Acts 4:8-12
Salvation Through Jesus
8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! 9If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11He is
" 'the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the capstone.12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
St. Peter tells us that Salvation is found in Jesus...It is found in no one else...
When Jesus gives us the Sermon on the Mount, He tells us that blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted...In His Sermon on the Plain, He tells us that woe is to the rich, for they have already received their comfort...There is a connection between our comfort, our salvation, and our LORD...
Jesus teaches us in the the story in Luke 18:9-14 of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee, that those confident in their own righteousness, such as the Pharisees, need more repentance...When the Pharisees say things like I am glad I am not like other men, including robbers, evil doers, adulterers, and even the tax collector they are judging others...They are judging others...This is a sin...Jesus teaches us to forgive others, not judge them for how they are or happen to be...But the sinning tax collector, who asks God for mercy from a respected distance and admits to his Father that he is a sinner, is more justified in God's eyes than those who are confident of their own righteousness (in their own eyes)...
We have to know that we first need to be forgiven, before Jesus can forgive us...Jesus tells the self-righteous Pharisees (Luke 5:27-32), when dining with sinners, that it is the healthy who need a doctor...If you do not think you are sick, or are not sick, why would you see a doctor?...(The Pharisees thought they were healthy and without sin, therefore did not need forgiveness)...It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick...Jesus tells the Pharisees I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners to repent...The Pharisees failed to see only God is good...They too were sinners...The Pharisees needed Jesus as much as the sinners and tax collectors He was eating and drinking with...
When St. Paul is in jail with Silas in the Acts 16:25-34 and God provides them an earthquake to escape, but they stay in jail...The jailer, who originally was going to kill himself over their escape is told by St. Paul do not harm yourself, we are all here...The jailer sees the faith that Paul and Silas have and asks, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"...They both reply, believe in LORD Jesus, then you and your household will be saved...Belief in Jesus is the first step in our salvation...
When we are arrogant, feel self righteous we can get into trouble with pride, and this endangers our salvation...We can have a good life or a good stretch of time in our lives when everything is good and comfortable and we might drift away from our LORD...Sometimes those who are always in need and in need of the LORD are closer to Him...
St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 on suffering and comfort...He tells them that God is the God of all comfort...But bad times and suffering will come, expect it...Sufferings came to Jesus on the cross for us and those sufferings flow into our lives...But also through Christ our comfort overflows...He died and suffered for us...When St. Paul was distressed (and uncomfortable) it is for the salvation of others...He makes this connection, as we should with our LORD...Yes, there is a problem of pain, evil, and suffering in this world, but even Jesus, our LORD was not removed from it...From His suffering, discomfort, and distress came our salvation on the cross...
If we feel comfortable in our own self righteousness, we have a problem...Only God is good...Jesus is the One who gives us salvation...No one comes to the Father, except through Him...Salvation is found in no one else...