Denying Christ

Matthew 26:75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.

At some point in our Christian walk, most of us have had our personal “Peter moment” where we denied Jesus Christ.  In Peter’s case, he failed to own up to the fact that he knew Jesus and was a follower.  Some of us may have denied Christ in similar ways by not identifying ourselves as a true follower of Jesus Christ.   Few professing Christians, short of a gun to their head,  will stoop to the level of vocally saying “Jesus is NOT the Lord”, an obvious hell-bound denial and demonstration of unbelief.  But many of us continue to deny Christ daily by how we live.Consider the message the Lord gave to the Faithful Church of Philadelphia.  This shows that not keeping His commandments is in fact a denial of Christ.  Jesus knows our works which show whether we have kept His word and not denied His name.  

Rev 3:7-8 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: ⁸ “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

We may not deny Christ overtly by stating we are not a Christian or that we do not believe but most Christians deny Christ implicitly by our actions or in-actions.  We deny Christ by our deeds, the same deeds on which we shall be judged on the last day.  We should fear the consequences if we do not turn back to God with a true faith demonstrated by our complete trust and diligent obedience to His commandments.  Unfortunately, we never hear much about denying Christ from our pulpits and what we do hear is in fact only half a gospel, which does not a true gospel make.  I have even heard famous pastors tell direct lies to the congregants by making such statements as “Jesus will never deny you” or “the Lord will never leave you or forsake you”.  In proper context these sayings are true but the context that is missing is of ultra importance as I will show later.  Here is what Jesus said about denying Him.

Matthew 10:33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.  Jesus taught Paul by revelation and hence we get the same message by His Apostle.

2 Tim 2:12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.

Denying Christ shows one’s true status as a believer.  Jesus is our mediator with the Father and the  way, the truth and the life.  Nobody comes to the Father except through Jesus.  He is the ONLY way.  If we DENY Christ, He will deny us to the Father and there will be no way to enter heaven.  So understanding what denying Christ is all about is of live saving importance.  As we find out later in the gospels, Jesus forgives Peter for his denial and Peter became the lead Christian in starting the early church.  Hallelujah!!!  Our God of mercy will forgive us IF we turn back and follow Him. 

Forsaking of God

We have been deceived by and large and have failed to truly grasp the truth on foresaking of God.

2 Chronicles 15:2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you WHEN you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

Forsaking God was the way denying God was described in the Old Testament translations.  In every case the forsaking was because people separated themselves from God by their sin and unrepentant heart.  To forsake means to abandon or renounce somebody or something.  There are at least 20 passages that make it clear from our God who changes not, that if we forsake Him, He will forsake us.  This has always been and remains part of God’s law which Jesus’ coming did not change. So if we abandon God, He will abandon us, He does not the play the childs game of  hide-n-go-seek!  If we are separated from God, it is because WE have abandoned God, not that He abandons us.  God honors our free will, if we choose to leave Him, He does not force us to stay.

Let’s review a few Old Testament passages to get the feel for what God said about forsaking Him. 

Deut 31:16-17 And the LORD said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them.  On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?’

The world and most of the professing church has forsaken the Lord.  People confuse God’s word by cherry picking the passages where the Lord says He will never leave us or forsake us.  Those statements are conditional statements as the whole of scripture attests.  If we forsake God, He most definitely will forsake us.  This is where most Christians are today.  Because the judge comes quickly, time to repent and turn back to God and truly seek Him and follow Him is growing very short.  

1 Chron 28:9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.  I don’t know for sure but based on Biblical accounts, Solomon may be rejected forever based on his forsaking of God later in his life.

Joshua 24:20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”  Judgment is coming soon my friends, this is the consistent recurring message I keep hearing from God.  The bridegroom cometh and we had best make sure there is oil in our lamps.

Judges 10:13 But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you.  This is really the exact same thing Jesus said in Matthew 10:33 that was highlighted earlier.  Forsake or Deny Christ and you have no salvation as there is no longer any way to the Father.  Many Christians serve other Gods by what they focus on and by what they do.  Their worship by their lips is indeed in vain. 

How We Deny Christ or Forsake God

1.  Unbelievers:  Anyone who does not truly believe in Christ clearly denies Christ from the get go.    Their denial and forsaking of God is overt, direct, explicit and will lead them straight to Hell on Judgment Day. 

Romans 1:20-22 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools

The wise of this world are fools to God.  Do not be deceived, God will not be mocked.  Doing good deeds and being a nice person won’t cut it, Jesus is the only way to the Father.  Sadly the majority of professing Christians have contributed to the emboldening of non-believers.  They see many “believers” living in sin and acting no different from the rest of the world and conclude this religion is a farce. 

False Religions:  Millions believe in the God of Abraham but are really unbelievers as it relates to Christ.  I worry about many that do good works, seek to live Holy lives but expressly DENY Christ and who He is and what He has done to save us.  Organizations such as the Jehovah Witnesses’ and the Mormons, but there are many others, expressly deny the Deity of Christ and Almighty God.  Jesus is the only way.  Nobody comes to the Father except thru Him.

2.  Believers:  Many say they believe in Jesus but their action belie what they proclaim with their mouth.  I wrote an extensive post on Hypocrite Christians recently that by accessed by clicking the hyperlink.  Professing believers DENY Christ in many way; primarily by their continued practice and living with sin.  They will be in for a rude awakening unless they repent and come to knowledge of the truth and contend for their faith earnestly. Let’s look a little deeper into three categorizations of how we Deny Christ.

Practice Sin:  Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.  We are told that if we are truly Born Again we cannot practice sin.  Those that twist Paul’s teachings and believe they can keep on sinning deny the power of Christ to transform lives and overcome the power of sin.  Jesus came to set us free and if we have been set free, we are free indeed.  Does this verse from Paul describe you?  If so, you are denying Christ my friend.

2 Tim 3:1-5 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ²For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness (i.e. they are religious) but DENYING its power (living in continued unrepentant sin). And from such people turn away!

Jesus did not come to forgive our sins.  Yes He forgives them with conditions of course, but His true purpose in coming was to save us from sin and He did that by giving us the means to overcome sin.  We are indeed saved by Grace and His gift, but that gift requires us to fully receive it and that includes being Born Again and following Him and obeying His commandments.  Many claim to be Christians yet deny Christ by their works.  Paul spoke to Titus about this issue.

Titus 1:15-16 To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. ¹⁶ They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their phony faith.  He recalled a passage from Isaiah that I have quoted often in Mark 7:7-8.  This defines the apostasy that is so rampant in the man-made church system of today.  You tell a lie enough times, people start to believe it.  I love this following verse from 1 John.

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. Do you really love God?  Then obey His commandments, otherwise you are worshipping with your lips yet your heart is far from God.  You worship Christ in vain, denying His power to transform you and help you overcome temptation and you are following doctrines invented by men.

False Teaching:  James tells us that we should think twice before becoming a teacher because teachers will be held to a higher account by God. To those the Lord calls, He says He will equip.  Many teachers have been called by God but deny Christ by holding on to sin and teaching precepts taught by men.  They teach God’s people in error saying their sin matters not, one cannot stop sinning anyway, so why worry about it, live your live and take pleasure in your sin.  That is not the truth.  Here is what Peter said about them and their denial.

2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 

The truth is there is no temptation that we cannot overcome.  God has provided a way out of each one if we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  We can indeed do all things thru Christ who strengthens us.  All things are possible with God.  Jude also spoke about false teachers and the pattern was the same, they come in perverting the grace of God and a false accommodation of our continued sin. 

Jude 4  For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

While I believe we should find a church home and have regular fellowship with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ,  the vast majority of Christian Pastors and teachers are not Born Again as they live in continued practiced sin and worse teach their congregants a perverted gospel based almost exclusively on twisted teachings of the Apostle Paul.  Peter warned this would happen and this prophecy has been fulfilled my friends.

2 Peter 3:14-17 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; ¹⁵ and consider thatthe longsuffering of our Lord is salvation — as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, ¹⁶ as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people —twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.  Nobody is twisting Paul’s teachings to say we need to stop sinning and walk in the Spirit as that is what Paul taught.  All the perversion is that our sin matters not, the same thing Jude said and Paul himself.

Romans 2:12-13 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. ¹³ For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
 

Ephesians 5:8 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not be partakers with them.

Inaction and Partiality:  Have you ever been in a conversation that was about evil or ungodly things yet stayed silent?  What about getting involved in dirty and other inappropriate jokes?  Walked past homeless people begging for money or attention but purposefully avoid eye contact?  I have and did for most of my life.  Many of these inactions deny Christ especially where the Holy Spirit tells us to leave the scene, rebuke the evildoers or encourage the homeless people.   God tells us to DO SOMETHING yet we decide to DO our will instead.  Rebellion is denying the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

If we do not deny ourselves, we deny Christ.  Our in-action tells the world that He is not our Lord and that we are Lord of our own lives and seek to do our will, not His.  Following Jesus is a choice, one we must make every day.

Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Jesus gave the Apostles and us by translation a new command.  Love one Another.  Just like our professed love for God, a real love for others will be demonstrated by action and deeds.  If we don’t make our faith actionable, we deny our Sovreign Lord.  Consider the admonishment James gave the early church.

James 2:14-17 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

We have an increasing problem in this country with old folks being abandoned by their families.  Additionally, the ranks of the homeless are rising fast and I have met many homeless people who have gotten no help from their families and have not spoken to them in years.  Sure they bear some responsibility, but we are called to take care of our God-given families in the time of need.  Look at the shocking words from Paul that should call these deniers of Christ to attention.

1 Tim 5:8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.  What happens to unbelievers on judgment day?  I think you know.  We deny our faith and our Lord by our inaction where God calls us to act.  True Christians are the workers in His fields.

Lastly regarding inaction as a denial of Christ, remember the message Jesus will give the goats on judgment day.

Matthew 25:42-46 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.  Because of their inaction and disobedience to His Commandments and rebellion against His Spirit; He goes on to say to them, depart from Me into the eternal fire.  

Conclusion

Few Christians think they deny Christ or have forsaken God.  But I believe the above study should expand ones horizon on what denying Christ really means.  Continued rebellion, rejection and disobedience of His Commandments Denies Christ and His power to save us from our sins.  One cannot be living in the world, lusting after things of the flesh and practicing sin and be in the presence of God.  If you are doing that, you have forsaken God and because of that, He has forsaken you.  Repent and turn back to God so you can be saved.

Sin separates us from God. The Bible is very clear about that. Christ became sin for us on the Cross.  Right before He died he cried out to the Father.

Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Why did Jesus cry this out?  I believe it is because at that moment the sin He had become separated Him from the Father.  It was the first time Jesus had  felt separation from the Father.  The presence of God in that moment had left Jesus.  Are you in the presence of God right now?  If not, why not?  Have you forsaken God and denied the power of Christ to change you?

God is good and He will forgive us.  Hear what Jesus told Simon Peter right before the Lord predicted Peter’s denial.

Luke 22:31-32 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. ³² But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

Returning to God is repentance.  Jesus was going to use Peter in a big way after Peter’s denial and subsequent repentance.  We all have sinned, we all have denied Christ at some point.  But be encouraged in that if we return to God and walking in true faith, God will use us to strengthen our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

 May God Bless You Richly!