Peter denied Christ 3 times and received forgiveness.
If you or I denied Christ before men, I don't think that the result of the special case you cite would apply to us.
That was before Peter was indwelt by the Holy Spirit who gives us power to be Christ's witnesses; it was before he had entered into the fulness of salvation.
The rest of the story is in DocRock's quote. "Matthew 10:32-33 "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." Like Doc, that was the first thing that leapt to mind when I saw the headline. Like Doc, I was very sad to read this.
Exactly. I think what the man did is forgivable. It's not like he's out there regularly preaching the non-existence or non-divinity of Christ.
"This guy has just lost his eternal life. He'd better enjoy this one."
"Peter denied Christ 3 times and received forgiveness."
That was my thought too. Those who would call this cowardice: Search your heart, would you be brave enough to become a Christian martyr in such a circumstance?
Excellent point!!! I for one don't know if I wouldn't have done the same thing given the same situation.
Yes and Christ himself had to restore Peter by questioning him three times. Dont exalt this Jordanian to Peter's status...he was already an apostle.
The Word is clear on this subject.
"This guy has just lost his eternal life. He'd better enjoy this one."
"Peter denied Christ 3 times and received forgiveness."
Excellent response. Its very easy for us to sit back and judge, but if "we" were in the same position, or if a family member had a gun pointed to their head, etc, it might not be so easy.
and Rahab lied about the two spies sent by Joshua... and they let her hide them out...