The Narrow Path Ministries

In the Arminian view, did Peter lose his salvation when he denied Christ three times?


Bud

Hi Bud,
I don't know what Arminius or most Arminians say about this. I will give my own thoughts on the matter.

The idea that Peter lost his salvation in the act of denying Christ would be based on the fact that Jesus said, "Whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven" (Matt.10:33). If Peter had died, unrepentant of the denials he made the night of Christ's arrest. I believe that Christ, in order to keep His own word, would have had to deny Peter access to heaven. However, Peter didn't die unrepentant.

Peter's denials of Christ were unexpected, spontaneous failures of courage, and did not reflect any heartfelt desire or decision on his part really to dissociate with Jesus—a fact seen in that he immediately went out and repented in tears (Matt.26:75).

To deny Christ is a grievous sin. No believer should consider that this is an option, even under torture or duress. However, Peter's case proves that it is not an unpardonable sin. I don't believe that people lose their salvation in a moment of failure in their spiritual or moral lives. "A righteous man may fall seven times"—all the while still being described as a"a righteous man"—but, so long as he is a righteous man, he will always "rise again" (Prov.24:16).

Thus, I think, Peter was still a believer, even as he was in the act of denying Christ—even as we do not cease to be believers the moment we are weak or cowardly and unhappily succumb to some temptation. The issue of salvation is a matter of where our heart is, and our repentance or non-repentance is a better indicator of that than are our failures.

The Bible indicates that God gives the sinner "time to repent" (Rev.2:21) before bringing judgment and before disowning the fallen saint. If the person does not repent in the time allotted, judgment must come. If the person promptly repents (as Peter did), this indicates that he/she really does value Christ, and that the sin was an uncharacteristic misstep.

If a man was consistently devoted and faithful to his wife for many years, and then, at an incredibly weak moment, he succumbed to a seductress, this would be a grievous sin against his wife and the marriage, and, arguably, grounds for divorce.

However, if that man, after sinning, was immediately smitten in his conscience, repented sincerely, humbly confessed to his sin to his wife, and resumed his life of unbroken, faithful devotion to her, I don't believe a gracious wife, who loved her husband, would call-off the relationship over the failure—though she would be terribly hurt over the matter.

Similarly, I don't believe that God renounces His children based on uncharacteristic failures—no matter how much He may be hurt by them—but rather that He has an eye to the characteristic actions and attitudes of the heart. "In many things, we all stumble" (James 3:2), but "God gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). It is clear that Christ still had compassion on Peter, even after the denials.