When Jesus had told His disciples that they would all fall away and scatter that night, they all protested. “But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.” Matthew 26:33-35.
Yet, Jesus recognized that although His disciples (and man in general) may intend to be faithful, “… the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41. And we see the weakness of the flesh in Peter’s denials in today’s devotion.
One lesson that we can glean from this Scripture is that we should not depend on our own alleged “free will”. In other words, we should not depend on our own ability to know what is right and to just do it. We need God’s Will. We need God to work within us. “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13.
We need His divine power: “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” 2 Peter 1:3-4.
Without His Will, without His divine power, and without His work within us, we too can so easily deny Christ by our words and actions. But, with His Will, with His divine power, and with His work within us, we can be like Peter at Pentecost who, filled with the Holy Spirit, boldly and effectively proclaimed the Gospel to all in attendance, friend and foe, including those who crucified Jesus.
Peter said: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.” Acts 2:36-41.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 