What do I know with Isaac Carroll
What do I know with Isaac Carroll
Who Do You Say That I Am? The Question That Changes Everything
"Who do you say that I am?" This question, posed by Jesus to His disciples, remains the most transformative question anyone can answer. Your response changes everything.
In this thought-provoking Bible study on Matthew 16, we explore Jesus's warning about the "leaven" of the Pharisees and Sadducees—not literal bread, but dangerous teachings that burden people with religious obligations while missing the heart of faith. Jesus paints a vivid picture of religious leaders who create rules they themselves don't follow, who perform spiritual acts for human approval rather than authentic devotion.
The study reveals a revolutionary truth: while we may have spiritual mentors, no human should become our ultimate authority. As Jesus declares, "Call no one on earth your father" in the spiritual sense, because only God's Word—interpreted through the fullness of Scripture—should guide our faith journey. This profound teaching challenges us to examine whose voice truly directs our spiritual understanding.
When Peter declares "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," Jesus reveals this confession as the foundation—the rock—upon which He builds His church. This isn't just an ancient conversation but the blueprint for how God continues to work today. As we see in Acts 15 and Romans 1, salvation comes through faith alone, not religious performance or human-imposed qualifications.
Join us as we unpack how Peter's confession established the pattern for salvation by grace through faith—a beautiful simplicity that Jesus described when He said, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Discover why faith is the catalyst that fundamentally reorients our lives and frees us from the weight of religious performance. Listen, reflect, and consider how you would answer the question that changes everything.
May God bless you and lead you always.
Welcome to the podcast. I'm Isaac Carroll, and this is what Do I Know. Alright, in today's Bible study, we are going to be back in chapter 16, and we're going to be picking up in verse 5, where we left off. If you're ready?
Speaker 1:And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread, and Jesus said to them Watch out and beware of the leaving of the Sadducees and the Pharisees. They began to discuss this among themselves and Jesus said to them All right, let me stop here. Then they understood that he did not say to them to beware of the leaving of bread, but of the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. All right, let me stop here in verse 12 for a minute. Beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Let me read you what Jesus said in Matthew 23, starting in verse 1. Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and his disciples, the scribes and the Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses, meaning they are the ones who are the voice of authority in Israel at that time. Verse 3. So practice and observe everything they tell you, but do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy and burdensome loads and they lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats at the synagogues, the greetings in the marketplace and the title rabbi by which they are addressed. Now, rabbi means teacher, in Hebrew, eight. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher and you are all brothers. All right, quick note here Remember he's talking to the crowds as well as the disciples. It's not just the disciples that he's referring to, he's referring to everyone, and it's very important to remember that, because when he says let no one else be your teacher, he has a certain meaning to this Verse 9,. And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one father who is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, and that is Christ.
Speaker 1:Again, I really want this word to resonate with us. What Jesus is trying to teach us in this word is that when he says do not have any other teachers, he's not referring to someone who's pouring into us from God's word. What he means is that no other word can be our guide. Whenever someone pours into us, it's got to be God's word, from his word, that they're pouring into us. Let's read James 3, verse 1.
Speaker 1:Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly when we make disciples. We're pouring into them from God's word and again, it must be God's word completely, not our understanding of God's word. Now we can give our understanding, but we have to remind people and let them know that how I've taken this, how I've read this, this is how I've read this. But you need to seek God's word and God's word has to define God's word. It can't be just my opinion of it. When I say God's word must define God's word, I mean whenever you read it. It has to correlate with the complete scripture of God. One word, one phrase, one little passage of scripture can't be your definition. That passage has to be defined by the whole, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1:The next thing he says is that call no man your father. And why does he say this? All right, we all have our earthly dads, our earthly fathers, but that's not what he's referring to. He's referring to call no one your father, because the father is the head of the house, he is the one of authority. He's the authority, our spiritual authority, he's the final authority in our life. To take that position of father and put it on anyone else is replacing God with someone else, and it's very key and very important that we know that. We may have pastors and we may have spiritual leaders in our life, but they aren't the final authority in our life. Have spiritual leaders in our life, but they aren't the final authority in our life. What they say is a help most of the time and I pray that it always is, but it's not the final authority. God's the final authority and we always have to be looking to him to get our validation.
Speaker 1:All right, let's pick up in verse 13. Now, when Jesus came into the region of the Caesaree Philippi, he was asking his disciples who do the people say that the Son of man is? And they said Some say it's John the Baptist and others Elijah, still others is Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. He said to them but who do you yourselves say that I am? Simon? Peter answered you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus said to him blessed are you, simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father, who is in heaven. And also I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it. Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then he gave his disciples strict orders that they were to tell no one that he was the Christ. All right, let's stop here in verse 20.
Speaker 1:All right, I have no desire to argue what other people or how other people interpret what this passage means. I simply want to give you what God's word says, and I'd like to point out a few things. One, jesus says who do you say that I am Now? This is the most important question each of us have to answer. John 3.16 is one of the Bible's most famous verses, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Now, how is someone to come to believe in Jesus? Well, they have to be asked this question and, by God's divine grace, they come to believe the truth, as we just read Peter had done. Because what did Jesus say? He said in verse 17,. Jesus replied Blessed are you, simon, son of Jonah? For this was not revealed to you by the flesh and blood, but by my Father who is in heaven. The question was asked and Peter answered answered the Christ, the son of God. This is the key to salvation, for it is what changes everything. It's what changes everything.
Speaker 1:Finally, I'd like to point out this passage in Acts 15. Starting in verse 7, this is where Paul had traveled to Jerusalem to petition the disciples over circumcision. Let's read verse 7. It says petition of the disciples over circumcision. Let's read verse 7. It says After there had been much debate, peter stood up and said to them Brothers, you know that in the early days, god made a choice among you, that by my mouth, the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.
Speaker 1:And God, who knows the heart, testified to them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did us, and he made no distinction between us and them cleansing their heart by faith. Since this is the case, why are you putting God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear, but we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way as they also are. Praise be to God for that. Amen. Jesus, knowing what Peter was going to do, had made this proclamation, verse 18,. Now I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the Again. Praise be to God.
Speaker 1:Now, if Jesus hadn't have said this, then who knows how many different qualifications these men would have put on us to gain interest in the kingdom of heaven. I read earlier that Jesus said that the scribes and the Pharisees were sitting in the seat of Moses, that they were authority at that time, that they were to follow everything that he told them to do, but they weren't to do as they did. Now these men would have had a very huge impact on our lives as believers If they would have made all these qualifications and put all these burdens on us, life would have been difficult and Jesus didn't want that. So he gave the authority to Peter and praise God that he did so, that now we are saved by the grace of God through faith, just as Paul states in Romans 1, verse 17. Now I like the New Living Translation version of this the best, because I think it makes it a little more understandable, starting at verse 17.
Speaker 1:This good news tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the scriptures say, it is through faith that a righteous person has life. We are saved by faith from start to finish. That's a beautiful thing, because it takes the burden and weight off of us. Jesus says in his word come, learn of me. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. He made a way for us and we just have to believe, put our hope and all our faith in him. And when I say all we have to do is believe, this is the catalyst that changes our life and it directs us in a different direction. It changes everything about who we are.
Speaker 1:Jesus says repent. What does repent mean? It means to turn. To turn it changes us. That's the catalyst, and thank God that he has made this provision for us, that we have a chance to be saved and not be so burdened that we can't make it. But he himself made a way. Okay, I'm going to end this one here, in verse 20. We'll pick up next time in 21. Until then, I love you guys. Goodbye.