PREFERENCE vs CONVICTION

I have heard it said that, “I would die for Christ.” Peter had a problem with that [Matthew 26:35]. Do any of us have a problem with that? It is my opinion that if we will not live for Christ, then we will not die for Him. To that believer, his relationship with God was a preference. What are the differences between conviction and preference?

I’ll get out of the way and let the Word of God tell us the difference.

Mark 12:30, 31, and Matthew 16:24 teach us of conviction.

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.


Matthew 16:25 warns us of preference.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Let Revelation 3:16 teach us of the consequences.


So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

We have not yet tested unto death. Persecutions are rampant world-wide and have done so for centuries [2 Timothy 3:12]. However, there is coming a time when our faith “in Christ” will be tested, and if we, like Peter, shall deny Jesus, our faith was a preference and not a conviction. If we stand up for Christ even unto death, our faith was a conviction and God will reward us with a crown of life.


Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life [Revelation 2:10].


There are other Scriptures for each but now it’s your turn to do a follow-up study. The day in question is fast approaching. Will you live and die for Christ? Is your relationship with Christ a conviction or a preference? That’s between you and God. Only God knows whether the cock will crow thrice.