Acts 4: No Other Name

We live in a world where many suggest or teach many or even all ways lead to heaven. But reading Acts 4 throws a curveball at this type of thinking.

The earliest Christians were very clear that Jesus had communicated only one way to be redeemed and reconciled with God. This way is Jesus. Verse 12 makes clear:

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

Salvation means, as the text says, to be saved. Saved from what? The controlling effects of sin, and ultimately, from eternal separation from God as a result of sin. Salvation is the desire of every person to escape the suffering of this world and live with our divine Creator for eternity.

Yet many reject the idea that only way leads to God. Whether culture, family ties, skepticism, personal lifestyle, or other factors, this idea seems at once both too easy and too restrictive.

But if Jesus is right and his first followers got the message correctly in the process, then this is the inevitable conclusion.

Some have questioned, “How could a loving God be so restrictive?” But if God does love us, wouldn’t he very clearly provide the way for us to know him and spend eternity with him? This is the Christian message, the good news. There is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. It is his plan, his way. Let us not reject it; let us embrace it.

No other name.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author or co-author of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of the New Testament in 2011 at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.