Peter announces the one thing you've been looking for: salvation.
Acts 4:7-12 (NIV) - CONTEXT: In the weeks after Pentecost, the church has already grown to about 5,000 people (4:4). The Jewish establishment "was greatly disturbed" (4:2) that resurrection of the dead in Jesus Christ is being proclaimed, so they detain Peter and John to question them after they had healed a lame man (chapter 3).
7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is
“ ‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 22 - Our Justification Through Faith in Christ
We believe that
for us to acquire the true knowledge of this great mystery
the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts a true faith
that embraces Jesus Christ,
with all his merits,
and makes him its own,
and no longer looks for anything
apart from him.
For it must necessarily follow
that either all that is required for our salvation
is not in Christ or,
if all is in him,
then he who has Christ by faith
has his salvation entirely.
Therefore,
to say that Christ is not enough
but that something else is needed as well
is a most enormous blasphemy against God—
for it then would follow
that Jesus Christ is only half a Savior.
Summary
One of the ordinary ways the Holy Spirit utilized to convert so many people so quickly in the early church was the powerful preaching of men like Peter and John. One of the hallmarks of this apostolic preaching is their ability to get right to the point. The good news comes in the first three words of v12: salvation is found.
This is good news because God's people had been looking for salvation for millennia. Another marker of this early preaching is how it was rooted in the scripture. Notice in v11 that Peter quotes Psalm 118 which equates Jesus - the stone rejected by the builders - as becoming the cornerstone of the salvation they longed for.
Peter uses bold language to show that Christ is the exclusive way to gain this salvation. Literally translated, Peter said "salvation is in no nobody else." In English, double negatives are a no-no (get it?), but in Greek, double negatives bring emphasis to the point. We might better say 'salvation is found in absolutely no one else.'
Peter's claim is much more than just a gospel invitation for people to open their hearts to Jesus. Rather, it comes as a command: you "must be saved."
Dig Deeper
Peter's mini-sermon here does have one little flaw. The meaning and application of his claim hinge on how the word salvation is understood.
If you understand that word in a temporal sense to mean that Jesus is going to save you from all of your problems and issues here and now, you're going to be sorely disappointed with Jesus. Perhaps this is why the Jewish establishment questioning Peter continued to reject Jesus, because He did nothing to save them from their immediate concern: Roman occupation of Israel.
This misunderstanding holds people out of the Kingdom even today. So many - maybe even you - have turned to Jesus looking for relief from pain and dissatisfaction with your situation in this broken world, but really nothing seemed to change. You still feel pinned down by the crushing weight of the world, and maybe you're beginning to doubt the 'salvation' Jesus offers.
You need to understand salvation in the way the Bible means it: that the sin that estranged you from your heavenly Father has been atoned (paid for) by Christ so that you now have peace with God and are assured of eternal life with Him. Life here on earth may or may not improve (it got lots worse for Peter and John!). But this heavenly perspective will strengthen you no matter what situations you face as you continue to pilgrim through this barren land.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who has provided us salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will keep your eyes focused on the prize even through the present difficulties;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Luke 5
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