The Bible says, ‘Peter remembered the word of the Lord…“Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So Peter went out and wept bitterly’ (vv. 61-62 NKJV). It’s our faith in Christ that saves us, not our good works (although that doesn’t mean we can neglect doing good). ‘By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast’ (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV). This helps us understand Jesus’ words to Peter: ‘I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail’ (Luke 22:32 NKJV). When we have faith in Christ, we can bounce back. There’s no limit when it comes to God’s grace. Peter denied Jesus not once, but several times. Perhaps that’s your story too! This wasn’t a moment that Peter would be proud of, but it was an experience that would help him grow stronger. When someone fails badly, you might hear it said that they’ve ‘crashed and burned’. And when something is burned, all that’s left is ashes. But we serve a God of restoration who gives ‘beauty for ashes’ (see Isaiah 61:3). If you’d seen Peter swearing that he didn’t know the Lord, would you have picked him to be your church leader? God did. He made him the head of the New Testament church. We tell people, ‘Don’t get into messes’ and ‘Don’t sin’. And that’s good advice – God doesn’t want us sinning. But we should really say, ‘Don’t walk head first into sin when you know better. But when you fail, which will happen at some point, turn to God, because He’ll restore you and use your failure to strengthen you.’
