Acts 4:12
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12 NIV
Devotional
We live in a culture that often says: “Your truth is your truth.” “Everyone has their own way.” “As long as you’re sincere, it doesn’t matter what you believe.” But Christianity makes an exclusive claim. Jesus said: “I am the way.” Not a way. The way.
That statement forces us to make a decision. If Jesus is merely a religious teacher, then His claim can be dismissed. But if Jesus is who He claimed to be… If He really is the Son of God… If He really died for our sins… If He really rose from the grave… If He really is Lord… Then Jesus cannot simply be one option among many. He has to be the way. And this isn’t because God doesn’t love people. Quite the opposite. God loved us so much that He provided the way we desperately needed.
John 3:16 begins with: “For God so loved…” God loved. God gave. God initiated. God made the way. The exclusivity of Jesus is actually connected to the incredible grace of Jesus. God did not leave humanity without hope. He sent His Son, because it was the only way to offer us salvation. Jesus stepped out of glory, entered our broken world, and lived among us. He took our sin to the cross. He died and rose again. And now He calls us to Himself.
So the question isn’t simply: “Do I believe Jesus is the only way?” The deeper question is: “Have I personally surrendered my life to the One who is the way?” You can inherit a Bible without having faith. You can inherit church attendance without having a relationship with Christ. You can inherit Christian vocabulary without knowing Christ. But you cannot inherit salvation. There must come a moment when you personally trust Jesus.
Maybe you’ve been around Christianity your entire life. Maybe you’ve heard John 14:6 hundreds of times. But today, don’t allow familiarity to replace faith. Jesus is not simply asking you to believe information about Him. He is calling you to Himself. He is the way.
Read the Context
Acts 4 NIV
The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
5 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then 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. 11 Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’[a]
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.[b]’[c]
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Footnotes
Make it Personal
Practical Application
Talk to God
We live in a culture that often says: “Your truth is your truth.” “Everyone has their own way.” “As long as you’re sincere, it doesn’t matter what you believe.” But Christianity makes an exclusive claim. Jesus said: “I am the way.” Not a way. The way.
That statement forces us to make a decision. If Jesus is merely a religious teacher, then His claim can be dismissed. But if Jesus is who He claimed to be… If He really is the Son of God… If He really died for our sins… If He really rose from the grave… If He really is Lord… Then Jesus cannot simply be one option among many. He has to be the way. And this isn’t because God doesn’t love people. Quite the opposite. God loved us so much that He provided the way we desperately needed.
John 3:16 begins with: “For God so loved…” God loved. God gave. God initiated. God made the way. The exclusivity of Jesus is actually connected to the incredible grace of Jesus. God did not leave humanity without hope. He sent His Son, because it was the only way to offer us salvation. Jesus stepped out of glory, entered our broken world, and lived among us. He took our sin to the cross. He died and rose again. And now He calls us to Himself.
So the question isn’t simply: “Do I believe Jesus is the only way?” The deeper question is: “Have I personally surrendered my life to the One who is the way?” You can inherit a Bible without having faith. You can inherit church attendance without having a relationship with Christ. You can inherit Christian vocabulary without knowing Christ. But you cannot inherit salvation. There must come a moment when you personally trust Jesus.
Maybe you’ve been around Christianity your entire life. Maybe you’ve heard John 14:6 hundreds of times. But today, don’t allow familiarity to replace faith. Jesus is not simply asking you to believe information about Him. He is calling you to Himself. He is the way.
Read the Context
Acts 4 NIV
The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
5 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then 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. 11 Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’[a]
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.[b]’[c]
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Footnotes
- Acts 4:11 Psalm 118:22
- Acts 4:26 That is, Messiah or Christ
- Acts 4:26 Psalm 2:1,2
Make it Personal
- Do I personally know Jesus, or do I simply know about Jesus?
- Am I trusting Christ alone for my salvation?
- Have I surrendered my life to Him?
- Is there anything I am placing above Jesus?
- If someone asked me, “Why do you believe Jesus is the only way?” what would I say?
Practical Application
- Make a personal declaration: “I believe Jesus is the way because He alone reconciles me to the Father.”
- Take some time to consider, or write down, what you might answer if someone asked you why you believe that Jesus is the only way.
- Ask God for the opportunity this weekend to share with someone why you believe Jesus is the only way to heaven.
Talk to God
- What part of God’s character do I want to praise him for?
- What do I want to thank God for?
- Do I have any unconfessed sin?
- What do I need God’s help with?
- What questions do I have?
- Do I need direction? Do I know how God wants me to serve him today?
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