Jesus said that if you deny Him before men that he will deny you before his Father. Peter denied the Lord. Does this mean that Jesus will now deny Peter before His Father?
Listen: 116.5
Let’s begin by reading the words of the Lord in Matthew 10:32-33, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also 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.” Now let’s compare that to Matthew 26:33-34 which says, “Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” We know from reading Matthew 26: 69-75, that Peter did indeed deny the Lord three times, just as the Lord said he would. 2 Timothy 2:12 makes it clear that, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us.” Will the Lord Jesus now deny Peter before His Father because of his denial of Him?
To deny Christ means to reject Him and His claim to be the Son of God and savior of all those who believe in Him. This denial is a life-long denial, where there is no repentance and no acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ. To those whose lives deny the Lord, the Lord will also say to them one day, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” as we read in Matthew 7:23
What Peter did was to deny that he knew the Lord when he was in fear for his life. Although, that is not an acceptable excuse to deny Him, we know that Peter loved the Lord and spent the rest of his life in service to Him. The book of Luke also tells us that the Lord told Peter that he would deny Him three times. We also find that the Lord was praying for Peter. Let’s read Luke 22:31-32 in the NKJV. That says, “And the Lord said,“Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” We see here that the Lord knew that Peter would deny Him, but He also knew that Peter would return to Him, or be restored to Christ.
We understand that the Lord came to Peter privately after His resurrection to restore him to good fellowship with Himself. After spending time with the resurrected savior on the day of His resurrection, the two who were on the road to Emmaus, returned to Jerusalem with a glorious message for His disciples. We read in Luke 24:33-34, “And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.” So, the Lord had appeared to Simon. Simon, of course, is Peter. Before appearing to the disciples in the upper room, the Lord came to Peter privately, encouraging his heart and bringing him back into a good relationship with Himself.
If we live lives in denial of who Christ is and what He has done, He certainly will deny us before His Father. However, if we trust Christ as our savior, and seek to glorify Him on the earth, we will confess us before His Father. Even if we fail at times, the Lord is faithful. He will proclaim our salvation before His Father in Heaven. (116.5)