LESSON 12
THE
BOOK OF ACTS
THE
MESSAGE OF SALVATION IN ACTS
INTRODUCTION
In our study of Acts we have learned that a
major reason for Luke's writing to Theophilus (Acts 1:1) was demonstrate
how the Gospel which began with the life, death and resurrection of
Jesus spread from Jerusalem through Judea and Samaria, to the end of the
world, or in this case, Rome.
We remember that Jesus told his Apostles that they were to be his
witnesses throughout the world as they spread the Gospel message.
We have followed them, beginning with Peter as he first preached to the
Jews in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17-42), and then to
the Gentiles (Cornelius and his house, Acts 10 and 11). Then we
followed Paul on three great missionary journeys (Acts
13-21).
We learned how Paul and Barnabas had to go to Jerusalem to defend the
Gospel they preached tot eh Gentiles, and that at the conclusion of the
great Jerusalem church meeting it was agreed that the same Gospel
message would apply to both Jew and gentile (which had been Paul's
contention all along and what he had defended in the Galatian letter).
In other
words, we followed the Apostles and others and learned three
great lessons from the Book of Acts
(the book of the practice or action of the church or
Apostles):
|
1. |
What The Apostles Did |
|
2. |
What They Said or
Preached |
|
3. |
What The People Did in
Response |
1.
What The Apostles Did
In response to Jesus' commission (Matt 28:19,20, Mk 16:15,16, Acts
1:6-8) the Apostles went everywhere preaching the Gospel message of
salvation, confirming the Word they preached with miraculous signs.
2. What They
Said or Preached
The Apostles preached that Jesus had been crucified
for their sins according to God's plan of salvation,
that God had raised
Jesus from the dead,
that Jesus
would return to judge the world in righteousness.
When people believed
this message (or believed in Jesus) and asked what they should do they
were told to repent
and be baptized
in the name of Jesus
for the forgiveness
of their sins.
3. What The People
Did In Response
| Note
particularly the following Scriptures in Acts: |
 |
|
2:37-38 |
Now when
they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter
and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we
do?" 38 And Peter said to them, "Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in
the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness
of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit..." |
|
8:35-38 |
Then
Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he
told him the good news of Jesus. 36
And as they went along the road they came to some water,
and the eunuch said, "See, here is
water! What is to prevent my being baptized?" 38
And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both
went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he
baptized him. |
|
9:17-18 |
"Brother
Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which
you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be
filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 And immediately
something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his
sight. Then he rose and was baptized,.. |
|
22:1-16 |
‘Brother
Saul, receive your sight.’ And in that very hour I received my
sight and saw him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our
fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Just One and
to hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for you will be a
witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16
And now why do you wait? Rise and be
baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’ |
|
10:47-48 |
"Can
any one forbid water for baptizing these
people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we
have?" 48 And he commanded
them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. |
|
18:8 |
Crispus,
the ruler of the synagogue, believed in
the Lord, together with all his
household; and many of the
Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. |
|
19:3-5 |
And he
said, "Into what then were you
baptized?" They said, "Into
John’s baptism." 4 And Paul said,
"John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling
the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that
is, Jesus." 5 On hearing this, they
were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. |
|
|
|
SUMMARY
AND THEOLOGICAL COMMENT
1. Peter, Paul, and the other evangelists in Acts preached the
same message to both Jews and Gentiles.
2. Paul vigorously defended the Gospel he preached.
3. Paul's message to both Jews and Gentiles was that they could be
saved only by the
Grace of God through their faith in Jesus.
Paul's emphasis was made in light of some Jewish Christians insistence
that Gentile converts had to be circumcised and keep the law of
Moses. Paul argues his point at length in both of his letters to
the Galatians and Romans.
3. It is obvious from Paul's unbending insistence, and Peter's
agreement, that one is saved by grace through faith and not by works,
and their teaching that both Jews and Gentiles needed to believe in
Jesus, repent, and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins and to be
united with Christ (Rom 6:1-9, Gal 3:27, 28) that repentance and baptism
were considered by Paul and Peter not works which we do, but faith or
trusting in the gracious working of God (Col 2:12 "and you were
buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through
faith in the working of God,
who raised him from the dead.")
4. In Acts,
in which Luke records what
the Apostles did in
response to Jesus' commission, what
they preached, and what
people did in response
to the Apostolic preaching, salvation
was:
|
i. |
By Grace through Faith
in Jesus |
|
ii |
Based on the Death,
Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus |
|
iii |
Through Faith in
Jesus, and what God was doing in Jesus |
|
iv |
Through Repentance and
Baptism for the Forgiveness of Sins |
|
v |
Through Baptism in the
Name of Jesus |
|
vii |
The Same for Jews and
Gentiles |
| A
PERSONAL INVITATION! |
|
Have
you been saved by Jesus?
Whether you believe in Jesus and what God is working through Jesus
death, burial and resurrection is a choice you make for yourself.
No-one will force you, or can force you, to trust in God's wonderful
saving grace in Jesus.
You choose whether you will submit to God's gracious salvation through
faith in Jesus.
You can choose to be baptized by faith and trusting in God's working
salvation for you, or you can choose to deny what God. the Holy Spirit,
and Luke have been teaching in this wonderful book of Acts, the practice
of the church in the 1st cent.
Do you really believe in Jesus and what God was and is doing in Jesus?
Would you like to be baptized as people were baptized in Acts, by immersion,
based on your own personal faith in Jesus and God's saving work in
Jesus, for the forgiveness of sins, and in order to be truly united with
Jesus Christ?
If
you need to, please contact us
by e-mail and we will do all we can to help you express your faith in
God's saving grace.
May God bless you
in your decision to trust in Him and follow his teachings for salvation.
Summary and
Discussion:
1) Summarize the core message of the Apostolic preaching?
What was it that the
preached to both Jew and Gentile alike?
2) What did the Apostles and apostolic preachers tell the hearers
who believed their
message to do?
3) What were the hearers to believe?
4) How does repentance relate to what they heard and believed?
5) How does baptism fit into this picture? Why were the
believers baptized? Refer to
Acts 2:38, 22:16 for answers to this question?
6) How was baptism conducted or experienced? Relate this to
Rom 6:1-11.
7) How did the message and requirements for salvation differ for
Jews and Gentiles?
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