"There is Only Salvation in Jesus Alone" Sermon: Acts 4:1-12

“There is Only Salvation in Jesus Alone”
[Acts 4:1-12]
July 26, 2009 Second Reformed Church

The lame man had been healed. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Peter and John had commanded the man to walk. The lame man believed and was given physical as well as spiritual healing. The people were amazed and thought that Peter and John had some sort of power themselves, but Peter explained that faith is a gift, salvation is a gift, and healing is a gift that is given by Jesus as He wills. They did not cause the lame man to receive the Gospel and be healed, and neither did the lame man.

Since they were in the temple, the priests who were on duty saw the miracle and the crowds gathering. The captain of the temple stood by. The Sadducees, who were a group of priests who were politically minded and denied the existence of a physical resurrection, joined them. And suddenly, with great force, which is the implication of the words in our text, they “came upon” Peter and John, being “greatly annoyed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.”

They had had enough: the were irked, they were angry, they were exhausted from holding back their displeasure, they were seething, vexed, indignant, and, finally, they exploded – “How dare they stir up the temple talking about the criminal, Jesus, Who we have just gotten rid of – they will not continue His blasphemes – and to teach that He rose from the dead – nonsense!”

They grabbed Peter and John and put them in prison because it was nearing evening, and it was against the law to hold a trial in the evening. (Though they had no problem trying Jesus through the night. Perhaps they thought Peter and John would realize who they were up against and promise to stop this foolishness if they had a night in prison.)

But the “damage,” as they saw it, had been done: the Holy Spirit was pleased to come upon many of those who heard Peter and John preach after the healing of the lame man, and about five thousand men came to faith and believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Again, understand there were likely women and children who believed in Jesus that day as well, but, culturally, the count was done of the men only.

We might think that with the arrest of Peter and John, few people would confess Jesus, but one of the major points that Luke makes in Acts, and a truth of history is that the Church and the Gospel flourish under persecution. It is when the Church is left alone, when it is accepted, that the Church dies off. Look at Europe – the home of the Reformation. The Gospel spread like wildfire and it was generally accepted, and as the generations passed, it was watered down, ignored, and dropped except in name. The United States is not far behind. Where is the Gospel flourishing today? Africa. China. Russia. Iran. Iraq. India. South America. Why? Because the government and others are trying to stamp it out.

Bruce Cockburn sings, “I’m wondering where the lions are.” And Larry Norman commented that if the spread of the Gospel requires persecution then “send the lions.” Christianity flourishes under persecution: when the seed of the Gospel is stamped down into the ground, it grows into a great tree. Don’t be afraid of persecution; be afraid if the Gospel is ignored and/or accepted as one of many truths.

In the morning, the rulers – of the temple, the Sanhedrin, the elders, the scribes – the guardians of the purity of the text and teaching of the Scripture, gathered together with Annas and Caiaphas and John and Alexander – all of the high priest’s family – we remember these characters from Jesus’ illegal night-long trial. And they set Peter and John in their midst – quite literally – the person being questioned would be in the middle and the rulers would be seated in a circle around them.

And they asked them, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” (The lame man, we find out, was there at their side, so we can picture the rulers pointing to the lame man as they asked the question.)

The rulers already knew the answer, they just wanted Peter and John to formalize their statement; they had been there when Peter and John explained that it was not they who healed the lame man, but Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

And Luke tells us that Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Understand, every Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit, in the sense that God the Holy Spirit lives in every Christian. What Luke is telling us here is that the Holy Spirit, in a special way, filled Peter, or gifted Peter, in that moment to be able to answer their question – not that he was filled with the Holy Spirit and then wasn’t and now was again. Christians receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit once, and He remains with us until we are received into glory. Yet, He gives us gifts as we need them to do the work that Christ has for us.

So Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, called them all to attention: “Rulers of the people and elders.” Then he said, “if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man was healed.” Now, there are two ways we can hear Peter saying this: he could merely be saying, “Since we are being examined today...,” but we may also read and hear what Peter says with a bit of sarcasm: “Are you asking us about this cripple? This one right here? You want to know how we healed this cripple that you threw is in jail for? Is that what you’re asking?”

After all, it was a ridiculous question: they knew the cripple, they had seen him healed, and they had heard the explanation of what had happened – in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. But they wanted it stated again – for the record, as it were, so they would have cause to leash out at them: “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

So he told them again – emphatically – “let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead – by him this man is standing before you well.” “Listen up! It is through Jesus the Savior, the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, of Nazareth – that hated no-good, backwater town – the Jesus that you crucified – you are guilty of His Blood – God raised this same Jesus from the dead, in His Body – the patriarchs and the prophets have confessed a bodily resurrection from the Creation – it is a promise of God – this same Jesus – healed this cripple in body and soul.”

We can feel the fury mounting in the rulers: “How dare he accuse us of killing this Jesus – the Romans put Him to death – it was their decision. And he is continuing to preach the resurrection of the dead!”

And then Peter references Psalm 118 – a psalm they would have known and sung – where it says, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22, ESV). “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” Peter accuses them of going against God in rejecting His Cornerstone. And we need to understand that this is not an ornamental cornerstone that some buildings have. What the text is referring to is a capstone – the stone which holds everything together – the stone without which the building would collapse. In a stone arch, the center stone at the peak of the arch is the capstone – it is the stone that holds all of the others in place. Paul wrote, “[the Church is] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:20-21, ESV). Jesus is the Cornerstone Who keeps the Church from falling into ruin. These men rejected God’s Savior – they rejected the Gospel of Salvation that God had planned from the foundation of the world. He wasn’t quite what they had in mind.

But Peter confessed: “And there is salvation in no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” There is Only Salvation in Jesus Alone. Peter had thrown down the gauntlet, as it were. Jesus Alone is the Only Salvation. Nothing less than Jesus will do; nothing more than Jesus will do.

There are many cults that like Jesus in one way or another – they just find the need to edit Him or add to Him to make Him and His Salvation palatable to them. The Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons love Jesus, but they just strike out the part about Him being God – the Only God, the Son. The Roman Catholic Church loves Jesus, but they say He didn’t do enough, so they add human works. Buddhists and Hindus love Jesus, but they say He is only One of many ways and many gods. In one way or another, almost every religion in the world is fine with Jesus, so long as we don’t say He’s the Only Way – that there is no other salvation except through Him Alone.

It’s not a small thing to say “Jesus and...” or “Jesus but....” The Galatians were adding good works as being necessary for salvation – “Jesus and...,” and this is what Paul wrote to them: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-9, ESV).

The word that Paul uses that is translated “accursed” is anathema, from which we get our English word, “anathema.” It literally means, “damned to Hell.” So Paul is literally saying, and notice that this is so serious that he repeats himself for emphasis: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be damned to Hell. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be damned to Hell” (Galatians 1:6-9, ESV).

Of course, we should not want anyone to be damned to Hell, and Paul didn’t either. The point is that distorting the Gospel of Jesus Christ in any way is so serious a sin that it will damn a person to Hell, and it would be better for one person to be damned to Hell than for him to lead others astray in his heresy – his false teaching.

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Jesus said the same thing: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, ESV). One Way. One Truth. One Life. Only through Jesus.

Christianity is an exclusive religion – it excludes every other way to be saved – it excludes every other way to become right with God. There is Only Salvation in Jesus Alone. We cannot be saved by anything less than Jesus, and we cannot be saved by Jesus plus something else. It is Jesus and Jesus Alone Who makes us right with the Father.

We need to remember that when we talk with others about Jesus.

“Oh, well, aren’t all religions pretty much the same? They say to do good works and love each other?”

Yes, that’s true – they only differ on issues of sin and death, God and humanity, salvation, Heaven, and Hell. Remember what Paul said – any other way than Jesus Alone is anathema – this is deadly – eternally – serious.

No other religion, no other method, can bring about salvation. None other can make us right with God. How many ways can we put it? Do you understand?

We are to love our neighbors, but if we love our neighbors and we know that they are heading down a path that will only lead to eternal suffering, ought we not tell them? Ought we not show them the Only Way that is found in Jesus?

Do we love our neighbors enough to tell them that we saw a robber with a gun sneak into their house? Do we love our neighbors enough to tell them that their house is on fire? Do we love our neighbors enough to tell them they are being robbed? Or that there is a mugger lurking nearby? If we say we would warn them about these things, how can we not love them enough to tell them that there is Only One Way to eternal salvation?

We’ve seen before, we will each tell our neighbors in different ways – by telling them outright, by inviting them to worship, by giving them a book or a tract or music – but if we care – if we love our neighbors – and we ought to – we will do something. What can you do this week? Who can you say something to? Who can you hand this morning’s bulletin to and say, “You should come to church some time”?

Peter and John were thrown in prison and then grilled by the rulers about how they healed the lame man. Satan will do everything he can to discourage us and to keep us from speaking the Name of Jesus and His Salvation. But Peter made it clear to them that they did not heal the lame man – they did not save him – that was the work of Jesus Christ of Nazareth Alone.

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Jesus Alone. Nothing less. And nothing more.

Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for sending us a Savior – One Who did the whole work of reconciling us to You by Himself. We thank You for making Him clear to us in the Scripture, and we thank You that we do not have to do anything to merit our Salvation. Keep us from being confused and from confusing others about Your Salvation. Let us tell of Jesus and His Salvation Alone. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.