[Paul speaking] "But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses." Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you: " 'Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.' " Acts 13:37-41
Previously in verse 33, Paul quoted from Psalms 2:7 ('You are my Son; today I have become your Father'); then in verse 34 from Isaiah 55:12 ('I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David'); and again in verse 35 from Psalm 16:10 ('You will not let your Holy One see decay.'). Paul is saying, these promises God made are not about David because (previously in verse 36), "he [speaking of David] was buried with his fathers and his body decayed."So the only one these promises could point to is (today's verse 37), the one [the Holy One of God] whom God raised from the dead [and] did not see decay."
Up to this point Paul has built a pretty strong case. He has already described the abundance of witnesses to Jesus' life after death, then Paul ties Scripture and prophecy together with current events. Finally he brings it together with these words, "Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know..." In other words, "Okay guys get ready, here it comes, I'm now going to explain to you what all of this means." He then drops three bombs: First, "through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you." Second, "Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses." And third, "Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you..."
Put yourself in Paul's audience for a moment. Your jaw would have just hit the floor as you said, "Huh?" These were revolutionary concepts, ones they had never heard before yet still seemed to make sense as all his statements were properly supported by Scripture. They must have been really confused. I think one of the big hooks was Paul's quote from Habakkuk 1:5, "Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you." Just as they would be tempted to reject Paul's whole sermonette he says, "If you don't believe, your lack of belief is also fulfilling scripture." It was quite a brain twister. How would you react?
Questions to Ponder:
While the statements Paul made to his audience may have been revolutionary, for those of us who are Christians, those same statements have become pretty familiar. Yet we don't always live in a state of belief. So I'm going to ask this question of you: What strains your belief mechanism more?
* Jesus was the Son of God, who rose from the dead, His body never to see decay;
* Through Jesus: your sins and my sins are forgiven;
* Or, the concept of justification: all of our sin is forgiven, not only our sins in the past but also the ones we haven't yet committed or even thought about, just as if we hadn't sinned.
Think about your answer carefully, it will tell you in which area you need to spend some more time in study and prayer. Do you struggle with the concept of life after death? What does the Bible say? Are all of your sins forgiven, or do you still carry around and punish yourself or someone else for the "unforgivable sin"? What does the Bible say about all sin? What about the sin you will commit tomorrow, does that make you less worthy in God's eyes? What do you believe? Do you live based upon these beliefs? What needs to change?"
Pocket Devotions www.ptl.org
Jean’s devotional
book: http://www.amazon.com/So-You-Plan-Marry-Man/dp/0984765530/
Tonight's post: THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN YOU
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