Paul said in:
1 Corinthians 12: 3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

Paul said those who say “Jesus is Lord” proclaims this through the Holy Spirit because they are uttering prophetic truth. Anyone who says that Jesus is Lord even though they do not know or believe in Jesus they are still stating something that is true to God. Jesus is Lord.

When someone speaks prophecy from God it does not mean that person understands what they said or believe in the prophecy. They may even refuse to speak it or even question it. We know this because Balaam who spoke God’s oracles blessing the Israelites later cause the Israelites to sin. We know Jonah refused to speak God’s prophesy to Nineveh, Jeremiah questioned God’s will for him, and John the Baptist questioned if Jesus was the Messiah. We also see this with Peter.

In Matthew 16, Jesus asks his disciples who do people say that he is and then asked his disciples who do you say I am.

Matthew 16: 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" 14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.

Peter proclaims Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God and this proclamation is the foundation which the body of Christ is built on. This truth is the key to our salvation, and it is not Peter being the key to our salvation or him being the foundation of the church which some have made him.

The disciples said some Jews believed that Jesus was a prophet of God like John the Baptist, Elijah, or Jeremiah. A prophet is someone who speaks the words God has given them. What Peter proclaimed, Jesus said was given to him by his Father in heaven, meaning Peter’s words were prophetic and not from his own understanding.

We know what Peter proclaimed was not something he believed in because he later rebukes Jesus for saying that he would be killed.

Matthew 16: 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

What Peter prophesized about Jesus he did not understand because his mind was like that of men.

Later Jesus took Peter, James, and John up the mountain to pray and they saw Jesus being glorified and heard the voice of God clearly telling them who Jesus is to him.

Mark 9: 7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!"

In Numbers 12:6, God said that he speaks to his prophets by visions and dreams but only with Moses he spoke face to face and clearly. Here on the mountain God speaks clearly to these disciples that Jesus is his Son, that he loves and commanded them to listen to him.

Today we have the living word of God in the Bible that gives eternal life to those who by faith believes that Jesus is the beloved Son of God and listens to him. And by having faith in Jesus the Holy Spirit comes and makes his home in them to teach, guide, and counsel his words in the Bible to have the full knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Believing God’s word is true is by faith and not by sight because only by faith we are healed. That is what Jesus said he will look for when he returns just as he looked for faith in people in the gospel.

After Jesus returned from the mountain, he found a group of people surrounding his disciples because they could not drive out a demon in a boy.

Mark 9: 19 "O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."

Jesus asked the boy’s Father how long his son has been possessed by this demon.

Mark 9: 22 "From childhood," he answered. "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." 23" 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." 24 Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my
unbelief!"

To help the father’s unbelief Jesus removed the demon from his son.

Mark 9: 28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why
couldn't we drive it out?" 29 He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."

Jesus’ spirit becomes troubled because of people’s unbelief in him, just as he was troubled with Mary and those with her in John 11. After witnessing all the miracles he showed them that he had the authority of God in him they still did not believe in him. They were just like the Israelites who did not believe in God after all the miraculous things he showed them in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the desert.

Even his disciples struggled with their faith which Jesus often admonished them for having little faith in him. Their little faith kept them from healing the boy. Jesus tells them they could not heal the boy because this kind of healing comes only by prayer and prayer without faith in him is powerless. Without genuine faith in Jesus, we cannot release the impossible that is our Father’s will.

Jesus teaches who he will identify as his followers

Mark 9: 35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

Being last and a servant of all is foreign to people in this world, but it must never be strange for those who are children of God. We must always care for the needs of others especially our church family, helping with their burdens and seeking their interest first. This is the salt Jesus looks for in his followers in his parable.

Mark 9: 49 Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with each other."

Saltiness is putting others first and serving to care for the needs of our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. Because that salt will be tested by fire by Jesus.

1 Corinthians 3: 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Every prophecy, teaching and commandments that God wants us to know and obey is written for us in the Bible. We cannot add or take away any of it. And only by faith in Jesus can it be empowered to glorify and honor God’s will for us.

So let us be Jesus’s salt in the church and a light for this world to see.

Be safe in Jesus.
Ps. Glenn