PT-5 "The Appeal" (Acts 2:37-40)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/6/2017 6:50 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                 Focus:  PT-5 “The Appeal”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Acts 2:37-40

            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!"”

            In our last SD we were looking at reasons why baptismal regeneration is a false doctrine, and we looked at three reasons. Today we want to begin our SD by looking at the fourth and that is that “this interpretation is not true to the facts of Scripture.”  One of the things that false teachers try to do is to isolate a verse in Scripture that seems to go for the cause they want to promote and then not look at certain other Scriptures that teach the truth on the subject.  I am not saying that Scripture contradicts Scripture at all, for that would be a false statement as Scripture never goes against itself.  People who take verse 38 as a verse that describes baptismal regeneration have not dug into the true meaning of the verse or they would understand that it is not teaching this false doctrine.  Now as we look at different verses from the book of Acts we find that forgiveness is linked to repentance and not linked to baptism.  “"Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19).”  “"He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:31).”  “but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance (Acts 26:20).”  John MacArthur writes that “the Bible records that some who were baptized were not saved.”  “Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed (Acts 8:13).  “21 “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity’ (Acts 8:21-23).”

            The Bible also records that some were saved without the mention of baptism (Luke 7:37-50; Matthew 9:2; Luke 18:13-14).  Later we will study the conversion of Cornelius and his friends in Acts chapter ten and this will show us the relationship of baptism to salvation.  Baptism happened only after they were saved, as shown by their receiving the Holy Spirit, that they were baptized (Acts 10:44-48).  Peter did not allow them to be baptized until he recognized that they had received the Holy Spirit.  Now remember that this was the first Gentile convert to Christianity, and this was early in the church age and so that is why when someone was saved that they received the Holy Spirit the way it happened in Acts chapter two.  God was doing this to confirm they were true believers.

            John MacArthur writes “In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, the apostle Paul summarizes the gospel he preached and by which the Corinthians had been saved.  There is no mention of baptism.  Further, in 1 Corinthians except Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas.  That statement is inexplicable if baptism is necessary for salvation.  Paul would then in effect be saying he was thankful that only those few were saved under his ministry.  The apostle clearly distinguishes baptism from the gospel in 1 Corinthians 1:17, where he says that ‘Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.’  How could Paul have made such a statement if baptism was necessary for salvation?

            “While the preposition eis (‘for’) can mean ‘for the purpose of,’ it can also mean ‘because of,’ or ‘on the occasion of’ (A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament)

            “The order is clear.  Repentance is for forgiveness.  Baptism follows that forgiveness; it does not cause it (cf. 8:12, 34-39; 10:34-48; 16:31-33).  It is the public sign or symbol of what has taken place on the inside.  It is an important step of obedience for all believers, and should closely follow conversion.  In fact, in the early church it was inseparable from salvation, so that Paul referred to salvation as being related to ‘one Lord, faith, one baptism’ (Eph 4:5).”

            I hope that this rather long section that has included our last two Spiritual Diaries has cleared up anything that was unclear about what baptism is and when it is to happen in the life of a believer.  In many churches today after a person is saved they will then meet with the deacons of the church to go over exactly what has happened to them, making sure as best they can that there was genuine salvation that has taken place and then move onto the step of baptism.

            We will continue in our next SD with part six of “The Appeal.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “That God would deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt” (Exodus 3, 18-10).

Today’s Bible question:  “What word did Paul use to describe idols?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/6/2017 7:28 AM

PT-4 "The Appeal" (Acts 2:37-40)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/5/2017 7:43 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                    Focus:  PT-4 The Appeal

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 2:37-40

            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!"”

            We want to focus in on verse 38 this morning where Peter tells them “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”  There are some who teach that there is something they call baptismal regeneration, which is a false teaching that baptism is necessary for salvation, and when they read this verse they use it as a primary proof text to their view.

            We have spoken about baptism as a dramatic step for these first converts to Christianity as it showed that they were breaking away from Judaism, but physical baptism is not necessary for salvation, although it is one of the two elements of the Christian faith, with Communion, or the Lord’s Supper as the other one.  Water baptism is a picture of what happens to a believer when they are saved and perhaps the best place to see this truth is in the sixth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans.  In this case Peter was calling on them to prove the genuineness of their faith, and this was done through public baptism.  When Jesus spoke to the rich man in Luke 18:18-27 He wanted him to show the genuineness of his faith by selling his wealth to help the poor, but the man refused to do it, John MacArthur writes that “salvation is not a matter of either water or economics.  True repentance, however, will inevitably manifest itself in total submission to the Lord’s will.”  Now there are other reasons found in MacArthur’s commentary that show how the teaching of baptismal regeneration is wrong and this takes up a fair amount of his commentary on these verses and as I mentioned earlier that we will be looking at the subject of “The Appeal” for many days.

            Second is that this teaching “violates the important hermeneutical principle known as analogia Scriptura (the analogy of Scripture).  That principle states that no passage, when correctly interpreted, will teach something contradictory to the rest of the Scripture.  And the rest of Scripture unmistakably teaches that salvation is solely by faith (cf. John 1:12; 3:16; Acts 16:31; Rom. 3:21-30; 4:5; 10:9-10; Phil. 3:9; Gal. 2:16).”

            We will only look at one more reason why this teaching is wrong and then look at two more tomorrow.  “Third, after condemning the ritualistic religion of the scribes and Pharisees, our Lord would hardly have instituted one of His own.  F. F. Bruch remarks, ‘It is against the whole genius of Biblical religion to suppose that the outward rite [of baptism] and any value except in so far as it was accompanied by true repentance within.” 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “To treat is as holy.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What promise did God make to Moses at the burning bush?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/5/2017 8:14 AM

PT-3 "The Appeal" (Acts 2:37-40)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/4/2017 8:48 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                 Focus:  PT-3 “The Appeal”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 2:37-40

            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!"”

            Now that the people have come to the point of what we may call desperation as they were convicted of what they did wrong and did not know what to do they then asked Peter the question that every believer who has ever led someone to a saving knowledge in Jesus Christ wants to hear, and that is What shall we do and then Peter gives them the answer which is repent.  John MacArthur writes “Metanoeo (‘repent’) is a rich New Testament term.  It speaks of a change of purpose, of turning from sin to God (1 Thess. 1:9).  It is an essential component of a genuine conversion.  Both John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2) and the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 4:17) called for repentance.  It is a repeated theme in Acts (3:19; 5:31; 8:22; 11:18; 17:30; 20:21; 26:20).”

            John MacArthur quotes commentator Albert Barnes who writes what true repentance is and is not:  “false repentance dreads the consequences of sin; true repentance dreads sin itself.”  We know that these people had true repentance.  I believe that it would be fair to say the Judas had false repentance while Peter’s repentance for denying Christ was genuine.  One must have true repentance that is one who dreads sin itself to be saved, but as one walks with the Lord they will sin and in order to ask the Lord for forgiveness as we see in 1 John 1:9 we are to be truly repentant as Peter was.  John MacArthur writes that “true repentance hates sin for what it is—an affront to God.  Knowing that sin is evil and that God hates it motivates the truly repentant person to forsake it.  Genuine repentance thus forsakes sin and turns in total commitment to Jesus Christ…

            “It is difficult for modern readers to grasp the magnitude of the change facing Peter’s Jewish hearers.  They were part of a unique community, with a rich cultural and religious history.  Despite long years of subjugation to Rome, they were fiercely nationalistic.  The nation had rejected Jesus as a blasphemer and executed Him.  Now Peter calls on them to turn their back on that and embrace Jesus as their Messiah.”  I would have to totally conquer with this statement as these people were in a most unique situation, and yet when Peter spoke to them through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit used Peter’s preaching to give an effectual call to what we will learn will be 3000 people at the same time.  As I have been thinking about these thousands who were saved on the very first day of the church age my prayer has recently been that the Lord will do the same on the last day of the church age, that thousands of people will hear or read what they need to do to be saved, and the Spirit of God will give all of them an effectual call all at once as He did on the first day of the church age and then the trumpet will be heard and the dead in Christ will be raised from their graves and those of us who are alive will go to be with the Lord in the air and we will ever be with the Lord to serve Him and to worship Him as He takes us to heaven.  Believe me that does excited me.

            Peter then calls on all of them who have repented to be baptized which would not only identify them with the Lord Jesus Christ, but will cause them to break with Judaism.  This would be a very drastic public act and this would weed out any conversions which were not genuine.  I believe that in our world today, especially in our country it is much easier to get people’s conversion, and therefore perhaps some may not be genuine.  These people of Peter’s day and for many around the world today had a difficult choice to make for persecution could immediately come their way by accepting salvation through Jesus Christ.  I have heard stories of people who have received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and then have their families kick them out of the family, or even desire to kill them.  When one has to make that kind of choice it is a much more difficult choice and one would not do it if they were not sure of the fact that God had called them to this great salvation, a salvation that could cost them their very life.  Let us look at a few verses from the gospel of Luke where Jesus is speaking:  “25 Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28  "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29  "Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ’This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31  "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions (Luke 14:25-33).”  “18 A ruler questioned Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 19 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 “You know the commandments, ’DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’" 21 And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth." 22  When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." 23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 And Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! 25 “For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 26 They who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" 27 But He said, "The things that are impossible with people are possible with God’ (Luke 18:18-27).”

            I will close from a verse in 2 Corinthians which shows us that the apostle Paul perhaps had some doubts about those who came to the Lord and so he writes “5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-unless indeed you fail the test? (2 Cor. 13:5).”  This is one of the last things that Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Paul goes on in 2 Corinthians 15:6 to write “6 But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.” 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust so much in the Lord’s love for me that I desire for Him to make me into what He wants me to be, and at the same time give me the desire to be exactly what He wants me to be.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Philip” (Acts 21:8-9).

Today’s Bible question:  “What is it mean to ‘hallow’ anything?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/4/2017 9:34 AM

PT-2 "The Appeal" (Acts 2:37-40)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/3/2017 8:02 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  PT-2 “The Appeal”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 2:37-40

            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, and “Be saved from this perverse generation!"”

            In our last SD we looked at several reasons why these people were overwhelmed with anguish, despair, remorse, and guilt, after all they were partly responsible for the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ a few weeks before.

            In response to Peter’s sermon and their anguish “they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?”  Perhaps they thought they could do something to appease their guilty conscience, but the answer that Peter will give them is probably different than the answer they thought they were going to hear.  Perhaps they were looking for a way to not have to be confronted by the Messiah’s wrath.  We will see latter on in the book of Acts that they were at the same point that Paul was at when confronted by the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus when he cried out “What shall I do, Lord?”  Also later on when Paul and Silas were in the Philippian jail and the Lord brought about an earthquake that allowed all the chains to fall off the prisoners and as the jailor was about to kill himself Paul told him that none of the inmates had escaped, and as a result of him hearing what Paul and Silas were singing and talking about he said to Paul and Silas “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  The people listening to Peter’s sermon were convicted in their hearts and needed an answer as to what to do about it, and this is a great place to be in.  We can be assured that the Holy Spirit was using the sermon that Peter was preaching to bring about their troubled minds as they were being convicted by their sins and needed an answer as to what they should do now.  Perhaps we could say that this was the very first altar call in the church age.  John MacArthur writes that “Such a conviction of sin is a part of every genuine conversion.”

            Let us look at a couple of verses from the prophet Zechariah who actually prophesied the first step in the restoration of Israel which was the conviction of sin:  “10  "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”  I realize that perhaps this verse and also 13:1 will happen during the second coming of Jesus Christ, but what Zechariah writes about did seem to happen at this time in Israel.  ““In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.”  MacArthur writes that “Conviction is the key used by the Holy Spirit to open the heart to salvation.”

            People have to realize that they are lost before they realize that they need a Savior and although this is the work of the Holy Spirit the message given to lost souls is the job of every believer as they set about witnessing the message of salvation to the lost.  Many people think that they are all right with the Lord, but don’t realize that they are lost and on their way to a Christless eternity in hell.  I suppose that you could put the Pharisees in this boat.  John MacArthur writes “Genuine conviction is produced by the Spirit of God, in conjunction with the Word of God, which is ‘living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of the soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart’ (Heb. 4:12).”

            We will look at the answer that Peter gives them as far as what they should do in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:   I am thankful that the Holy Spirit convicted me of sin in January of 1974, something that changed my life forever.

My Steps of Faith for Today: My prayer is that the Lord will use the Spiritual Diaries that I write to have His Spirit convict people who read them of their sin and the need of trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  My prayer is also that the Spirit of God use these Spiritual Diaries to cause believers to grow in grace.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Macedonia” (Acts 16:9).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who had four daughters who were prophets?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/3/2017 8:40 AM

PT-1 "The Appeal" (Acts 2:37-40)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/2/2017 7:33 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  PT-1 The Appeal

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 2:37-40

            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!"”

            I mentioned in our last Spiritual Diary that this section, “The Appeal,” will take us a few days to get through so we begin this journey  this morning, praying that God will open our eyes to see the truth that is found in this section, a section that will see the first believers come to a saving knowledge in the Lord Jesus Christ in the church age, so because of that it makes this section very important to all who follow in coming to know the Lord as their Savior and Lord.

            I think that we have to put ourselves in the position of these Jewish people who were listening to Peter preach this sermon, as many of them were, as he said, the ones who were out their yelling to have Jesus crucified, and yet God in His great mercy and grace, along with His great love is now, through the Holy Spirit going to open their eyes to see what they did was so very wrong, and then bring them into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Peter’s sermon was hard on these people, and yet there are many people today who if they were alive back then would be in the same boat as these people who were listening to Peter, as they would also desire to put our Lord to death.

            After the people heard Peter’s sermon the Bible says that “they were pierced to the heart.”  John MacArthur writes “Katanusso (‘pierced’) appears only here in the New Testament.  It means ‘to pierce,’ or ‘to stab,’ and thus depicts something sudden and unexpected.  Stunned by their inability to evade the indictment that they were guilty of heinous behavior before God, they were overcome by grief and remorse.”  I don’t think they realized it right away, but this was a very good position for them to be in.

            We can understand some of the reasons for their anguish.  The Jewish people have been looking for the Messiah to come for years, in fact all the way back to when Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament which contained first of all the first prophecy of the coming of the Messiah:  “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel’ (Genesis 3:15).”  As we have mentioned in earlier SD’s that the phrase “seed of the women” as seen in this passage as “her seed” is only found here in the entire Bible.  This speaks of the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus Christ as He had no human father but was born through a woman.  And so the One they had been looking for came and they helped put Him to death as all humans have done because “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” 

            Next reason “They themselves had done it.  It would have been bad enough to learn that Messiah had been killed.  Far worse was the knowledge of their complicity in the crime.  That no doubt produced in them a deep sense of guilt.  They could not imagine a greater sin than killing their Messiah,” writes John MacArthur. 

            The third cause of their anguish was fear of Messiah’s wrath, for after all since they know that He had risen from the dead probably thought that He may come after them for being a part of this evil task.

            The last reason for their anguish is that they were devastated by the understanding that what they had done could not be undone.  Perhaps we have all been there in certain things we have done that we know are wrong and we wished that we could go back in time and not do that certain task that we did.  I know that I have had that experience more times than I care to admit.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Just as these people were about to learn that when they did something terribly wrong that God loves them and desires to forgive them and have a relationship with them.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to give me the grace to learn from the mistakes that I have made, to use them for His glory and my good as He works them out in my life.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jesus” (Luke 7:50).

Today’s Bible question:  “Paul saw in a vision a man from what place asking him to come and help?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/2/2017 8:06 AM

Intro to Acts 2:37-41

 

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

 

The Exaltation of Christ (Acts 2:33-36)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/31/2017 7:29 AM

My Worship Time                                                                         Focus:  The Exaltation of Christ

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 2:33-36

            Message of the verses:  “33 "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. 34 “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ’THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, 35 UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET."’ 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-this Jesus whom you crucified."”

            Peter begins verse 33 by stating that Jesus Christ was exalted to the right hand of God.  If we go back to eternity past we can see that the plan for the Son of God was to come to earth to become the God/Man, live for 33 years, preaching and teaching for the last three years and then dying for the sins of man.  Because of this God was going to exalt Him to the position of power, that is at the right hand of God which is where our Lord is at this time interceding for His children.  This was all God’s plan which Christ fulfilled.

            Peter then goes on to talk about Jesus “having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, has poured forth this which you both see and hear,” and this to was in the perfect plan of God.  John MacArthur writes “Peter now brings his listeners full circle back to the phenomena of Pentecost.  He tells them that what they had just seen resulted from God’s promise to send the Spirit to inaugurate the messianic age (Joel 2:28-29).  Now that Christ was risen and glorified, God fulfilled that promise.”  “But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:39).”

            Peter moves onto another of the Messianic Psalms, Psalm 110 in order to prove from the Lord’s ascension and exaltation that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.  As we look at the end of Matthew, Mark, and Luke we see Jesus asking the Pharisees a question:  “41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?" They said to Him, "The son of David." 43 He said to them, "Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ’Lord,’ saying, 44 ’THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET"’? 45 “If David then calls Him ’Lord,’ how is He his son?" 46 No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question (Matthew 22:41-46).”  So in total we see this section “The Lord said to My Lord” four times in the New Testament including here in the book of Acts, and as mentioned it comes from Psalm 110.  This Psalm was written by David and it speaks of the Messiah.  Placing one’s enemies under one’s feet was a figure of speech that denotes their abject submission as seen as an example in Joshua 10:24-25 “24 When they brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, "Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings." So they came near and put their feet on their necks. 25 Joshua then said to them, "Do not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, for thus the LORD will do to all your enemies with whom you fight."”   We know that it was not David who was exalted to God’s right hand, but it was Jesus who was as seen in Acts 1:9-11 “9  And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."”  Now we have the proof of this which was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as God promised to do, and as the crowd witnessed this happen.  This fulfillment of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was the proof that Jesus was sitting at the right hand of God as we have seen from Psalm 110. 

            Peter’s sermon gives overwhelming evidence from Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and exaltation that He is indeed Israel’s long-awaited Messiah.  Peter concludes this powerful sermon with a powerful ending as he says “36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-this Jesus whom you crucified."”  John MacArthur states “for certain” is the Greek word asphalos, which speaks of that which is known beyond a doubt.  He goes on to say “The verdict was in, and they were on the wrong side, guilty of opposing God and rejecting their Messiah.  As Peter was later to put it, ‘He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the very corner stone’ (Acts 4:11).”

            We will begin looking at “The First Christian Sermon—part 3 The Appeal and Results which covers verses 37-41 of Acts chapter two in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I believe that since God has planned out in eternity past what Christ was going to do for me, and of course not only me but all that belong to Him that He now has a plan for my life and will fulfill that as long as I submit to Him.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Submit to the Lord so He can fulfill His plan in my life, a plan that will bring glory to His name.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Silver” (Acts 19:24).

Today’s Bible question “Where was Jesus born?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/31/2017 8:15 AM