WHO IS JESUS?
Life’s inescapable question is answered with resounding clarity in the pages of Scripture.
Jesus is God. Although people throughout history been confused about who Jesus is, the Bible is both authoritative and crystal clear as to His identity. Speaking in John 10:30, Jesus Himself said “I and the Father are one.” It is noteworthy that even His enemies understood this claim, and desired to stone Him to death in their wicked unbelief (John 10:31-33). As God, Jesus embodies all of God’s character and attributes, including absolute holiness. To the Colossian church Paul explained “in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9).
Jesus is the only Savior. The Bible also is clear on man’s identity. Although created in God’s image and designed for fellowship with Him, man is both by nature and experience a sinner who is rebellious toward God and His commands (Psalm 51:5; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 3:23). Because of God’s demand that all sin be punished by death (Ezekiel 18:4), man stands in desperate need of grace and mercy. For this reason, God in His love has provided one Savior, His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus lived the perfectly righteous life we’re all incapable of living, went to the cross according to the “predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23), was crucified, and paid the penalty and died for guilty sinners. Peter explains “Christ… died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
In His atoning death on the cross, Jesus satisfied the demands of God’s justice, enabling Him to forgive and save all who forsake their own false claims to righteousness and truly place their faith entirely in Christ and His righteousness. Because only Christ has paid the penalty for sin and enabled forgiveness, He is the only acceptable object of saving faith. Put another way, He is the only Savior, the only way to God, the only door to eternal life, and the only escape from condemnation and Hell. Salvation is by God’s grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. Jesus Himself said “I am the way the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John14:6). Peter boldly proclaimed this same truth in Acts 4:12: “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”
Jesus is Lord. Becoming a Christian is not a matter of your choosing to add Jesus and His righteousness to your self-righteousness. As the Creator of everything (Genesis 1:1; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16), the owner and ruler of everything (Psalm 103:19), and “the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2), Jesus will not allow us to merely “accept Him.” Romans 10:9 says “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.”
To believe that God raised Jesus from the dead means that you have God-given, unshakable trust in the historical fact of the resurrection. This is crucial because in the resurrection, God affirmed His complete satisfaction with Christ’s atoning work for us. To confess Jesus as Lord is to understand the truth of who He is, and to proclaim and submit to the reality of His authority over every area of your life. To know Jesus as Lord does not mean you will never sin again, but as one truly, graciously and entirely forgiven it does mean that you will experience genuine sorrow for your sins, and by God’s power, you will be compelled to turn from your sin in loving obedience toward Jesus, withholding no area of your life from Him.
Jesus is the Judge. Preaching to unbelievers at Athens, Paul boldly proclaimed that “…God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31b-32). The sobering truth is that all who reject Jesus as their Lord will one day face Him as their Judge.
What will you do? Who do you say Jesus is? This question is inescapable for all of us. For all who forsake their self-righteousness and, holding nothing back, turn in humble repentant faith to Jesus for forgiveness, He is life – abundant and everlasting. Remember, He alone can save you from your sins, bring you to a right relationship with God, transform your life now, and strengthen you with unshakable hope, real joy, and eternal purpose.
Repent and believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior today. Then, seek a Pastor or one of the elders so they can pray with you and show you how to study His Word and grow in the faith.
Jesus is God. Although people throughout history been confused about who Jesus is, the Bible is both authoritative and crystal clear as to His identity. Speaking in John 10:30, Jesus Himself said “I and the Father are one.” It is noteworthy that even His enemies understood this claim, and desired to stone Him to death in their wicked unbelief (John 10:31-33). As God, Jesus embodies all of God’s character and attributes, including absolute holiness. To the Colossian church Paul explained “in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9).
Jesus is the only Savior. The Bible also is clear on man’s identity. Although created in God’s image and designed for fellowship with Him, man is both by nature and experience a sinner who is rebellious toward God and His commands (Psalm 51:5; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 3:23). Because of God’s demand that all sin be punished by death (Ezekiel 18:4), man stands in desperate need of grace and mercy. For this reason, God in His love has provided one Savior, His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus lived the perfectly righteous life we’re all incapable of living, went to the cross according to the “predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23), was crucified, and paid the penalty and died for guilty sinners. Peter explains “Christ… died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
In His atoning death on the cross, Jesus satisfied the demands of God’s justice, enabling Him to forgive and save all who forsake their own false claims to righteousness and truly place their faith entirely in Christ and His righteousness. Because only Christ has paid the penalty for sin and enabled forgiveness, He is the only acceptable object of saving faith. Put another way, He is the only Savior, the only way to God, the only door to eternal life, and the only escape from condemnation and Hell. Salvation is by God’s grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. Jesus Himself said “I am the way the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John14:6). Peter boldly proclaimed this same truth in Acts 4:12: “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”
Jesus is Lord. Becoming a Christian is not a matter of your choosing to add Jesus and His righteousness to your self-righteousness. As the Creator of everything (Genesis 1:1; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16), the owner and ruler of everything (Psalm 103:19), and “the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2), Jesus will not allow us to merely “accept Him.” Romans 10:9 says “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.”
To believe that God raised Jesus from the dead means that you have God-given, unshakable trust in the historical fact of the resurrection. This is crucial because in the resurrection, God affirmed His complete satisfaction with Christ’s atoning work for us. To confess Jesus as Lord is to understand the truth of who He is, and to proclaim and submit to the reality of His authority over every area of your life. To know Jesus as Lord does not mean you will never sin again, but as one truly, graciously and entirely forgiven it does mean that you will experience genuine sorrow for your sins, and by God’s power, you will be compelled to turn from your sin in loving obedience toward Jesus, withholding no area of your life from Him.
Jesus is the Judge. Preaching to unbelievers at Athens, Paul boldly proclaimed that “…God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31b-32). The sobering truth is that all who reject Jesus as their Lord will one day face Him as their Judge.
What will you do? Who do you say Jesus is? This question is inescapable for all of us. For all who forsake their self-righteousness and, holding nothing back, turn in humble repentant faith to Jesus for forgiveness, He is life – abundant and everlasting. Remember, He alone can save you from your sins, bring you to a right relationship with God, transform your life now, and strengthen you with unshakable hope, real joy, and eternal purpose.
Repent and believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior today. Then, seek a Pastor or one of the elders so they can pray with you and show you how to study His Word and grow in the faith.