Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Debelak
Hi Sam:
How do interpret Matthew 16? Peter confessed with his mouth (essentially)that Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus said that it was upon this revelation of who Christ is - this belief - that He would build his church. Would you contend that, at that point, Peter was "saved"?
If so, how do you reconcile Peter's denial of Jesus 3 times when fearing persecution?
If not, when did Peter get saved?
Thoughts?
Peter
|
Hi Peter,
Glad to see you show up
This is one question I love to answer!
Peter's case is interesting. The salvation of the disciples all had some assurance because they were predestined to be saved from the foundation of the world as God's elect and Jesus even spoke of this. Jesus told the disciples once to rejoice because their names were written in heaven (Luke 10:20), barring the one who would betray him later. No matter what would happen, God's grace would save Peter to the end even if he fell away.
Peter was going to deny Jesus three times and that's why I believe Satan asked God to sift him as wheat, in the same way that Satan asked God if he could test Job's faith. However it seems that God actually granted Satan his request because Jesus didn't say "But we told Satan to bugger off", instead he said "But I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail". Not only did Jesus seem to imply God granted Satan's request but Jesus was strongly implying an expectation for Peter's faith to endure until the end, otherwise why would he be praying for it? Satan wanted Peter to follow the story of the seed that fell on rocky soil which received the word with joy and *believed* for a while but perished due to persecution because it had no root. But where Satan creates uncertainty, God's grace restores that certainty for his elect. If Jesus Christ is interceding for your behalf, that prayer is going to get answered! Hallelujah Jesus is also interceding in heaven for the faith of his elect to not fail.
Despite Peter spending three and a half years with Jesus it was still not enough for him to not deny him three times
However Jesus told the disciples it was actually better for them if he went up and the Holy Spirit came down. We see the results of this later because after the Holy Spirit came down during Pentecost at Jerusalem, Peter was a changed man. He witnessed with boldness and thousands of Jews repented and believed forming the beginnings of the early church in Jerusalem.
I adhere to the definition of being saved at the point of glorification, which the born again experience ultimately leads us to. See David Pawson's talk here if you are interested (Note he's not a Calvinist, but I like his points still
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy3tSIg7Gi0