The Good Confession

And He continued by questioning them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ." - Mark 8:29

Our culture is in love with this term "tolerance". We are told time and time again that if we say that homosexuality is wrong, we are intolerant. If we say that those who practice Islam, Mormonism, or Buddhism is wrong, we are intolerant. As Americans, we love to root for the underdog and often go to extreme measures to do so.

Noted British apologist G.K. Chesterton said that "Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions" and I believe him. You see those who except everything as equal have no basis to establish anything as right or wrong. Tolerance is preached as a virtue that all should uphold. Yet, if it is carried out to its logical extreme it has no basis from which to say that any action is wrong.

Thus, when I as a Christian state that all other forms of religion are wrong I am not being intolerant. I am simply being truthful. Even the most staunch defender of tolerance will admit that a line has to be drawn at some point. Tolerance will not work if everyone is given the freedom to everything that they want. That is anarchy in its purest form.

This verse of Scripture is often called the Good Confession. It is repeated prior to Christian baptism. It states in no certain terms that "Jesus, you are the Christ. You are the Messiah. You are the promised One to come. You are the fulfillment of all of the OT prophecies. You are the anointed One. You are life. I acknowledge that I am not and instead make you Lord of my life."

All of our life spiritually boils down to this one singular truth. For if we truly believe that Jesus is the Christ, we will think and act differently. We will be "intolerant" of all other so-called truths because they are wrong. Jesus Himself was intolerant of such "truths". Each person throughout the course of his or her life will either choose to accept Jesus on His terms or not. They will choose to praise God and to worship Him through their life or not. They will choose whether or not to bow their knee and repeat within their heart the very words that Peter used.

So, let state publicly once and for all, "Jesus, You are the Christ."