Peter: The Second Chance Apostle (6)

The Fighter Forgives

“And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” (Matt. 26:51-52). When reading this, it is pretty obvious that Peter was not aiming for the ear of Malchus. He was likely aiming at a larger object and wanted to kill the man wanting to arrest Jesus. Peter is ready to fight and kill anyone who is trying murder the Christ.

Skip ahead to Acts 2. Peter is the premier preacher at Pentecost. The masses have come to the realization, “We have murdered the Christ. What can we do about our sins?” Listen to what Peter tells them. “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). Whereas he once was ready to murder a man, he is not doing the opposite. He is offering life to those who would obey Christ. He is preaching that forgiveness of sins is something that Christ is willing to offer those who would obey Him. It is offered to those who murdered Jesus. It was even offered to Peter.

There is a lesson we should learn from this. We all have struggles in our lives. We looked at some which Peter faced. We have times in which we give in. Peter did. God was willing to take Peter back and offer him a “second chance.” But you may be wondering, “I thought a second chance was something like ‘one last chance.’ Peter sure got a lot of second chances.” You would be correct. It is from the example of Peter where we learn a valuable lesson. Christianity is not a religion of “second chances.” It is a religion of unlimited chances, that is, unless we refuse to do what is right and serve God. If we are honestly trying to do His will and sin, we can know that God will be willing to take us back, no matter what it is we have done.

We must be willing to do certain things.

If one is not a Christian:

1.       We are to hear God’s Word (Rom. 10:17).

2.      We are to believe that Word (Heb. 11:6).

3.      We must be willing to repent of sins (Luke 13:3, 5).

4.      We must confess Christ as the Son of God (Rom. 10:10; Acts 8:37).

5.      We must be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).

6.      Live a life of faithfulness (Rev. 2:10).

If one is a Christian:

1.       If we sin after becoming a Christians, we know that by praying for forgiveness and repenting of our sins, we will be forgiven (1 John 1:7-10).