Eternal Life and Falling Down

This is an excerpt from yesterday's sermon at Casa del Alfarero in Providence:

John 13:36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. (ESV)

Jesus foretells two amazing things for Peter in this passage.  1.  You will go to heaven.  2.  You will fail miserably on the way.

Nothing could thrill me more than for the Lord Christ to say to me, face to face, you will be with me in paradise.  Peter received this promise, "you will follow afterward."  Talk about security of salvation!  It was like Jesus had just said to him, "Well done my good and faithful servant..."  No doubt, this promise of Jesus did much to comfort and affirm Peter in his Christian life and death.  

Really, the same promise Jesus gave Peter, he gave to all those who repent and believe on Jesus.  John 5:24 teaches us that if you believe what Jesus said about God and sin and forgiveness, and you trust in Him for salvation, you have the same promise Peter received... You have eternal life.  You will not be condemned.  You have passed from death to life. 

The second thing Jesus foretold in this passage, happened to involve the biggest failure of Peter's career as a disciple.  I imagine the first promise inflated Peter's heart in his chest and the second one let it go like an untied balloon.  What?!  Deny you?! Whoa! Didn't you just say I was going to follow you to heaven soon?

So in just a few verses, Jesus puts sovereign grace on display.  Jesus knows who will make it to heaven. Jesus also knows that on the way to heaven, we will experience sin and short-coming.  

Did Peter's foretold failure affect Jesus' promise of heaven to him?  Not at all!  Jesus knows all your future failures and he still chose you and washed you and set you apart to serve and love him. 

This was Jesus' way of saying, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph 2:8-9).