The Confession of Peter

Can we confess what we don’t know? Peter’s confession (Mark 8:27-33) was a confession of faith. But after making that confession of faith he was in need of confessing his sin. Jesus spelled out what it meant that He is the Christ—and Peter rejected that. So much for his glorious confession of faith. We find that Peter didn’t really know what it meant for Jesus to be the Messiah. So how could Peter make that confession of faith? As Paul says it, no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Peter did indeed make a true confession of faith. In time he learned that it was only through the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Christ that he confessed that He is indeed the Christ. Only in time did he learn that it is through the confession of sins and the receiving of forgiveness that we then make a confession of faith. It might take some time for us to get it through our thick skulls as well, but we stand with Peter ever in need of confessing our sins and always boldly confessing our faith in the one God who is our Lord and Savior.