“LORD, TO WHOM SHALL BE GO?”
The question in our heading is a question that the apostle Peter posed many years ago to the question from the Lord, “will you also go away?” There have been many times in my life that I have mentally asked myself the same question that Peter ask, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” The Bible reference reads, John 6:68, “Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” ASV
PETER’S ANSWER
The answer that Peter gave to the question that Jesus ask him indicates that Peter knew for sure that there was no other person to whom one could turn to gain the knowledge of salvation from sin. The understanding that Peter reveals to us about his estimation of Jesus knowledge indicates that he believed very deeply that Jesus was the Messiah. We can have the same kind of confidence in Jesus today because we have the completed Bible that attests to His Divinity.
JESUS HAS WHAT ALL MEN NEED
There is not a person living today that does not need to be saved from their sin. Since this is man’s condition he needs to hear and heed the words of Jesus. As Peter says of the Lord in the context here, “… thou hast the words of eternal life.” Nothing in this world is more important than knowing to whom we must turn {i.e., heed} so that we will be able to solve the problem of sin in our life today. Jesus later says, “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” John 8:32. We must always be aware of the fact; Jesus has the answer to sin in our life. Indeed, man can be saved from his sin if he is willing to seek it in the teaching of Christ and in his apostles teaching also.
AM I AS FAITHFUL AS I SHOULD BE?
There may be many Christians that periodically ask themselves the question, “Am I as faithful as I should be?” The question is a valid exercise in self-examination that each disciple ought to consider regularly. The Bible instructs us “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? –unless indeed you are disqualified” 2 Cor 13:5. {NKJV}
HOW TO DETERMINE FAITHFULNESS
How do we determine if we are faithful? The Bible is our rule or gauge in determining the quality of our religion. We cannot and must not seek to determine the degree of our faithfulness based upon the faithfulness of other disciples cf., 2 Cor 10:12, “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise” NKJV. We must be honest about ourselves and our relationship to God based upon whether we are abiding within the teaching of Christ – cf., 2 John 9, “Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son” ASV.
JUDGE RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT
As we look personally within our own heart we will be able to judge ourselves correctly based upon how we are reacting to the instruction of Christ. Indeed, we can know what is expected of us by the Lord by reading the Word of God. We can also know whether we are applying the truths as we learn them from God’s Word.
IDENTIFYING THE TRUTH
Jesus said of the truth, “and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” – John 8:32. Jesus also tells us how to identify the truth in John 17:17 where He says, “Thy word is truth.” I cannot think of a greater bit of information for the disciple of Jesus than to know that God’s Word is TRUTH. We may know whether we are as faithful as we ought to be because we have the truth to guide us in our lifestyle. If we are living according to the Divine instructions we know that we are faithful if we are not then we know that we are unfaithful, This is not hard to understand for the person that really wants to know.
EXAMINE SELF!
Always examine self; don’t spend your time examining others. Many times we cannot judge another’s actions because we cannot read their mind. We may know them by their fruits but we must not attribute to other people’s actions, motives because we can not know why a person does what they do all the time. Let us keep a close check on self and remain faithful.