Neither Is There Salvation In Any Other

Q: What does the Bible say about salvation?

The Bible teaches that there is salvation only in Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 clearly states, 'Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.' This affirms the exclusive nature of salvation in Christ, as He is the only mediator between God and man. This doctrine is vital in sacred theology as it underscores the uniqueness of Christ's redemptive work and His role as the perfect sacrifice for sin.

Q: How do we know Jesus is the only way to salvation?

Jesus Himself claimed to be the only way to God. In John 14:6, Jesus declares, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.' This statement is foundational to the Christian faith, emphasizing that salvation is not through our works or righteousness but solely through faith in Jesus Christ. The preaching of the apostles, as seen in Acts 4, reinforces this doctrine, as Peter boldly asserts that salvation is found only in the name of Jesus.

Q: Why is the resurrection of Jesus important for Christians?

The resurrection is central to the Christian faith as it assures believers of their future resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is a cornerstone of Christian belief. Without it, our faith would be in vain (1 Corinthians 15:14). Acts 4:10 highlights that Jesus was 'raised from the dead,' a pivotal event that not only certifies His divinity but also guarantees the resurrection of believers. As Christians, we find hope in the promise that because Christ lives, we too will live, and we will be raised to eternal life with Him.

Q: Can anyone be saved according to the Bible?

Yes, the Bible teaches that salvation is available to all who believe in Jesus. The Gospel calls all people to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. Romans 10:13 states, 'For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' This doctrine emphasizes the universal invitation of the Gospel. However, it is essential to recognize that true belief must include repentance and acknowledgment of Christ's lordship, as demonstrated in Acts 4, where the apostles preached salvation through Jesus to those who were guilty of His crucifixion.

Let's look together in Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4 is very much a continuation from Acts chapter 3, which we read a couple minutes ago. I just want to say I'm really thankful to have the opportunity to share this message with each of you. It's a blessing beyond blessings to be able to share this with you, to share this gospel with you.

And my prayer has been and continues that the Lord would enable you to hear But not just to hear, and the prayer for me as well, not just to hear this word, but to believe. We've been hearing in the Sunday school classes from Brother Streeter on faith. Faith without works is dead, right? And we need to know God's word, but we need to believe God. I need to believe God. May he enable me to believe him today. enable you to believe Him. Notice here, Acts chapter 4, beginning with verse number 1.

Speaking of Peter and John, and as they spake unto the people, the priest and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in hold until the next day, for it was now eventide. Howbeit, many of them which heard the word believed, and the number of the men was about five thousand. And it came to pass on the morrow that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were the kindred of the high priests, were gathered together at Jerusalem.

And when they had set Peter and John in the midst, they asked, by what power or by what name have you done this? That is, what? Have you healed this lame man? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, You rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day are examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all.

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, even by him does this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at not of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. And notice this verse, neither is there salvation in any other. For there's none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

You know, as we read these verses, as we just read, you see that the hatred for the Lord Jesus Christ did not go away with these people after the crucifixion. After they had put him to death, they didn't stop hating the Lord Jesus. No, they continued to hate them. And they hated Peter and John also. Not because of anything which Peter and John themselves had personally done or not done, not so much even for the healing of this lame man, but because they testified that they did this through the power and name of a risen Lord. the risen Lord Jesus Christ, and so therefore they hated them.

And these verses were told the priest and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees and the rulers and the elders and the scribes and the priest and the relatives of the high priest, they were all grieved. You know that word grieve, we generally use that in the worst of sorrows, right, in the worst of pain. They were greatly troubled, greatly worried, greatly worried. Why?

Well, first of all, because Peter and John healed the lame man that sat at the gate, beautiful, at the temple in Jerusalem, this man that was asking for alms. Peter and John had healed him and had healed him in the power of the risen Savior. And they confessed, they confessed, look, why are you looking at us? They all ran to them. And they said, why are you looking at us? We didn't do this in our own power. Don't look at us as though we did this by our power. This is done through the power of the risen Savior. That's why this man stands before you all. The risen Savior.

They were greatly grieved because of that. And they were particularly grieved that they preached through Jesus Christ of Nazareth the resurrection from the dead. That troubled them, it grieved them, that they preached through Jesus Christ of Nazareth the resurrection from the dead. Believer, doesn't the thought of the resurrection of the dead, it just rejoices your heart, doesn't it?

To think of believers that we've known in time past that have passed and gone on to be with the Lord that one day with a shout, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to descend from heaven. And with that shout, those who have died in Christ are going to be raised. And their bodies will be reunited with their spirits, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." That rejoices our hearts, doesn't it, the thing of the resurrection? Oh, but for these here, it grieved them. It grieved them to think of the resurrection. First of all, that the Lord Jesus was raised. That was greatly troubling. Look at verse 10 again, if you would.

This was the message, be it known unto you all 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, even by him that this man stand here before you whole. Believers, the gospel hinges It all hinges on the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead. The only kind of Savior that can help us is a living Savior. What can a dead Savior do for us? Nothing. We need a Savior who ever liveth to make intercession for us, who's even at the right hand of God making intercession for us this morning.

But that grieved them. Why did it grieve them so much? Because it was clear proof that that one who they had crucified, the one who had testified of himself, Jesus said that he was the Son of God. And they said, no, we don't believe that. We won't have this man rule over us. And so they crucified him. But if he be risen, Then they were guilty of that horrible sin, of crucifying the Prince of Life, as we're told in these verses.

But it also grieved them that they preached the resurrection of the Lord's people also. Not just the resurrection of the Lord, but the resurrection of His people. Notice in verse 2, you notice they were grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. Aren't you thankful that there is a gospel and there is a hope of a resurrection from the dead? There's life after this life. A glorious life, an everlasting life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice verse number five through seven again. And it came to pass on the morrow that the rulers and elders and scribes and Annas the high priest and Cephas and John and Alexander and as many as were the kindred of the high priest were gathered together at Jerusalem.

And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, by what power or by what name have you done this? Doesn't this scene here, doesn't it seem very familiar to you? It was just very recently to this time when there had been another mock trial where the Lord Jesus Christ had been brought before this same group of leaders and they sought for some to falsely accuse him and even Recruiting those to accuse him, they couldn't make their accusations match up. Why? Because he had lived a perfect life and there was nothing he could be accused of. But this scene is very, very familiar.

And you'll remember at that time, you remember what the Apostle Peter had done. The Lord told him he was going to do this. The Lord told him, Peter, you're going to deny me. You're going to deny me thrice. Peter, Lord, I'll never deny you. I'll go to the death, and I won't deny you."

Well, we all know how that turned out, didn't we? The Lord was right. Peter was going to deny him, and he did. When they said, this man here, he's been with him. His speech betrays him. Peter denied the Lord Jesus even with curses. He swore that he did not know this man.

So what's going to happen this time? That's how Peter acted when he wasn't even on trial. Right? It was the Lord Jesus that was in this fake trial. He was falsely accused. But Peter, he denied the Lord. He ran. What will he do this time when he's confronted? And remember this. Peter knew this.

The enemies of the risen Christ, they not only wanted the Lord Jesus dead, they wanted Peter and John dead as well, and all the rest of the disciples. They wanted all of them dead as well. Why? Why would they want them dead? Let me give you just a couple of reasons here. First of all, because they had been eyewitnesses.

Peter and John, they had been eyewitnesses. of the perfect, immaculate life of the Lord Jesus Christ. They had walked with him day and night for three years and had seen firsthand that this one was not like any other one, that he was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. They had seen, they had seen that in the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, scripture says that the law came by Moses. We thank God for the giving of the law, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And they had seen, they had walked with the Lord and seen that firsthand, that grace and truth came by him every moment of his life.

They had seen his compassion. Read the Gospels. Can we even begin to rejoice as we should when we see the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ? The Lord was not indifferent towards sinners. He did not live his life indifferent towards sinners. He did not look at sinners with indifference or contempt. The scripture says he was moved. He was moved with compassion. Wouldn't you like to be moved with compassion? Oh, but I'm not full of grace and truth. I'm not full of grace and truth. The Lord was. See, he was moved. He was moved when he compassioned.

He saw the people, he saw them as sheep without a shepherd. And there's only one way that sheep without a shepherd are going to end. They're going to end in a bad place. Right? And the Lord had compassion. The scripture says, they were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Secondly, they had seen that he was tender. The Lord Jesus was tender towards the brokenhearted. I, uh, I grieve often that my heart is just so hard. That wasn't the case with the Lord Jesus. He was tender towards the brokenhearted. So tender that he's presented as one who wouldn't even, if there was just a little bit of smoke and a flax, that he would not extinguish it. Such a tender Savior.

They had seen firsthand. And they had seen how gentle he was with repenting sinners. that he was the friend, as Brother Streeter said earlier, he was the friend of publicans and sinners. They had seen, and when they asked, Lord, shall we cause the hell and fire to come down and consume these people? The Lord said, you don't know what spirit you're of, do you?

The Lord, he was kind and tender and gentle, and yet, in this is so different than any believer can be. Yet his compassion never compromised his holiness. Our compassion, we might want to be tender maybe or compassionate, we have a tendency to overlook sin.

The Lord Jesus did not overlook sin. He called sin what it was. And he commanded repentance. And he warned the judgment. You see, he was full of grace and truth. And they had witnessed this. I want to try to not turn to several passages, but I feel inclined to have us look at this passage. Look over with me at Mark chapter 8. I want you to see this. The Lord Jesus Christ, His compassion never compromised His holiness, and He always preached faith and repentance. Mark chapter 8 and verse number 27.

Scripture says, And Jesus went out and his disciples into the towns of Caesarea Philippi. And by the way, he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Who do men say that I am? And they answered, John the Baptist. Some say it lies, and others that you're one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But who do you say that I am? Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

And he charged them that they should tell no man of him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and of the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, imagine, Peter took him and began to rebuke him. Here's one of his darling disciples. Began to rebuke the Lord. But when he had turned about, when the Lord turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter saying, get thee behind me, Satan.

For thou savest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. Don't you know that was a dagger through the heart of Peter? Not that Peter was Satan, but what he was calling for, that the Lord not go to the cross. That's something that Satan would want. Why? Because he had to go to the cross. The way of salvation was through the cross. Now notice verse 34. And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, let us hear our Lord's words. Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words. In this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his father with his holy angels.

You see the Lord We call him the Lord Jesus Christ for a reason, because he is the Lord. He's the master. He told his disciples, you call me Lord, and you say well. The Lord Jesus, he never compromised. He preached faith and repentance, didn't he? We must deny ourselves and follow him. Follow him. I need to move forward here, Acts chapter 4.

Secondly, they had witnessed firsthand the multitude of miracles that the Lord Jesus had wrought. And I'm going to be brief on these points because I want to get through towards the end of the message. But they had seen the Lord Jesus Christ heal the blind, unstop the tongue of the dumb, open the ears of the deaf.

They'd seen him raise the dead, and nobody could deny that those things had happened. And they had seen it firsthand. They were personal friends of the Lord Jesus Christ and so you know they had a vendetta against him because they were there when the Lord called them a bunch of vipers and snakes and hypocrites. You know, we're guilty by association, right? They hated them because they hated their Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Not only had they been witnesses of his perfect life, his triumph and death, but they'd also seen on multiple occasions the risen Lord. You see, for 40 days, I think a lot of people, they don't realize this or see this in the scripture, that for 40 days after the Lord Jesus came forth out of the grave, he appeared to many, and he appeared to these disciples on multiple occasions. They had seen him. They had seen the risen Lord.

Surely they wanted them dead. Peter had experienced the amazing grace and forgiveness of the tender shepherd. Who better to feed, to take care of, to tend to fallen sheep than a fallen shepherd? You know, Peter, he fell, yes, but everybody he witnessed to had fallen also and would continue to fall. You see the Lord's grace, Peter, feed my sheep. Peter, I even trust my lambs to you. Feed my lambs.

They were witnesses of his life, death, resurrection, and they had been eyewitnesses of the Lord Jesus, not only rising, but they saw him ascend back to heaven. They had seen him come out of the grave, and they had seen him ascend back to the throne of God, to the right hand of the Father. And at that time, he was there as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and they were guilty. They were guilty of crucifying him.

And yes, the Lord's enemies, they had every reason to want Peter and John dead. Every reason. And yet this time, what happens? Is Peter going to deny the Lord? Is John going to deny the Lord? And run? Absolutely not. Now you notice they roar like a lion. What's the difference? It's the Holy Spirit. It's the comforter. The comforter that the Lord Jesus said that he would send. Right? It's the comforter who the Holy Spirit gave them power. to stand and to confess boldly. Notice what they say in verse number seven. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, by what power, by what name have you done this?

Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, you rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day are examined of the good deed done to the impotent man by what means he's made whole, be it known unto you all 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, even by him, that this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was said it not of you builders, which has become the head of the corner.

Neither is there salvation in any other. For there's none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. What a difference. I swear I don't know this man. Now, neither is there salvation in any other. Filled with the Holy Ghost, filled with the Holy Spirit, not of any power in Peter or John. And if we're ever able to give a good witness, it's not going to be because of us. It'll be because the Holy Spirit gives us his grace and mercy to be able to maybe witness or share the gospel with somebody else.

None, think of that verse number 12, what if it ended with the word any? What if it just said, neither is there salvation in any? Wouldn't that be horrible? Neither is there salvation in any. Whether we know it or not, we have sinned against a holy and a righteous God, who will by no means clear the guilty. That is his words. He will by no means clear the guilty. We've sinned against a holy and righteous God.

We need a savior, in other words. But what if it said, neither is there salvation in any? We wouldn't be here today, would we? We'd be off doing something else. Why? Because there would be no hope for us. But that's not what it says. It says, neither is there salvation in any other. There is salvation in one, just not in any other.

You see, Peter preaches here what he learned from the Lord Jesus Christ. All he did was preach what he had heard the Lord say. The Lord had said, I am the way. I am the truth, and I am the life. Oh, that we would hear this. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. When Peter said, neither is there salvation in any other, he was just repeating what the Lord had said. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.

He heard the Lord tell those Jews who sought to kill him because he had said that God was his father. And when he did that, they knew he was making himself equal with God. He was saying he was the son of God, the eternal son of God. He heard the Lord say to them, he said, search the scriptures, search them.

For in them, you think you have eternal life. But they are they which testify of me. And you will not come to me that you might have life. You will not come to me. My friends, if any of us leave this world in the lost state, we will hear these words. We will hear these words confessed unto us. You will not come to me that you might have life. You know, the enemies of the gospel, they accuse believers of bigotry. The enemies of Christians of the gospel, they accuse Christians of bigotry because we believe I believe this. Believer, I know you believe this. We believe that when the Lord Jesus Christ said that He is the only way, that as the Son of God, He was telling the truth. He is the only way to the Father. He's not a good way, a way. He's the only way.

Neither is there salvation in any other. But you know, nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing could be further from the truth when a Christian is accused of bigotry. The truth is that no one cares for the souls of all. No one cares for the souls of all men, women, boys and girls, more than a believer.

We know that if we have come to the Lord Jesus, it's only by his mercy and grace, and we want that for everybody. For everybody. The believer's desire is that all might be saved. Just as Paul said about his countrymen. He said, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is what? That they might be saved. Paul didn't say my heart's prayer and desire is that only the elect would be saved. He knew that that would be the case, but his heart burned. His desire was that they would all be saved. And as a believer, don't you long for all to be saved?

And we should. We should. But we have to confess that we see a lot of religious, zealous, very zealous people, more zealous than me for what they believe, but not according to knowledge. They're going about to establish their own righteousness as though by something that they could do or not do that they could make themselves righteous before God. But that's not according to knowledge. They can be very zealous and better human beings by far than me. But apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, they will all be filthy rags in the sight of God. Because even our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in the sight of God.

Our very best. There's enough in this message to damn me to hell forever. There's only one. There's only one who could say at the end of his life, for I always, for I do always those things that please him. Can you imagine even, it's hard to even think the thought, right? Much less that we would confess, well, I do always those things that please God. No, you don't. And neither does anybody else, but one. You see, that's why there's only salvation in one. There's only one that lived a perfect life. Who could say that? There's only one blood that can remove sin. And that's the blood, the life that the Lord Jesus Christ gave.

If you don't get anything else, from reading the Old Testament, make sure that you get this, that for a sacrifice to be accepted, it had to be without blemish and without spot. People have this misgiving that somehow they're going to atone for their sins. You know, they're going to do enough good and say enough prayer or whatever it might be. There's all thousands of ways that people think somehow they're going to atone for their sins, but they're not. Because for the sacrifice to be accepted, it must be perfect.

And there was only one perfect sacrifice. That was the life that the Lord Jesus gave. And believers truly are not bigots. For if we were, we couldn't follow our Lord's commission. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel, what, to every creature. Every single one of them. Doesn't matter what their religion is today. Preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believeth in his baptist shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned. Peter here preaches salvation to those humanly responsible for the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is he the friend of sinners? Is the Lord Jesus the friend of sinners? Did you hear what I said? Peter here, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, preaches the gospel, salvation by grace, Through faith, to who? To those who were guilty of crucifying the prince of life. If we would be at peace with the holy and righteous and just God, the Lord Jesus said, he that believeth in his baptist shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned.

Paul and Silas told the Philippian jailer, He said, what shall I do to be saved? What shall I do? Have you ever been brought to that place and you see that you're not able, you're not able to save yourself, that you need a savior? Oh, what a blessed place to be brought to where you cry out to the Lord for salvation. They'd said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Our Lord said, remember the Jews asked Him, they said, what must, what should we do, what must we do that we might work the works of God? They wanted to do something, right? It's just in our human nature, we want to do something. Somehow we can do something to make us acceptable to God. There's nothing, there's nothing that we can do.

What did the Lord say? He said to them, He said, this is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent. Oh, the peace, the peace when God brings a sinner to the place where all that we can do is just call out for mercy, Lord. All I can do is trust you, trust your perfect life, trust your death that truly can atone for sin, that did atone for sin.

This is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, I pray that right now, as you're hearing the Gospel preached, that you can see the Son. Can you see Him this morning? The One who lived the perfect life, the One who died a death that really did put away sin, the One who rose again, the One who ascended to the Father, the One who rules over everything, so that He could guarantee that one day He will come again and raise all His people and a resurrected body to forever be with Him. Can you see Him? Then believe in Him. Believe. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Can you see Him? You say, oh yeah, I saw Him 20 years. I don't care what happened 20 years ago. Can we see Him this morning? Do we see him as the perfect Savior?

Then call upon him, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I urge you, I beseech you, as an ambassador of Christ, be you reconciled to God right now. You say, how? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. You say, was there something I need to do? Believe. You say, oh, that's too easy. Well, try it.

It's impossible. It's impossible by our nature for us to just totally just faint. Stop trying to do and just faint upon the capable saving arms of the Savior. It is impossible, unless the Father draws you. But if he draws you right now, then believe. Call upon the name of the Lord and you'll be saved. May the Lord make it so. Brother Bill, if you wouldn't, dismiss.

Neither Is There Salvation In Any Other

What does the Bible say about salvation?

How do we know Jesus is the only way to salvation?

Why is the resurrection of Jesus important for Christians?

Can anyone be saved according to the Bible?

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Neither Is There Salvation In Any Other

What does the Bible say about salvation?

How do we know Jesus is the only way to salvation?

Why is the resurrection of Jesus important for Christians?

Can anyone be saved according to the Bible?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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