Matthew 11 tells us that John the Baptist, while in prison, sent two of his followers to ask Christ, “Art thou he of whom it is written in the prophets that he should come, or do we look for another?” Christ’s response is interesting. He didn’t say, “Yep, that’s me!” Instead, He delivered a list of things He’d done, and allowed John to judge for himself. Matt 114-6, JST: “Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John again of those things which ye do hear and see; How that the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, and the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. And blessed is John, and whosoever shall not be offended in me.”
So here’s a question: are we supposed to know Christ is the savior because He, or someone else, said so, or are we instead supposed to judge Him by His works? I say, the latter. Moreover, this principle also applies when evaluating a prophet: “And, again, beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing; but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits; for do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” (Matt 7:24-25). We shall not know them by their own declaration, nor by the assurances of their proteges and boot-lickers. We shall not know them by the self-assured repetitions of fallible friends and associates. God Himself my well refuse to give us a simple “Yes” or “No”, because He has already told us how to judge. We must take responsibility for our own conclusions.
So here’s a question: are we supposed to know Christ is the savior because He, or someone else, said so, or are we instead supposed to judge Him by His works? I say, the latter. Moreover, this principle also applies when evaluating a prophet: “And, again, beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing; but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits; for do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” (Matt 7:24-25). We shall not know them by their own declaration, nor by the assurances of their proteges and boot-lickers. We shall not know them by the self-assured repetitions of fallible friends and associates. God Himself my well refuse to give us a simple “Yes” or “No”, because He has already told us how to judge. We must take responsibility for our own conclusions.