There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12
What do you think of when you hear the word "salvation?" We don't often use that word, but a basic definition is preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin or loss. In Christianity, it is deliverance from the consequences of sin, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. This concept of salvation is important because it helps us understand that we were headed towards destruction, but God intervened in our situation. He saved us through sending Jesus to die in our place.
This concept of salvation was one that the early church held tightly to when it started. In Acts 4, we find Peter and John were put on trial because they healed a man who had been unable to walk since birth. When they stood before the Sanhedrin, they make the case that salvation was found in no one else. Jesus is the name through which we are saved. This is the first message that was shared in front of the Jewish leaders who believed that the only way to God was through obedience to the commandments. Peter was sharing that doing good things was not enough to go to heaven, but that it was possible through believing in Jesus. From there in the New Testament, the word salvation is used over 50 times to point to the work that Jesus did on the cross.
When we put on the Helmet of Salvation, we are reminding ourselves of the work that Jesus did to save us. We begin to appreciate what we were saved from. Each of us was destined to live a life away from God in isolation. There would be no peace or reflection of God's glory, but instead an eternity of pain and torment. This is the consequence every human owes on account of his or her sin. God is Holy, meaning He is perfect and without sin, so He can't be in the presence of our mistakes. Jesus death on the cross and His blood covers over all of our sins making us righteous. He made it possible for us to be saved. Salvation is found in no one else.
So what is the application of this message that was proclaimed by Peter? If salvation is found only in Jesus, we need to be compelled to share that message with others. We have to share Jesus as the one way that our sins can be forgiven. When we put on this Helmet of Salvation, it should give us eyes to see a hurting world that needs the grace that Jesus offers. Who can you share Jesus with today?
You probably know where this is going even before I start writing some next steps for you. The challenge is that you would share Jesus with someone else today. Why don't you take some time right now to pray and ask God to put someone in your life that you might be able to share with. Say something like, "God, I have a passion to make You known. I know that You are the only path to salvation. Give me the courage and put people in my path today that I can share You with." An easy step to take is to invite them to church with you this weekend.
While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning. But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000.
The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,
‘The stone that you builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.’
There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.
