Do you rejoice when you hear someone say ‘I believe’? Not so fast.
Peter says: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Mt. 16:16; Mk. 8:29; Lk. 9:21); and the demons also say, “We know who you are, the Son of God, the Holy One of God” (cf. Mk. 1:24; Lk. 4:34). Peter said the one and the demons the other; the words are the same but the intention is not. And how is it clear that Peter said this with love? Because a Christian’s confession of faith is with love. The demon confesses faith without love. How without love? Peter said it to embrace Christ; the demons said it for Christ to go away, for at other times they had also said: “We know who you are, the Son of God,” (Mk. 1:25) and “What do You want with us? Have you come here to torment us before the time [of our eternal punishment]?” (Mt. 8:29; cf. Mk. 5:7; Lk. 8:28) So then, it is one thing to confess Christ in order to embrace Him and another thing to confess Christ to drive Him away. So you see, then, in what sense the Lord says, Whoever believes; it is one’s own personal belief, and not a belief held in common by all. So then, brethren, don’t let them get away with saying to you, “We also believe.” This is why I gave you the instance with the demons, so that you don’t rejoice if you hear someone say, “I believe”, but to examine the man and his actions.
