Never Say Never: What Peter’s Boast Teaches Every Serious Christian Today

“And they all said the same.”  

That’s the line in Mark 14:31 that always chills me. Not just Peter, but every last disciple stood there on the way to Gethsemane and declared, “Even if I must die with You, I will never deny You.” Hours later they were all gone, scattered like smoke. Peter, the boldest of the bold, was swearing he never knew the man.

We love to shake our heads at Peter. “How could he?” we say. But if we’re honest, we’ve stood in the same place. Maybe not in a courtyard warming our hands by a fire, but in our hearts we’ve said:

- “I would never compromise on doctrine.”  

- “I would never look at pornography again.”  

- “I would never let bitterness take root.”  

- “I would never walk away from the faith.”

Never say never.

Pride is the original sin, and its favorite lie is “I’m the exception.”  

Samson thought Delilah could shear-proof.  

David thought one look wouldn’t cost him.  

Solomon thought he could handle a few hundred pagan wives.  

The Galatians thought they could add a little law to grace and still be okay.  

Every cult, every apostate denomination, every fallen pastor started with someone saying, “That could never happen to us.”

Scripture is brutally clear: “Let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). The moment you declare yourself above the warnings of God’s Word, you’ve already begun to fall.

But here is the astonishing good news for people who have said “never” and then done the very thing they swore they’d never do: Jesus never says “never” to His own.

After the resurrection, the angel didn’t say, “Tell the disciples—except Peter, he’s done.”  

He said, “Tell His disciples and Peter” (Mark 16:7). The risen Lord made a special point to name the denier. Then on the beach He gave Peter three opportunities to confess love—one for each denial—and handed him the keys to feed His sheep anyway.

That’s the gospel. Not that we never fall, but that He never lets go of those who are truly His. The ground is level at the foot of the cross, and it’s also level at the charcoal fire where Jesus restores failures.

So stop trusting your resolve.  

Stop trusting your track record.  

Stop trusting your doctrinal precision or your daily quiet time or your reputation for being “solid.”

Trust only this: “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion” (Phil. 1:6).  

He is “able to keep you from stumbling” (Jude 24).  

He is “faithful, even when we are faithless” (2 Tim. 2:13).

Let the boastful “I will never”die in your mouth tonight.  

Replace it with the only safe prayer any of us ever has:

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, hold me fast—for I cannot hold myself.”

He will. He always does. Even when we don’t.

Because His grip is stronger than our worst “never.”

DMMC 

11-30-25