Hidden forms of denying Jesus have its roots in refusing to accept and believe God’s Word. Many people think of Peter when they think of a person denying Jesus. Peter was the one who walked on the water toward Jesus; the one who declared that Jesus is the Messiah; and also, the one who openly denied Jesus. (Matthew 14:29; 16:16; 26:74) As I was reading about how Peter denied Jesus saying that he didn’t know him, the words “hidden denials” came to mind. Hidden forms of denial are what I call responses that have formed habits in our everyday life that we don’t always notice, where we deny Jesus the right to change our heart, words, attitudes, and the way we treat others, to name a few.

Can a person be a Christian and still be denying Him in some way? The answer is yes! A person who believes in the Salvation of Jesus but not His power to heal is living a form of denial! (2 Timothy 3:5) If a person says they just can’t forgive another, then that’s a form of denying Christ because they are not accepting the grace of God to walk in forgiveness. Other areas are when a person harbors anger, jealousy, or envy in their heart. What about the words we say and the tone we use when we speak to others, could those also be a form of denying Christ? Yes, because when that happens, we deny Him the right to show His love through us. God cares about what we do all the time. To live adversely to God’s Commands is living a life of denying Him.

The Bible says the devil can masquerade as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14) I think probably everyone has been guilty of wearing a “mask of I’m okay” when in reality we are hurting. You might have heard someone say, “I just can’t change, I’m just this way, I’ve always been this way”. That is a form of denying Jesus. We sometimes think we are in faith when in reality we are in fear. Fear causes us to deny God; His goodness; His promises; His faithfulness; and fear will cause us to be double-minded which keeps us in the mindset of unbelief.  Unbelief is denying Jesus. A person with an attitude of unbelief is denying God access and the opportunity to change them. Second Corinthians 3:18 teaches us that we are all being transformed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord.

Now to me, this means that each time we obey Jesus, each time we step out in faith to believe Him for one of His promises, we grow in the glory of God and are being changed into His image. The flip side of that truth is each time we disobey God, each time we don’t step out in faith to believe Him for one of His promises, we deny Him the right to change us. It’s that simple. These types of things are what I call forms of hidden denial. I call them that because they are sometimes hidden from us, which is why we need to always come before God and ask Him to search our heart and tell us if there is anything that is displeasing to Him. (Psalm 139:23)

Another area I see where people may be denying Christ is in the area of not sharing their faith and not praying for others.  Can you see how this is denying Christ?  Unless we share Jesus with them, we can’t give witness of His goodness, love, deliverance, and healing. These truths may be the very thing that someone may need to hear and know, either for the first time, or for encouragement to continue to believe.  It’s very important that we do not take lightly the opportunity to share our faith and the Word of God with others.  Second Corinthians 5:19-21 tells us that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. So now, we are ambassadors for Christ. We do this by sharing our faith in God. Sharing our faith is not hard; it’s just telling someone how much God has shown His love for us; and that He loves them too. (2 Corinthians 5:20) When we pray for others, we are ministering to their spirit to be receptive to the love of God.

Another area where one might be denying Christ is in the area of watching television and movies, and listening to music.  None of those things are wrong in themselves, it’s all about what we choose that makes that determination.  If what we watch and listen to is not drawing us to God, then it’s pulling us away from God. I think that’s pretty simply to understand. Ask the Lord what He would like to watch and listen to; it will help with your decision. What about our everyday responsibilities, the frustrations and disappointments, God is interested in helping us with those things too. Don’t deny Him the joy of helping you. We know that God is with us at all times so we should take advantage of our relationship with Him as sons and daughters and ask Him for help – even with the little things – and don’t forget to thank Him.

Everything we’ve talked about here are like the “little foxes” that Song of Solomon 2:15 talks about. These little foxes were small enough to get into the vines unnoticed (hidden) and spoil them. This is what I’m talking about: those little habits in our lives that we may not notice that are drawing us away from God, spoiling our relationship with Him, and sometimes even hinder our prayers being answered. If we are slack in acknowledging God and giving Him the right to change our heart and our thinking, then we are caught in a form of denying Him.

I hesitated in writing about this topic because I didn’t want it to be a downer; I want it to encourage you to examine the condition of your heart and make changes in any habits and thinking, so God can more quickly make any changes He deems necessary in your heart and life. This is what I want for you and for me.