Peter's Denial

17. Peter's Denial

"And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.  And he went out, and wept bitterly." - Matthew 26:75

It was not God's will that Peter deny Christ three times.  It is not God's will that any of us should deny Christ.  Peter's three denials of Christ are recorded in Matthew 26:69-75.  You see, Peter possessed a free will to confess Christ or to deny Him.  Allow me to ask you, as a Christian, have you ever denied Christ by failing to witness to someone when the opportunity was there?

Later on, our Lord gave Peter an opportunity to confess Him three times.  The record is found in John 21:15-17.  At one time Peter chose to deny Christ, later on Peter chose to confess Christ.  Peter possessed a free will, just as you and I.  Notice in Romans 6:16 :

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"

We, as Christians, can be spiritually alive or spiritually dead, depending upon whom we yield ourselves to.