Today is day nine of the #iheartBible challenge that I’m hosting. If you have joined up, hooray! I’m glad you’re here. If you want to join up, then awesomesauce! Check out the challenge post for details and join in on the linky so we can all read one another’s posts during the challenge. I love Jesus and blogging, so I’m glad to see people joining in. We’d love to have you join, too.
Today’s verse is Philippians 4.7. Read it below in its context (Why do I care about context?):
4 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 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. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 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.”
I’m excited to see that this verse is actually found in the context of a story. I’m not sure I realized that before. So, after a bunch of important people asked Peter by what means the crippled man had been healed, Peter answered by the power of the Holy Spirit.
I find that to be the important part of this story: that Peter reacted to the line of questioning while filled with the Holy Spirit. I firmly believe that the Gospel is always shared by the power of the Holy Spirit. In this case, Peter is able to use the miracle God performed for the crippled man as a tool to share The Gospel–to share who Jesus is.
The situation also makes me kind of chuckle. The important people were part of the movement to crucify Jesus. Now, here comes this uneducated man telling them that the man who they murdered was behind the miracle in question.
Bam!
To top it off, Peter tells them that Jesus, the man they murdered, is the only way by which we can be saved.
Wait.
Are you saying that there’s only one way to Heaven?
Yes.
What does it mean to be saved?
Well, we are all born in a freefall to Hell because we all are born by sinners into a sinful world. Jesus saves us from Hell if we believe in Him.
Straight up. There’s no way to Heaven but via faith in Jesus.
Chew on that.
Believe in Jesus.
Love,
