A confession is the assent and consent of mind and heart and will, followed by the devotion of the life.
Matthew 16:16, Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus had asked, “Who do people say that I the Son of man am?” The people gave a verdict; Peter gave a confession. Between a verdict and confession there lies a religious experience. A verdict is at its best only the honest opinion of an outsider. It is an estimate and a judgment after the summing up of such evidence as may be laid before the mind. It is often ludicrously, and sometimes shamefully, ignorant and biased. A confession is the assent and consent of mind and heart and will, followed by the devotion of the life. A verdict says in measured tones, "Christ is one of the prophets." A confession cries in adoring rapture, "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God."
Peter's confession speaks of the dual nature of Christ.
1. "Christ" means "anointed one" and refers to the humanity of Christ.
2. "Son of the living God" speaks of His divine nature.
A professor of theology once asked his students to get a sheet of paper and divide it into three columns. In the first column they were to write every passage where Christ is spoken of as God-Man; in the second column all the passages where Christ is spoken of as God alone; and in the third, all the passages where Christ is spoken of as man alone. The papers were badly balanced. The first and second columns filled right up, but as to the third column, no one found a passage speaking of Christ as man alone. There just is no such passage.