Jesus Doesn’t Revoke His Grace

‘“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?”He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”’ (John 21:15-19)

Peter denied Jesus just before His death. If Jesus were anyone else and not the Son of God, I’m sure it would have been the end of a relationship, a revocation of his calling, and two hurt people.

That’s what Peter deserved: to lose Jesus’ love, lose the purpose Jesus instilled in him, and to live with his failure. It’s what you and I deserve for sure. Because we’ve all done what Peter did. Maybe not under the same circumstances, but we’ve all fallen short. We’ve all messed up. We’ve all had moments of weak faith that caused us to be less confident in our belief.

Growing up in charismatic circles, there was a common theme of “backsliding,” in which people were led to believe that they could lose their salvation in God based on the things they did. It also fed into this idea that we could “lose our calling,” or that if we messed up too much or went too far, that God would take away the purpose for which He created us to give us some sort of lesser role in the kingdom of heaven.

I believe Peter’s story shows us something completely contrary to those ideas. God gives us something called “assurance of faith,” or in other words, He gives us confidence or promises that affirm the grace and salvation we’ve received from the Father by Jesus’ blood. Those assurances can be found all around the New Testament, but I think we see them applied through Peter’s fall and redemption. 

Peter’s denial of Jesus knocked his confidence down a few pegs. Up until then, we see that Peter believed his faith to be above average. In Matthew 26, when Jesus tells the disciples that they will all leave Him before the night is through, Peter insists that even if all the other disciples abandon Jesus, Peter would be the one to stay by his side through anything. Of course, we know that Peter ate his own words that very same night. Peter, the disciple called to be the rock on which God would build His church; the man that walked on water and witnessed miracles and healings and sat at the feet of God, would adamantly deny Jesus three times in one night.

If Peter were alive today to make the same mistakes, would us fellow Christians shake our heads at him? Would we accuse him of backsliding and fumbling his salvation? Would we shame him by saying surely God must have lifted the blessing of Peter’s calling from his head? Or would we encourage him to repent and draw near Christ, the same as He’s always been and ever shall be? 

It is the same Jesus that changed Simon’s name to Peter. He is the same Jesus that walked with Peter and called him to be a shepherd over what the Church would become after Jesus ascended to the Father and poured out His Spirit. He is the same Jesus that watched Peter deny Him in the courtyards of the Sanhedrin, and bore all the grief of that failure. And even after that, it was the same Jesus that called out to the disciples fishing on the Sea of Galilee in John 21. The same Jesus that Peter recognized and dove out of the boat for, swimming as fast as he could paddle towards the shore to embrace the Lord.

Jesus was still the Jesus He always was to Peter, which is why we see Jesus publicly restore Peter in front of the other disciples. Three times, Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, calling Peter by his old name, Simon. Three times, Peter affirms that he does. The third time, scripture says that Peter was even grieved that Jesus had to ask him so many times. Of course, Peter knew that Jesus was fully aware of Peter’s love for Jesus. He had spent enough time with Jesus to know that there was nothing that could be hidden from Him.

So Peter must have known that Jesus asked him the exact number of times Peter had denied Him before His death. He must have known that Jesus’s question wasn’t because He doubted that love, but because Jesus was righting Peter's wrong. My point being, Peter isn’t extended a grace that we are not included in. Jesus didn’t just restore His relationship with Peter because He loved Peter more. He publicly forgives him, and each time He reaffirms Peter’s calling. He tells Peter to feed His lambs; to take care of His sheep. That’s not just a flippant request that Peter would join Him in ministry. That is a clear pastoral call, not just to preach and teach, but to shepherd. To take care of the sheep. To disciple and to counsel. 

That’s the same call Jesus gave Peter at the beginning of it all. That’s the same cross Jesus always told Peter he would bear. In verse 18, Jesus reiterates that Peter may have shied away from following Jesus to the grave when he denied knowing Him, but he would never do that again. And indeed, Peter wouldn’t. When Jesus ascended and Peter started his own ministry, Peter taught and traveled and evangelized and that would ultimately lead to his own crucifixion and martyrdom that would be gladly embraced the second time around.

Yes, Peter messed up, and he felt the full shame of his mistakes. But none of those mistakes hindered the way God wanted to use Peter. Peter didn’t lose his salvation or his purpose when he denied Christ. Was he humbled? Yes. But it wasn’t enough to disqualify him from God’s own plan.

It’s the same for us. Now does that mean that we pray a prayer and say we believe and just go on with life? No. A prayer itself does not translate to salvation. Salvation is a life-transforming process in which we leave our old lives behind, turn away from our sin, and draw near to the Father– making conscious decisions to follow Him and live a life that honors Him, regardless of our own comfortability or desire. 

For even Peter, it was not enough to just say that he loved Jesus. The assurance of his faith lay in the fact that Peter loved Jesus so much that he would follow Him. And that love that moved Peter to obedience sealed Him to the salvation extended to him, regardless of how he let Jesus down because the story didn’t end there. Even in Peter’s humiliating sin, Peter loved Jesus so much that he would dive out of a boat just to be near Him again. He drew near to Christ and embraced Him. He let Jesus pay the price for his mistakes and then followed Jesus confidently the rest of his life.

Friends, you should know the marks of your salvation. You should be able to see the assurances of your faith in the way you follow Christ. No one can snatch you out of God’s hand, so if and when you fall short, don’t wallow in the shame of your sin, but draw near to God and allow Him to make you new again.