-Failure Is Not Final

Have you failed at more than your New Year’s resolutions?

Have you failed at more than your New Year’s resolutions?

Failure Is Not Final

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Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? Have you broken them yet? Chances are you’ve already broken your diet and exercise resolution. Maybe your godly resolve to read through the Bible in a year has been broken as well, and you’re discouraged because of your lack of discipline. Perhaps, however, you are struggling with a major failure that is far more serious than a broken New Year’s resolution.

Have you failed the Lord in some way that you think is unforgivable? Are you guilt-ridden and demoralized as a result? Do you despair of ever living a life that is pleasing to God? Do you feel that you will never again be useful in the Lord’s service? Well, take hope – failure is not final!

Even serious failure in the Christian life does not have to be beyond the point of no return. Failure can never be justified or condoned, but it can be an opportunity for the love and grace of God to be magnified. The Lord knows we are weak and prone to failure, and He graciously provides restoration for the repentant believer (Ps. 103:8-14). God has a wonderful way of picking up the pieces and making something beautiful of a broken believer’s life. There are many biblical examples where failure was not the end of effectiveness for God.

We could fill this article with examples of failure in the lives of Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Jonah and other heroes of the faith! However, because of space, we will concentrate on only two believers from the New Testament, Peter and Mark.

Peter’s Failure
One of the most familiar stories in the life of the apostle Peter is his denial of the Lord. We wonder how Peter could have done such a thing – but would we have been any different? After the Last Supper Peter was so confident of his faith that he declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth … before the rooster crows twice, you yourself will disown me three times.” And Peter rashly said, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you” (Mk. 14:29-31 niv).

Only a few hours later Jesus’ prediction was fulfilled. Peter declared three times, with curses and oaths, that he didn’t know Jesus (Mk. 14:71). Can you imagine Peter’s guilt and remorse when suddenly the rooster crowed – and Jesus, now a captive, looked straight at him sorrowfully. As Peter went out from the courtyard and wept bitterly, he must have thought his failure was final. After all, he had not only denied being one of the Lord’s friends, he had sworn that he didn’t even know Him! When Jesus was led away to trial, Peter probably thought that any opportunity to express his remorse and ask forgiveness from the Lord was gone forever.

Peter’s Restoration
But Peter’s failure was not final. In His grace, the Lord had great plans for Peter. At the restoration breakfast by the Sea of Galilee, Peter was the special object of Jesus’ love. The Lord knew all about Peter’s feelings of guilt, and the Lord knew exactly how to tenderly restore Peter with a question-and-answer technique (Jn. 21:15-19). Our Lord’s gentle restoration of Peter was certainly a fulfillment of that wonderful messianic passage in Isaiah: “A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out” (Isa. 42:3).

It has often been pointed out that Jesus used two different well-known Greek words for love when He asked Peter, “Do you love Me?” (Jn. 21:15-17). The Greek word phileo refers to “tender affection,” and the word agapao refers to love that involves “voluntary self-denial for the sake of the loved one.” The Lord used agapao in His first and second questions to Peter, and phileo the third time. But Peter responded with phileo all three times. Most likely the Lord was speaking to Peter in Aramaic which does not have parallel words and nuances for these two Greek words for “love.” However, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John (who was present at that conversation), used these specific Greek words to precisely convey the essence of our Lord’s restorative conversation with Peter.

After his recent experience of brash declaration and subsequent failure, Peter was probably too ashamed to profess agapao love (the strong love that involves willing self-sacrifice) for the Lord. But the Lord still had plans for him. As the perfect counselor, Jesus told Peter that his failure was not final. And the counsel was effective. Peter went on to be greatly used of God! His love for Christ led to sacrificial service throughout the remainder of his life – even to imprisonment and death as a faithful martyr. If the Lord forgave and restored Peter, will He not do the same for us? God is teaching us this wonderful lesson by recording the failure and restoration of Peter in His Word.

Mark’s Failure
John Mark was not an apostle, but clearly he was associated with them from the earliest days of Christianity. It is quite possible that the young man who ran away on the night of Jesus’ arrest was Mark himself (Mk. 14:51-52). The early believers met in the house owned by Mary, Mark’s mother. Peter came to this home when he was miraculously released from prison (Acts 12). In 1 Peter 5:13, Peter refers to Mark as his son in the faith. When, where or whether Peter led Mark to faith in Christ is not known, but there was certainly a spiritual father/son relationship between Peter and Mark.

The apostle Barnabas was Mark’s cousin (Col. 4:10), and it was through Barnabas that Mark was introduced to Paul. Barnabas and Paul had come to Jerusalem from Antioch to bring a gift to the church in Judea because of widespread famine (Acts 11:27-30). When Barnabas and Paul returned to Antioch, Mark went with them. Thus he was in the right place at the right time when Paul and Barnabas started on their first missionary journey. Mark joined them and shared in their ministry on the island of Cyprus.

But when the missionary team was ready to set out for the interior of Asia Minor, Mark left them and went home to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). Why? We don’t know for sure. Maybe he was homesick, or physically sick – with some kind of “Asian Flu”! Maybe he didn’t like the rigors of missionary travel; after all, the up-coming missionary itinerary included crossing rugged, robber-infested mountains. Maybe he didn’t like the subtle change in leadership from his cousin Barnabas to the younger man, Paul. Maybe he had some theological differences with Paul.

In any case, Mark defaulted in his commitment to the Lord and to the missionary team. As far as Paul was concerned, this failure disqualified Mark from going on the second missionary journey (Acts 15:38). Paul and Barnabas disagreed so strongly over Mark that the two veteran missionaries separated – Paul departing with Silas to Asia Minor, while Barnabas took Mark with him to Cyprus. By the way, the fact that two missionary teams resulted from Mark’s previous desertion does not justify or condone Mark’s failure, but it does show that God can work through our failures to accomplish His purposes.

Mark’s Restoration
The Bible doesn’t tell us about the results of the ministry of Barnabas and Mark on the island of Cyprus, but Mark’s subsequent activities prove that his failure was not final. The Lord did not set Mark aside from service. About ten years later Paul was under house arrest in Rome. While there, he wrote letters of instruction and encouragement to individuals and local churches, and we see that Mark was not only back in Paul’s good graces, but was a valued member of Paul’s team once again. Mark joined with the other team members in Paul’s personal greetings to Philemon (Phile. 24).

Greetings from Mark are also included in Colossians 4:10, and Paul urged the church at Colosse to welcome Mark if he came to visit. Apparently Mark continued serving the Lord under Paul’s direction when Paul was released from his house arrest in Rome. When Paul wrote his last letter during his second Roman imprisonment, Mark was commended once again. Paul wrote to Timothy, “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11). Mark’s former failure was only a temporary setback in his walk of faith.

A further clue that Mark’s failure was not final is the fact that God chose him to write one of the Gospels, and the theme being Christ as the Perfect Servant. How wonderful that God particularly chose Mark to serve Him as the writer of that great theme! Is any further proof needed that God is able to pick up the pieces in the life of a believer who has failed?

The fact that Paul did not irrevocably eliminate Mark from future Christian service with him is a valuable lesson for us. Some Christians continue to hold past failures against repentant believers, causing them to become discouraged and demoralized. Other Christians regard those who have failed as permanent “second-class” Christians. But the failure of a brother or sister in Christ is not necessarily a sign of a permanent character flaw. Let’s be careful not to blaspheme the character of God by refusing to forgive repentant believers – whom God is willing to forgive (Eph. 4:32 and 1 Jn. 1:9). We need to be ready to forgive them and restore them to fellowship and useful service.

While certain kinds of failure will permanently affect a Christian’s sphere of service, God never writes off a believer – not in salvation nor future service. Let’s not be harder on our brethren than God is! Restoration of a failed believer to useful service is an important function of spiritual believers. Paul writes, “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently” (Gal. 6:1). The Greek word for “restore” also means “setting bones” or “mending nets” – a clear indication that the restored one will be useful for service in the future!

God has preserved these incidents from the lives of Peter and Mark in Scripture, and this should be an encouragement to us. Discouragement and doubt can snowball when we fail. We wrongly jump to the conclusion that God is done with us. Let’s be careful not to lower the character of God by refusing to believe that He will forgive our failures – no matter how bad they may have been. There may be consequences to forgiven failure, and many biblical examples demonstrate this truth. But failure is not final! Peter and Mark prove that nothing could be further from this truth.

By David Reid

With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA.

Website: www.gtpress.org

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