In Matthew 26:30-35, we see an overconfident Peter arguing with the One whose Name is Omega. Perhaps Peter forgot that as the Omega, God knows the end from the beginning. You need to recognise that overconfidence is not synonymous with faith. While overconfidence ignores that which is ordained as if it were not, faith calls these things that be not as though they were. When God’s ordained word says “Abstain from all appearance of evil and flee fornication”, it is overconfidence and not faith that makes a brother linger in a place where female nudity is on display. Your faith cannot annul God’s word. Some people believe that as new creatures in Christ, they are now super beings, no longer susceptible to weaknesses or temptations. Driven by overconfidence and not faith, such people throw wise checks and balances established in God’s word out of the window. No wonder they end up in the same pitiable state Peter found himself in after denying Christ thrice. After Jesus told Peter what would happen to him shortly, instead of praying for grace to stand firm or praying for a reversal of his impending denial, he was busy making “confessions of overconfidence” and not “confessions of faith” as he supposed. Hear his confessions in Mathew 26:35a:
“…Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.”
Unfortunately, the same mouth Peter used in making these confessions also denied Christ. Your confessions must be based on the totality of God’s word, if you don’t want to engage in a futile exercise. There is a place for making confessions and affirmations, but basing them on an isolated portion of God’s word cannot override the generality of God’s principles.

Apostle Paul got it right when he longed to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. In Philippians 3:12, Paul revealed his mindset with these words:
“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ, Jesus.”
Unlike Paul, some people behave as if they have arrived. Some of such people even try to persuade me to slow down and rest upon what God has done for me over the years in the ministry. They forget that only those who endure to the end will be saved (Matthew 10:22). Beloved, continually search the scriptures, and make God’s word your compass in life. Pray earnestly also that the grace of Jesus Christ will be more than enough for you to finish well and strong.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.