When we engage with others who profess faith in Jesus most of us take it for granted that it’s genuine. A sincerer profession may be true but a sincere profession does not equate to a genuine confession. Your profession of faith is contingent on your understanding of who Jesus is.
When Jesus was talking to His disciples He asked them “who do they say that The Son of man is?” Matthew 5 16:13 & 17. Later on Jesus directly asks Peter the same question “But who do you say that I am?”, Peter then responds, “You are the Christ, The Son of the living God.”. later we see that Jesus say, “flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven….”.
Jesus has claimed His being in John 8:58, Colossians 2:9, Isaiah 7:14. There are many other verses that confirm His being and who He is but for now this will suffice. The name Immanuel is literally “God with us” or “with us is God”.
Who Accepts Who?
When we engage with other professing “believers” and they say that They’ve “accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior” it rarely gets questioned and passed over. In John 15:16 Jesus said “I chose you”. He chose and appointed them at that time to bare fruit and in this age He has appointed us to bare fruit. Jesus is the one who accepts a repentant sinner upon confession and It is the sinner who receives forgiveness…Jesus is the one who does the accepting.
Your Faith Is Only Valid If The Object Of Faith Is Valid.
What is a valid faith? What does that mean? It means exactly what it sounds like. If the faith that you place is on any other Jesus then what has not been revealed in scripture, is not faith. It is not a dead faith it is no faith at all. Proverbs 3:5-6 , Hebrews 11:6. People say they know Jesus or know of Jesus, the first being Fiducia referring to personal trust and reliance and the other refers to an Assensus referring to a knowing of the content of the faith and yet not believing it to be true. Blessings and hope this clears some things for you.