St. Peter’s Confession

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. (2 Peter 1:3-9)

St. Peter would certainly know a lot about the need for self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. Peter also had first-hand knowledge of the nearsightedness and blindness that comes from the lack of these virtues. The church remembers St. Peter and his confession of Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God on January 18. Jesus proclaims that upon this confession God would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matt 16:18). There is nothing that can change the fact of who Jesus is for you. He is your Saviour. He died for you. He rose from the dead for you. He lives and reigns for all eternity for you. These are the facts of Jesus’ works for you. They are true no matter what you may feel, no matter what you may have done, no matter what the world may say, and no matter what the world may do to you. The strength or purity of your faith doesn’t make any more or less true. The wealth of good works that you do doesn’t make them any more or less true. Jesus is the Christ for you. He is the Son of God for you. The God who made Himself a servant for you by dying on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. By His death, He has defeated death and beaten a hole in it for you that leads through the grave to life everlasting. You have seen this hole in Easter, when Jesus Himself rose from the dead, never to die again. There is nothing that you do, or don’t do that can change this objective reality and work that Jesus has accomplished for you.

There is nothing that can change the fact of who Jesus is for you. He is your Saviour. He died for you. He rose from the dead for you. He lives and reigns for all eternity for you.

Yet when Jesus then starts to teach and make it clear what it means for Him to be the Christ, the Son of God, Peter objects. He loses all his self-control and he objects. He puts his foot in his mouth and this sinner now tries to rebuke the Lord God Almighty Who was, and is, and is to come. He might know of Jesus as the Christ, but that knowledge is shown to be unfruitful, as he tries to define exactly what that is going to mean. And for Peter, it won’t mean suffering. That doesn’t fit his idea of what it means to be Christ, the Son of the Living God. The Christ doesn’t suffer. He rides to victory and conquers as the mighty warrior. The Son of the Living God doesn’t dirty Himself with mockery and blood. The Saviour doesn’t die. Not Peter’s Saviour. And in that momentary loss of control, all steadfastness, godliness, affection, and love toward this man Jesus before him are all tossed out the window as he tries to manipulate Jesus to work according to his plan, schedule, and agenda.

[Jesus] gives His self-control, steadfastness, godliness, affection, and love to Peter and you through faith. He baptizes you in it. He feeds you with it at the altar. He grows you in it through His Word.

The sinful mind could never conceive of the God who gives Himself up to the cross for the sake of His sinful creations. The sinful mind could never fathom that God could ever lower Himself so much that He enters into the muck of death, the grime of suffering, and the filth of sin to cleanse sinners. Such an idea is an offence to the sinful mind as the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:23. But if God doesn’t do exactly that sinful man is condemned. That’s why God in the person of Jesus called Peter “Satan” for at that moment that’s exactly what he was, tempting Jesus away from His path to the cross and Peter’s salvation. Yet Jesus won’t be dissuaded. He won’t step off the path set for Him by the Father who desired your salvation. He will remain faithful to the task given to Him. He is no stranger to the muck, grime, and filth of our salvation and dives into it for the joy of saving Peter and the whole world. He gives His self-control, steadfastness, godliness, affection, and love to Peter and you through faith. He baptizes you in it. He feeds you with it at the altar. He grows you in it through His Word. He took this loudmouth Peter and recreated him in His image to be the mouthpiece of the apostles on Pentecost, a pillar of the church, and a conduit of the Holy Spirit to write two of the books of the New Testament. If He can do that with a guy like Peter, imagine what He will do for you.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Tim Schneider