THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD - PART 335

The Lord said to Peter, "Peter Satan has desired to have you. Peter, I have prayed for you that your faith in Me shall not fail." At first glance, this statement does not sound as if Peter was a very solid rock. Rather, it sounds more like Peter was s shifting sand. (Sand is somewhat a rock - if mixed with cement and water)

Peter, like all other Christians are sifted in life. None of us are perfect. Nevertheless, we have confidence in our great High Priest Jesus, who is our faithful HIGH PRIEST. Forever ordained by the Spirit of God to be to a High Priest after the order of Melchisedec, who is God Himself.

JESUS in John chapter 14 states, "Neither do I pray for these present believers but I pray for all them that shall believe in Me, through their word." This means you and I. It also means that through God’s Grace are we saved through faith in the redeeming salvation obtained on our behalf by JESUS (the Lord of Glory's) sacrificial death at Calvary.

Believing faith then was not a resultant of our dead spiritual nature. No, believing faith is imparted toward us as a gift from God. Salvation therefore is of the Lord. Salvation is not of man’s doing which if it were, man would never cease to boast of his merits! But there is only One Mediator, between GOD and man. And no, that mediator as discussed earlier is not Peter. Neither is the mediator between God and man Mary.

In so believing that there is another mediator(s) besides Jesus, one is simply amplifying that they are a complete stranger to the revelatory Word of God contained in the scriptures - the same Word that went forth Jerusalem. However, the good news is that the Holy Spirit of JESUS led His chosen believing church (which began on the Day of Pentecost) so that we would know different. On that day, 3000 persons believed, repented and were baptized into the Saviour's name - JESUS -for the remission of their sin. As we also note form the scriptures, the 3,000 then awaited the promised Holy Spirit of JESUS to descend upon them.

Yes, these 3000 believers continued steadfastly in the Holy Spirit teachings, which teachings came forth from the mouths of the twelve Apostles. Note once again the scriptural reference to "twelve" and not one. There are reasons for this. Beyond scriptural teachings and text for our knowledge and edification, Peter seemed to be a loose cannon. Akin to foot in mouth disease because often he was saying one thing and thinking quite another afterward. But I digress.

The first apostolic meeting came about as a result of Peter’s walking on both sides of the fence. Peter was still under a strong delusion that with God the Jews had the pre-eminence. During this period, Peter associated with the Jews disregarding the gentile believers. He did so for as of yet Peter did not understand that with God there is no such position as Jew or Gentile. Peter was doing fine with this perception until Paul who was chosen of JESUS to be His Apostle to the Gentiles arrived on the scene. You see Peter wanted the Gentiles to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. Paul became offended at Peter's diversion from the truth of scripture, blaming Peter for preaching another gospel. Read Acts chapter 15 for further clarification. PEACE BE!