”

For a relationship with Jesus to be meaningful, it has to involve intimate interaction and relational commitment on a daily, hourly, and minute-by-minute basis.

What Kiran was talking about is how we make Jesus real to ourselves by accepting that gift of grace as we navigate the activities of daily living. Life creates challenges and opportunities. We always struggle with whether we want to be in the driver’s seat or whether we want Jesus to navigate and drive for us.

For me, it requires a depth of commitment and emotional attachment that comes from understanding what His atonement has done for each of us. We are such human wrecks when we think honestly about ourselves. So for me it’s about not turning back, making that commitment, keeping that commitment, and trusting that His way is always better.

Anonymous: It’s a daily walk. It’s not something we accomplish quickly. It takes a lifetime.

Over time you become so dependent on Him, so immersed in Him, and He in you, that you can’t imagine living any other way. You begin to see the reality of Him being your Savior, being everything. It’s so sweet.

You diminish yourself and grow toward Him. You let Him do the work. Let Him take charge of your life. It’s hard to explain the process, but I’ve experienced it firsthand. The difference is enormous.

You don’t want to be in the driver’s seat. You just don’t. You stop trusting yourself and place yourself completely in His hands. His will for you is the best. You can’t live any other way—not just outwardly, but in your decisions and in the cleansing of your soul. You simply hand Him the whole job.

And this kind of trust is so sweet. It makes life better, easier, lighter.

Donald: Certainly, what has been expressed here this morning is exactly where we should find ourselves.

But this seems like a journey. At what point do you arrive? Sharon used the analogy of dating versus marriage. Is there ever a point where you feel you’re truly married to Christ, or do you always feel there is one more step to take?

What would it really look like to be married? Would my life change significantly? I think that scares people. It scares me.

My wife and I committed our lives to Christian education, but now we’re at a different stage of life and that’s no longer our focus. So what’s next? What would the next step be at my age?

David: It sounds like your next step is to join a nunnery, Donald. You want to be married to Christ. 🙂 

I must admit this whole issue has troubled me somewhat—this business of salvation and yearning for it. I liked what Anonymous said about accepting that Jesus is in you. That’s what resonates with me.

To me, it’s not just accepting—it is knowing. To me, that’s the Holy Spirit. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, is within you. There is a Trinity, and the Holy Spirit works within us. Knowing that, to me, is what Jesus meant when He said, “Recognize Me as the Messiah. Follow Me.”

The Holy Spirit is always trying to lead us, trying to help us follow. Of course we never reach perfection. We can’t. But I don’t think Jesus wants us to worry about that. I think He’s happy if we simply accept that He is the Messiah and that He is part of us.

Anonymous: But what does it mean to accept that He’s the Messiah? Is it just a mental statement? You say, “Yes, I accept Him.”

David: That’s exactly the issue. Here we are having an intellectual discussion about what it means, and to me it isn’t really intellectual. It’s not even emotional. It’s spiritual.

The Holy Spirit within us is real. I think everyone knows, at some level, that they have this presence within them. To varying degrees we fight it, we ignore it, or we try to follow it.

To the extent that we do follow it, the world becomes a better place.

As for whether it leads to salvation, I simply don’t worry about salvation. I don’t know how else to put it. To me, being good is what we should strive for, and we should let Jesus take care of salvation. There’s nothing I can do about it, so I’m not going to worry about it.

I hope I haven’t offended anyone by saying that.

Carolyn: We have a choice. Whenever we face a choice, we have to align ourselves with Christ or simply do things our own way again.

But those choices are often ambiguous, and I find myself losing the joy of salvation while trying to determine whether I’ve really made the right choice or fully committed.

David: Of course. It’s not as though you face that choice once in life. You face it constantly. Every day you’re making little choices. It’s that Holy Spirit inside you that’s tugging you in the right direction. Sometimes you follow; sometimes you don’t.

But if you truly believe that Jesus is within you—that the Holy Spirit is within you—then you don’t need to fear making the wrong choice. You’ll probably make wrong choices sometimes, but Jesus will forgive that.

Don: The problem is that we recognize how often we make wrong choices. We never seem to meet the standard we’ve set for ourselves.

The question is whether we need a different metric. If I constantly measure myself by my behavior, my thoughts, and my way of life, I look like a failing specimen. So I’m searching for another metric—something that doesn’t depend entirely on my behavior.

Or perhaps that’s exactly the wrong thing to look for.

Reinhard: Messiah, Christ, the Anointed One—they all point to the same reality. The reason many Jews rejected Jesus was because they expected the Messiah to rebuild the temple, overthrow Rome, and lead a political restoration.

Jesus did not fit their expectations. When He brought teachings that differed from their understanding of the law, they rejected Him and eventually crucified Him.

But for Christians, John 20:31 says, “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

That’s the key—we may have life.

Even John the Baptist struggled at one point. While facing imprisonment and likely execution, he sent disciples to ask, “Are You the One who is to come?” Even John had moments of uncertainty.

As Christians, we look to Jesus as our Savior. He promised to send the Holy Spirit after returning to heaven. Through faith in Him and the work of the Holy Spirit, we are saved.

Life still has challenges, but we have hope. God continually intervenes in our lives. We are here by His grace. By believing in Him and following Him, we have confidence not only for this life but also for the life to come.

David: I think that’s exactly right. We’ve often talked about how easy it is to look at the world and focus on all the evil. But if we look more objectively, there’s also an enormous amount of good. The same is true when we look inward. We focus on our mistakes. We remember cutting someone off in traffic yesterday or some other failure.

But when I look around this virtual room, I don’t see bad people. I see fundamentally good people. Yes, everyone makes bad choices now and then. We all do. But we’re not bad people. And I think that’s because we accept that Jesus is right, that Jesus is the Messiah, that the Holy Spirit is something we should listen to.

We’ll fail sometimes. But again, it’s not something to worry about. It’s something to be sorry for, yes—but not something to live in fear of.

Anonymous: When you talk about choice, I don’t think we’re talking about a one-time choice. The choice comes every day. 

When the Holy Spirit convicts me of something, I can either listen or resist. Maybe I think, “That’s not practical in my situation.” Maybe I justify my feelings. Then the Holy Spirit says, “This isn’t where you should be. Let Me show you a better way.”

Instead of being judgmental, how about being loving? Instead of insisting on my solution, how about trusting God’s solution? At that moment I have a choice. I can ignore that voice and continue in disobedience, and the same problems will repeat themselves. Or I can surrender.

The Holy Spirit is always saying, “Let Me do the work. Let Me cleanse you. Let Me remove these bad traits and replace them with life.” The choice is ours.

If He’s my Savior, my Messiah, the One who can save me from my sins, then why would I resist Him? And surrendering is a wonderful thing. You feel lighter. The burden is gone. He’s doing the work. All you have to do is say, “Yes, Lord.”

Don: In His rebuke of Peter, Jesus basically identifies the source of the temptation. He says, “Get behind Me, Satan.” In a sense, Jesus is saying that Peter is speaking from a different influence. Which almost sounds like saying, “The devil made me do it.”

Anonymous: Yes, exactly. And we’re very good at that, aren’t we?

C-J: I find that very problematic.

When we tell people, “I’m not responsible,” I think that’s dangerous. We are responsible.

All around us people say they’re powerless—powerless politically, economically, socially. But God says, “No, you are empowered.” God gives promises. He tells us to be the voice in the room, to be the example, to discipline the flesh, and He promises to make that possible through the Holy Spirit.

Which is greater—the devil’s influence or Christ’s promises? God says, “I will give you authority.” He says, “Greater things than these shall you do.” We are not empty victims. We are empowered by the Spirit.

I refuse to surrender to the idea that “the devil made me do it.” I surrender to God. I want to be available for whatever purpose He has for me, whether that’s lifting someone up, speaking truth, showing grace, or offering forgiveness.

But I will not knowingly become an instrument in the devil’s hands.

Anonymous: A recent example for me involved 1 Corinthians 13. I’ve known that chapter all my life. I could practically recite it from memory. But recently I realized it had never really meant anything to me because I wasn’t living it. When I examined myself, I found that I was very far from what it described.

“Love is patient.” When someone steps on my rights, I’m not patient.

“Love is kind.” When I’m angry, I’m not kind.

I want to point fingers. I want to prove someone else is wrong.

Then came the conviction: Where is love?

The verse that hit me hardest was, “Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.”

I was preparing to show someone how wrong they were. I was even thinking about sending them a Bible passage to prove my point. Then I opened my phone, and the verse of the day was from 1 Corinthians 13. I ended up reading the entire chapter.

Suddenly the conviction became real. I realized I had not been patient. I had not been kind. I had not honored the other person. I had not persevered in love.

And Paul says that even if I have all knowledge, all prophecy, all faith, it means nothing without love.

I take pride in knowledge. I think God has shown me many things. But if I don’t love the person who wronged me, then none of it matters.

That’s where the choice comes in.

Do I want to change? Am I willing to yield to God’s work? Do I truly desire transformation? Or will I make excuses?

The more God reveals my shortcomings, the more I want Him to change me. I see the victory ahead if I continue walking with Him. I want Him to become everything in my life.

I can have confidence that eternal life awaits me, that His promises are true, and that His kingdom will be open to me. What a privilege it is that the Creator of the universe is willing to work in me. Who am I to resist? Who am I to think I can do better?

Thank God for His grace. He continues working even though I don’t deserve it.

Donald: What strikes me about 1 Corinthians 13 is what comes afterward:

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”

Then Paul says:

“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

To me, that suggests this is a process. It’s not a point in time. As we mature spiritually, there is always more growth ahead. There is never really a finish line.

I think God expects something different from me today than He did when I was fifty, forty, thirty, twenty, or ten. Different stages of life bring different capacities for Christ to work within us.

Reinhard: To me, love is only one part of the Christian life, though it is an essential part.

I also think of the struggle that Connie mentioned. Ephesians 6:12 says:

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

We all face these struggles.

Paul then tells us to put on the whole armor of God—the breastplate, the helmet, the shield of faith, and especially the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And then, in verse 18, he tells us to pray in the Spirit on all occasions. For me, these are the two essentials: the Word of God and prayer. As Christians we need both. Through prayer we become sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading. I can often sense that inner prompting directing me one way rather than another.

The struggle continues throughout life, but Scripture assures us that if we hold fast to God, remain in His Word, and stay connected through prayer, He will sustain us. With those two things—the Word and prayer—we can withstand whatever comes against us and move forward with confidence in eternal life.

Sharon: I agree.

I’ve been humming “I Surrender All” throughout this entire discussion. I also keep thinking of “Safe in the Arms of Jesus.” If our imperfections create constant anxiety, perhaps we’re not trusting the way we should. Jesus will make the changes that need to be made. Our task is to rest in His grace, rest in His sacrifice, maintain the relationship, and trust Him to do the transforming work.

In the meantime, we can simply rest in peace.

Kiran: For me, every time we talk about surrendering to Jesus or accepting Him as Messiah, we eventually circle back to the question, “Am I doing it right?” Am I listening correctly? Am I obeying enough?

But if Jesus truly is our Messiah, then we shouldn’t be living in anxiety. He promised to take care of our salvation. He promised to produce faith in us and bring that work to completion.

If Jesus is not our Messiah—if we are our own messiah—then anxiety makes sense.

As a Seventh-day Adventist, with its somewhat legalistic background, discussions like this often sent my mind immediately toward self-evaluation: Am I doing enough? Am I listening correctly?

My thoughts always went in that direction.

But the moment I truly accept Him as Savior, those worries should begin to fade because He has promised to take care of me. I think that assurance is one of the signs that we have truly accepted Him as our Messiah.

Don: Well said. This has been a wonderful discussion. I’ve been blessed by it.

* * *