SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/1/2017 8:00 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: Intro
to Acts 2:37-41
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 2:37-41
Message of the verses: “37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" 38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." 40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!" 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.”
I have to believe that it is every preacher of the
gospel’s dream to hear the question that the people asked Peter after his
sermon which is “What shall we do” and the implication is what shall we do to
be saved?” If one gives a wrong answer
to this question then it makes all the difference in this world and in the next
world. I have to say that a lifelong
friend of mine was talking to me back in 2014 about when his mother died, and
he said that his mother was afraid of what lies ahead after death. He told her not to worry about it for she
would end up in heaven. Now I have to
say that I am, and never will be anyone’s judge, but in my opinion this was the
wrong answer that he gave to his mother.
One has to have hope, hope being a noun and not a verb when one is near
death, the hope that is promised to those who realize that they are sinners and
have repented of being a sinner, that is agreeing with God, and the trusting
that when Jesus Christ did on the cross is all that is needed to have your sins
paid for in order to have eternal life which is something that Peter talks
about in this short section of Acts chapter two.
There are some who will give a different answer to this question as mentioned in my story above, for example the “legalist” will argue that you can only be saved by good works. James 2:21 says “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?” Of course the answer to that question is that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Abraham believed what he knew to be true about God, thus God saved him, and when Jesus died on the cross He paid for Abraham’s sin. As to why Abraham offered up Isaac on the altar, he did it to be obedient to what God called him to do which is evidence of his faith in God. Works come after salvation “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph. 2:10).”
Now a moralist will take a slightly different view in
that if his good works out weigh his bad works then he will be able to get into
heaven. Paul writes in Romans 3:10b-11 “"THERE
IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS
NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD.”
There are certain Jews who believe that they will get
into heaven because of the fact that they are God’s chosen people, and they are
not the only ones who believe this lie as there are certain cults who believe
that just because they belong to a certain organization they will get to
heaven. Some also believe that because
their parents are believers that make them believers, but God has no
grand-children, only children.
John MacArthur concludes his introduction to this section
by writing “Unlike the purveyors of false teaching, Peter gives the correct
answer to the question of how to be saved.
He wraps up his sermon with an appeal to his listeners. The passage then concludes by giving the
results of Peter’s sermon.” We will take
a few days looking at “The Appeal” and then we will take a day to look at “The
Results.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I am thankful that
the Lord opened my eyes and gave me the correct answer to the question that I
had asked many years ago, that is how can I get into heaven.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Trust that the Lord will allow me to
answer that question to many people.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “In Bethlehem of Judea” (Luke
2:3).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who said, ‘Your faith has
saved you; go in peace’?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/1/2017 8:38 AM
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