To Encourage You

Luke 22:60-62 “But Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about.’ And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.”

Do you realize that a believer can sometimes look just like an unbeliever?  I’m sure you’ve heard someone say things like “that church is full of hypocrites.”  And sometimes, such statements are indeed true.  People that call themselves Christians can live like they aren’t. Sometimes the reason for this is that people that call themselves Christians really aren’t. They truly are hypocrites. They attend church and pass themselves off as Christians for some motive other than a love for Christ.  Maybe it helps them feel better, or they are in it for the benefits – health, wealth, prosperity – that kind of thing.  They give to the church to get something for themselves – totally selfish motives.

However, there are others who are truly believers, yet they do things, say things, and live in ways that are the opposite of what they profess.  Actually, every believer may live like an unbeliever some of the time.  The difference between a believer and an unbeliever, however, is that sin torments a believer’s soul. They are never satisfied in their sin. There is great conviction in their soul over it.  They know they have offended their Lord and Savior, and there is no peace in their hearts when that occurs. 

Thus, the words above regarding Peter.  Although he denied Christ three times when under pressure, he was immediately deeply convicted, and he wept bitterly in his grief.  He knew full well that what he had done was a great sin against God, and the conviction of that sin overwhelmed him. He could have no peace until he confessed his sin to God and sought forgiveness. 

Unbelievers are different from this. They will deny Christ, and even use His name as a curse word with no qualms. Although at one time they may have had a twinge in their conscience whenever they blasphemed the God who created them, they have gotten to the point that they have no inner turmoil at all about this or most other sins that they commit. They may not even recognize their sin at all. They may be those who call good evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20).  They are sinners and they are being true to their own nature.  Unless God in His grace opens their eyes to their sin, they are lost and without hope, although they don’t realize this and go along happily, day after day in enmity against God.  

No true believer can do this.  There is no peace in sin, for when they sin, they act against their true nature, the new nature that God has given they when they were saved (Colossians 3:9-10). 

Thanks be to God for the gift of conviction. Thanks be to God that he works in the heart of a believer to grieve his heart over the self-destructiveness of sin.  And thanks be to God that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).