ACTS 3 (PART 2)
Read Acts 3:11-26
The healing of the crippled beggar made quite an impression and people came running towards Peter and the man who clung to Peter. Not one to miss an opportunity, Peter immediately preached the gospel to them. Just as he did on the day of Pentecost, Peter spoke about Christ; this is a Christ-centred sermon, as indeed all sermons should be, and he began by giving all the credit to Jesus.
Peter made sure that they knew that it was the same God that they worshipped, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (‘our fathers’) who had glorified Jesus. There was continuity with the Old Testament. But then Peter said to them that they had dishonoured God by the way that they treated Jesus, and they had done it in four ways, and he made it personal to each and every one of the assembled crowd by saying directly what ‘you’ had done:
- You handed him over to be killed
- You disowned him before Pilate
- You disowned the Holy and Righteous One
- You killed the author of life (vv13-15)
Peter stressed the personal individual responsibility for Christ’s death. This is still true today, we all bear responsibility and this is highlighted in the hymn we often sing, ‘How deep the Father’s love for us’ by Stuart Townend. Perhaps the most telling line in that song is, “It was my sin that held him there”.
But that is not the end of the story. As people, convicted of their sin, turned to despair, Peter came with the good news. They must repent (v19) and turn to God and then they would be in receipt of three blessings:
- Your sins may be wiped out
- Times of refreshing may come from the Lord
- God will send Christ to come back again
Peter’s sermon is one that convicts his hearers of their sin but also gives hope. If repentance is genuine then blessing will follow. There will be no guilt and no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, “because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 6:1).
Some expressions of Christianity emphasise the guilt of the sinner, and while Peter does not ignore the sin that we all have, he concentrates on the good news of Jesus bearing our sin on the cross so that we may be free of guilt. Peter’s sermons always speak of the resurrection of Jesus and how God had vindicated his actions on the cross for our benefit.