(Read Acts 13:13-42)
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing to learn more about the amazing life of the Apostle Paul. When Paul, Barnabas and John Mark left Paphos they headed Pamphylia by ship. The straight line distance is 185 miles, so it was quite a trip. The team landed in the port town of Perga. John Mark bidded the men good-bye and he returned home to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia where Paul preached a powerful message in the synagogue.
Paul preached, “The God of this nation of Israel chose our ancestors and made them multiply and grow strong during their stay in Egypt. Then with a powerful arm he led them out of their slavery. He put up with them through forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Then he destroyed seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to Israel as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years.
After that, God gave them judges to rule until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people begged for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’
And it is one of King David’s descendants, Jesus, who is God’s promised Savior of Israel! Before he came, John the Baptist preached that all the people of Israel needed to repent of their sins and turn to God and be baptized. As John was finishing his ministry he asked, ‘Do you think I am the Messiah? No, I am not! But he is coming soon—and I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the sandals on his feet.’
Brothers—you sons of Abraham, and also you God-fearing Gentiles—this message of salvation has been sent to us! The people in Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize Jesus as the one the prophets had spoken about. Instead, they condemned him, and in doing this they fulfilled the prophets’ words that are read every Sabbath. They found no legal reason to execute him, but they asked Pilate to have him killed anyway.
“When they had done all that the prophecies said about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead! And over a period of many days he appeared to those who had gone with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to the people of Israel.
“And now we are here to bring you this Good News. The promise was made to our ancestors, and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. This is what the second psalm says about Jesus: ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your Father. For God had promised to raise him from the dead, not leaving him to rot in the grave. He said, ‘I will give you the sacred blessings I promised to David.’ Another psalm explains it more fully: ‘You will not allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.’ This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed. No, it was a reference to someone else—someone whom God raised and whose body did not decay.
“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God—something the law of Moses could never do. Be careful! Don’t let the prophets’ words apply to you. For they said, ‘Look, you mockers, be amazed and die! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.’”
As Paul and Barnabas left the synagogue that day, the people begged them to speak about these things again the following week. Many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, and the two men urged them to continue to rely on the grace of God.
So what does this mean to you today? I will draw three quick nuggets from Paul’s sermon:
1. Salvation by Grace, accessed through faith, is the Gospel. Paul preached the Gospel by making it clear that the Messiah came, that His name was Jesus, that He died for our sin, and that the Father rose him from the dead, not leaving His body to decay. When Jesus was raised from the dead He took the sting out of death and He robbed the grave of its victory. We now have access to eternal life, in Christ, by Grace, and we access the Grace through the vehicle of faith. That’s what Paul preached, that is what I preach, and that is what I shall continue to preach for the remainder of my days.
2. Everyone who believes in Jesus is declared right with God. Paul preached that through Jesus we can be forgiven and made right with God. God took Jesus (who had NO sin in Him whatsoever) and MADE Him sin. Why? So that He could turn around and take us (who had NO righteousness in us whatsoever) and MAKE us righteous. God made Jesus sin, so that He could make us righteous! That, my friends, is good news! And here is even better news, we are not MADE right because we do right, we are only MADE right because we believe in Jesus. We are not righteous because of anything we do or fail to do, we are only righteous because of what He did! That is salvation by Grace!
3. The Gospel of Grace provides something the Law of Moses never could. Paul taught that the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor 3:6), that the Law actually gives sin its strength (1 Cor 15:56), and Paul even called the 10 commandments, which was God’s Law etched in stone, “the ministry of death” (2 Cor 3:7). Why? Because the Law was designed to show us that we needed a Savior. The Law was designed to get us (mankind) to the end of ourselves. We could never fulfill the Law. The Law condemns us, but Jesus came to give us access to eternal life and freedom IN HIM by Grace!
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for the preaching of the Gospel of Grace. I heard the Gospel, I responded to it, and I have been saved. THANK YOU! You sent Your Son Jesus — who was born of a virgin, who lived a sinless and perfect life, and who willingly gave His life for me — to die on Calvary’s cross for the remission of sin. Jesus paid a price I could not pay for a debt He did not owe. Jesus paid it all and He did it for me! Under the Law of Moses I was condemned. I could never fulfill the Law of Moses and under the Law I could never be declared right with You. However, You offered me forgiveness of sin, eternal life in Christ, and a right standing with You; and You offered it to me by Grace. Not because I deserved it, not because I could earn it, and not because I could ever make it up to You. No, You freely gave me eternal life and the gift of righteousness when I accepted Jesus as my Lord by faith. By faith I accessed Your Grace and I have never, nor will I ever be the same. Jesus was MADE sin so that I could be MADE righteous. I am now the righteousness of God by faith. I am not righteous because of what I do, or righteous because of what I fail to do. I am only righteous because of what Jesus did. I am free from the ministry of death and I walk in the liberty wherewith Christ Jesus has made me free. Thank You Father for being so good to me. I will never cease to give You praise for Jesus. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
