No Other Name

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  Acts 4:12

The Apostles Peter and John were in Jerusalem preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and His resurrection.  The priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, who didn’t believe in a bodily resurrection, were grieved that Peter and John were teaching the people about Christ and the fact that He arose from the dead.  They had just witnessed the healing of a crippled man, thus they couldn’t deny that a miracle had taken place.  Instead of being happy that a man could now walk on his own, they were offended and angry and arrested the two apostles placing them in a holding cell until the next day.  But, as God would have it, many of those who had been hearing the gospel believed on Christ, five thousand of them!  No wonder the leaders who hated Christ were upset.

The next morning, Peter and John were brought before the rulers who asked them by what power, or by what name, were they teaching this message.  Peter, not one to be a wallflower, spoke clearly and, as one of my former pastors used to say, without hesitation or reservation, that the man made whole was healed by the power of the very One whom they had crucified and whom God had raised from the dead, Jesus Christ.  The One whom the leaders had treated as nothing was actually the Head of them all, the rejected Stone had become the Cornerstone (Acts 4:11).

Peter then states the truth of all truths: “…there is no salvation in any other name under heaven other than Jesus Christ” (paraphrased).  There are no “ifs”, “ands”, or “buts” about it.  It is “clear as a bell”.  It couldn’t be any clearer.  Any other name, whether of a person, church, or thing, tangible or intangible, of which man attempts to add to or substitute for God’s only way of salvation, is a lie.  Jesus said in John 14:6: “I Am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by Me.”  I would like to give a word of testimony.  I love my Bible, the living, breathing, edifying, encouraging, hopeful, pure, and profound Word of God.  Hebrews 4:12 states it succinctly: “For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”.  The Bible is God’s written love letter to mankind.  Within its pages are the solutions to every man’s situation, problems, worries, and needs.  No other words can comfort like the words of scripture.

Peter declared boldly that day before a multitude of sinners that the only way to find salvation and to be made right before a holy, sovereign God was in God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  I don’t know how much plainer it can be made.  If there were any other path or way to heaven, then why on earth did Jesus have to suffer and die like He did?  Why would a holy and loving God send His only Son to suffer persecution and a cruel, demeaning, horrific death on the cross of Calvary if God had another plan?  Thank God for Jesus and for the truth of God’s Word.