The Life of Peter

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It isn’t hard for Christians to identify with the Apostle Peter. As he sought to follow after Jesus, his life was punctuated by bold moments and momentous blunders alike. Yet in spite of Peter’s sins, he was the Apostle who confessed the Christ, to which Jesus replied, “On this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:16, 18). The Lord would use this vessel of clay to bring the hope of the gospel to the world.

In this book, Dr. Derek Thomas offers an encouraging portrait of Peter from the Gospels and the book of Acts, with insights from Peter’s own writings later in life. At every stroke, our eyes are drawn beyond the disciple to his gracious Master, who fashions stumbling believers into stalwarts of faith.

Endorsements

“It is easy to identify with Simon Peter, and many of us do. He is a rock that crumbled and yet under God opened the kingdom of God to the nations. His flaws and failures are obvious, and yet they cannot overshadow the transform- ing power of Christ in his life. Peter’s story gives us hope, and no one retells it better than Derek Thomas. Here, in chapter after chapter, he helps us to ‘shadow’ Peter. As we do so, we learn the ways of the Master alongside Peter. More than that, our love for the Master grows as we witness the constancy and strength of His love and prayers. In page after page, Dr. Thomas introduces us to the Savior who is the same in our ‘today’ as He was ‘yesterday’ in His life-re- shaping ministry to Simon Peter. Perhaps not every Christian book needs to be enjoyable to be helpful, but this one is both!”

—Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson

“Peter often gets a bad rap in evangelical circles. He denied Christ three times. Paul publicly rebuked him. But Jesus loved him and named him Rocky—loyal, steadfast, the leader of the early church, and willing to die for Christ (which he ultimately did). Read this wonderfully encouraging portrait of Peter (there aren’t many of them in print!), and let it challenge you to be bold for Christ.”

—Dr. William B. Barcley