Acts 4:12 - JESUS: The Only Way!
Acts 4:12 - JESUS: The Only Way!
Acts 4:12 (NCV) Jesus is the only One who can save people. His
name is the only power in the world that has been given to save
people. We must be saved through him.
John 14:6 (KJV) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me;
Isaiah 43:11 (KJV) I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there
is no saviour.
COMMENTARY
Jesus is the only source of salvation, the only one able to
forgive sins and provide new spiritual life. [Victor Bible Reader's
Companion]
Many people react negatively to the fact that there is no other
name than that of Jesus to call on for salvation. Yet this is not
something the church decided; it is the specific teaching of Jesus himself
(John 14:6). If God designated Jesus to be the Savior of the world, no
one else can be his equal. Christians are to be open-minded on many
issues, but not on how we are saved from sin. No other religious teacher
could die for our sins; no other religious teacher came to earth as
God's only Son; no other religious teacher rose from the dead. Our
focus should be on Jesus, whom God offered as the way to have an
eternal relationship with himself. There is no other name or way! [Life
Application SB]
Inevitably there will be people who will challenge your new
faith by saying, "How can Jesus be the only way to God? I believe that
all religions lead to God. We all get to God by different roads."
Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact that "there
is salvation in no one else" is not something Peter made up; it was
a teaching of Jesus himself. Jesus said, "I am the way.... No one
can come to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). This was not
arrogance; it was a truthful statement that only Jesus could fulfill the
Father's required punishment for sin - and hence, conquer sin itself.
Jesus came as the only perfect, sinless human to ever live,
and he took the punishment for sin. No other religious teacher could
die for our sins; no other religious teacher came to earth as God's
only Son; no other religious teacher rose from the dead. Only one
road takes you to God; only one road guarantees forgiveness of sin
and everlasting life that road is Jesus himself. [The One Year Bible
for New Believers re Acts 4:12]
How could a loving God send someone to hell when that person
never heard the Good News of Jesus? In fact, says Paul, in creation
God has revealed himself plainly to all people. Also, everyone has
an inner sense of what God requires. All people are wired for a
personal relationship with God, and if they seek him they will find him.
No one will go to hell simply because he or she missed out. God
watches over every individual, knowing the number of hairs on every
head. He reveals himself and touches lives, but people must choose to
respond appropriately to whatever understanding they have.
God could have kept humans in ignorance about himself, but he
chose to reveal himself in nature, through the Scriptures, and in
Jesus Christ. Those who've been given greater revelation have a
greater responsibility to respond to it, but no one has been left
completely in the dark. Because God has made certain facts about himself
plain, people will someday have to give an account before God of why
they chose to ignore his existence and his character. [The One Year
Bible for New Believers re Rom. 1:18-20]
"What about those who have never heard of Jesus?" This
troublesome question is asked by many who wrestle with whether Jesus really
is the only possible means of salvation. The example of Cornelius
suggests that if individuals are truly seeking God, God will find them -
that anyone who reaches out for God will be brought into contact with
enough truth to either accept or reject salvation. Missionaries have
told of reaching people in remote places who had never heard the
gospel, who are immediately receptive to the gospel because they had
been truly seeking God. We can trust God to draw people into his
kingdom, knowing that he has entrusted us with taking the message of the
kingdom to everyone. [NIV Once A Day Bible re Act. 10:23b-48]
Remember the lady who cared for Elijah at the direction of God?
For a time Elijah remained hidden in the mountains by the
brook Cherith. There for many months he was miraculously provided with
food. Later on, when, because of the continued drought, the brook
became dry, God bade His servant find refuge in a heathen land.
"Arise," He bade him, "get thee to Zarephath, [known in New Testament
times as Sarepta], which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold,
I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee."
This woman was not an Israelite. She had never had the
privileges and blessings that the chosen people of God had enjoyed; but she
was a believer in the true God and had walked in all the light that
was shining on her pathway. And now, when there was no safety for
Elijah in the land of Israel, God sent him to this woman to find a
asylum in her home. {PK 129}
Wherever there is an impulse of love and sympathy, wherever the
heart reaches out to bless and uplift others, there is revealed the
working of God's Holy Spirit. In the depths of heathenism, men who have
had no knowledge of the written law of God, who have never even
heard the name of Christ, have been kind to His servants, protecting
them at the risk of their own lives. Their acts show the working of a
divine power. The Holy Spirit has implanted the grace of Christ in the
heart of the savage, quickening his sympathies contrary to his nature,
contrary to his education. The "Light which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world" (John 1:9), is shining in his soul; and this
light, if heeded, will guide his feet to the kingdom of God. COL385
ILLUSTRATIONS
God did for us what I did for one of my daughters in the shop
at New York's La Guardia Airport. The sign above the ceramic pieces
read Do Not Touch. But the wanting was stronger than the warning, and
she touched. And it fell. By the time I looked up, ten-year-old Sara
was holding the two pieces of a New York City skyline. Next to her
was an unhappy store manager. Over them both was the written rule.
Between them hung a nervous silence. My daughter had no money. He had no
mercy. So I stepped in. "How much do we owe you?" I asked.
How was it that I owed anything? Simple. She was my daughter.
And since she could not pay, I did.
Since you and I cannot pay, Christ did. We've broken so much
more than souvenirs. We've ... broken God's heart.
With the law on the wall and shattered commandments on the
floor, Christ steps near (like a neighbor) and offers a gift (like a
Savior). [Grace For The Moment SB By Max Lucado re Acts 4:12]
Through the years, I have been privileged to know some
prominent people. Most of them are kind, humble people who just happened
to be blessed with great wealth or fame. Rarely do they play the
look-who-l-am card to gain special attention or garner favors.
For instance, I recently attended the Byron Nelson
Championship golf tournament in Dallas with Mrs. Byron Nelson. She could have
played her celebrity card, sat in her honorary private box, been waited
on hand and foot, and watched the tournament from the eighteenth
green. Instead, she wore a volunteer uniform, packed lunches, and
served the golfers in the heat. She's the real deal, as was her
husband.
The great violinist Jascha Heifetz once arrived in great
haste at Radio City in New York, perilously close to being late for a
radio concert with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. He hastened into the
elevator carrying his violin in its case.
The elevator operator looked at Heifetz's violin case and
said, "You'll have to go in the freight elevator with that."
"I have no time," said Heifetz. "I'm in a hurry."
"I don't care," said the operator. "All musicians with
instruments have to ride the freight elevator. That's the rule."
Exasperated, Heifetz played what he thought was his trump
card: "But I'm Jascha Heifetz."
And the operator looked him up and down and replied without
blinking, "I don't care if you're Rubinoff; you have to ride in the
freight elevator."
Like the elevator operator, God does not show favoritism. He
says Jesus is the way to come to him. You can't travel there by some
other route. No matter who you are, if you want to spend eternity with
him, you have to follow the one and only way.
Help me, Lord, to follow the Way to heaven. I want to be
humble enough to do what you have asked me to do. Amen. [The One Year
Devotional of Joy and Laughter by Mary Hollingsworth re Acts 10:34]
CLOSING THOUGHTS FOR CONSIDERATION
If God knew that Jesus really did not have to die, then why
would He send Him to the cross? God doesn't make mistakes, and His
wisdom is always sound. If He says that we can only come to Him through
the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, then that is the only
way there will ever be for us. [Life Principles SB By Charles
Stanley re Acts 4:12]
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he
that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I
written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may
know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name
of the Son of God. 1 John 5:11-13 (KJV)
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY:
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2013/20130623-1820.html
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT:
Importance of Choice:
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]
Seeking God Made Real: http://vimeo.com/31489782
Musical Devotional On Christian Living:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcotY5K7T0c
Prophecies Decoded Sermon Series:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDY:
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies: http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Guides:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Discover Bible Studies: http://studies.itiswritten.com/discover/
Or Send Request for Bible Studies to Fred Gibbs at:
fggibbs@aBible.com
