Peter and John had gone to the temple at the hour of prayer and saw a lame man asking for alms at the gate of the temple. Acts 3:6-8  “Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’ And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.”  Peter and John then began to preach to the people about Jesus.  Acts 4:1-12 “Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, ‘By what power or by what name have you done this?’ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  Peter boldly stated that there is no other name by which we must be saved other than Jesus.

There are many people in the world today who believe in God but they don’t believe in Jesus.  Some believe that Jesus never existed; they believe that the story of Jesus is just a made up story.  Others accept that Jesus lived, but He was just a good man and teacher.  Still others believe that Jesus was a prophet but they do not believe that He was the Son of God. Why is it important that we believe in Jesus? 

Honest people see the wonders of the earth and of the universe and conclude that it is obviously the work of an intelligent designer; they admit that there must be a creator God.  Romans 1:19-20  “Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”  What may be known about God is obvious. People have no excuse for not believing in God. But it is stated in the preceding verse, Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” This creator God has a standard of righteousness and all of us are guilty before Him. All of us have sinned and violated his standard of righteousness.  We are all subject to the wrath of God unless we can take away our guilt.  But how can we take away our guilt? Since God created everything, He also owns everything. We have nothing that is not His already that we can use to pay Him to take away our guilt.  We cannot earn our salvation; we can never do enough good to compensate for our guilt.  We are left with our guilt and are unable to have the means to save ourselves.  In His mercy, God decided to provide a way for our salvation.

Remember what Peter said in Acts 4:12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  One of the main reasons that there is no other name by which we must be saved is that God sent his Son Jesus to pay the price for our sins when no one else could pay the price.  We don’t have the ability to pay for our sins.  Jesus gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sin. He paid the price. In order for one to receive the benefit of the sacrifice of Jesus, one must accept Jesus.  1 Peter 1:18-19 “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Romans 5:6-9 “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” We can only be justified before God by the blood of Jesus Christ.  There is no other way.

Jesus spoke to the Jews of His day.  John 8:23-24 “And He said to them, ‘You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.’” Jews today believe in God, but that they do not believe that Jesus is the Christ; they will also die in their sins.  Muslims today believe in God but they are taught that Jesus is just a prophet; they will die in their sins.  All others who believe in God but don’t believe in Jesus will die in their sins. The only salvation is through Jesus. Jesus taught in John 3:16  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” In order for one to not perish but have eternal life, one must believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

We must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God that came into the world to redeem mankind.  We can only be justified before God by the blood of Jesus.  If you have someone in your life who does not believe in Jesus, they are lost.  I encourage you to help them believe in Jesus and follow His plan of salvation.