Bold Faith By: Arthur Jackson
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Click here for the Audio Message
Salvation is found in no one else.
Acts 4:12
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 4:8–13
After Prem Pradhan’s (1924–1998) plane was shot down during World War II, he was wounded while parachuting to safety. As a result, he walked with a limp for the rest of his life. He once noted, “I have a lame leg. Isn’t it strange of God that He called [me] to preach the gospel in the Himalaya Mountains?” And preach in Nepal he did—but not without opposition that included imprisonment in “dungeons of death” where prisoners faced extreme conditions. In a span of fifteen years, Prem spent ten years in fourteen different prisons. His bold witness, however, bore the fruit of changed lives for Christ that included guards and prisoners who took the message of Jesus to their own people.
The apostle Peter faced opposition due to his faith in Jesus and for being used by God to heal a “man who was lame” (Acts 4:9). But he used the opportunity to boldly speak for Christ (vv. 8–13).
Today, like Peter, we too may face opposition (v. 3), yet we have family members, co-workers, fellow students, and others we know who desperately need to hear about the One in whom “salvation is found” (v. 12), who died as payment for our sins and was raised from the dead as proof of His power to forgive (v. 10). May they hear as we prayerfully and boldly proclaim this good news of salvation found in Jesus.
Reflect & Pray
How will you boldly share Jesus today? What keeps you from telling others about Him? How can you be better prepared to do so?
Father, thank You for what You’ve done for me. Help me, in Jesus’ name, to boldly share my faith with others.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The word translated “unschooled” in Acts 4:13 is unique in the New Testament and is used only in this verse. In the original language, the word means “without letters, illiterate, without learning.” Peter and John were perceived by the religious leaders as being “unversed in the learning of the Jewish schools” (Greek dictionary). They were also referred to as “ordinary men,” a reference to a private person, one without the kind of knowledge or education that would be useful in the public square. In the minds of the religious elite, the apostles were “regular Joes.” But what they did possess—the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (v. 8)—more than compensated for their lack of formal religious training or sophistication. The Spirit continues to fill and embolden believers in Jesus today to proclaim His death and resurrection—even to those who reject Him (v. 11).
Acts 4:8-13
King James Version
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,
9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
https://dzxuyknqkmi1e.cloudfront.net/odb/2021/11/odb-11-27-21.mp3
Click here for the Audio Message
Salvation is found in no one else.
Acts 4:12
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 4:8–13
After Prem Pradhan’s (1924–1998) plane was shot down during World War II, he was wounded while parachuting to safety. As a result, he walked with a limp for the rest of his life. He once noted, “I have a lame leg. Isn’t it strange of God that He called [me] to preach the gospel in the Himalaya Mountains?” And preach in Nepal he did—but not without opposition that included imprisonment in “dungeons of death” where prisoners faced extreme conditions. In a span of fifteen years, Prem spent ten years in fourteen different prisons. His bold witness, however, bore the fruit of changed lives for Christ that included guards and prisoners who took the message of Jesus to their own people.
The apostle Peter faced opposition due to his faith in Jesus and for being used by God to heal a “man who was lame” (Acts 4:9). But he used the opportunity to boldly speak for Christ (vv. 8–13).
Today, like Peter, we too may face opposition (v. 3), yet we have family members, co-workers, fellow students, and others we know who desperately need to hear about the One in whom “salvation is found” (v. 12), who died as payment for our sins and was raised from the dead as proof of His power to forgive (v. 10). May they hear as we prayerfully and boldly proclaim this good news of salvation found in Jesus.
Reflect & Pray
How will you boldly share Jesus today? What keeps you from telling others about Him? How can you be better prepared to do so?
Father, thank You for what You’ve done for me. Help me, in Jesus’ name, to boldly share my faith with others.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The word translated “unschooled” in Acts 4:13 is unique in the New Testament and is used only in this verse. In the original language, the word means “without letters, illiterate, without learning.” Peter and John were perceived by the religious leaders as being “unversed in the learning of the Jewish schools” (Greek dictionary). They were also referred to as “ordinary men,” a reference to a private person, one without the kind of knowledge or education that would be useful in the public square. In the minds of the religious elite, the apostles were “regular Joes.” But what they did possess—the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (v. 8)—more than compensated for their lack of formal religious training or sophistication. The Spirit continues to fill and embolden believers in Jesus today to proclaim His death and resurrection—even to those who reject Him (v. 11).
Acts 4:8-13
King James Version
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,
9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
