'What think ye of Christ?' is the test

Justin Martyr wrote long ago: "Many spirits are abroad in the world and the credentials they display are splendid gifts of eloquence and ability. Christian, look carefully. Ask for the prints of the nails."

'What think ye of Christ?' is the test

To try both your state and your scheme;

You cannot be right in the rest,

Unless you think rightly of Him:

As Jesus appears in your view--

As He is beloved or not,

So God is disposed to you,

And mercy or wrath is your lot.

Some take Him a creature to be--

A man, or an angel at most;

But they have not feelings like me,

Nor know themselves wretched and lost.

So guilty, so helpless am I,

I durst not confide in His blood,

Nor on His protection rely,

Unless I were sure He is God.

--John Newton (quoted in the devotional book, The Continual Burnt Offering, by H. A. Ironside).