SOUTHSIDE CHURCH OF CHRIST

No other name under heaven, Sunday 10 December 2000

Dec 09, 2000

Leland R. Ping

In Acts 4:12, Peter, standing before the Sanhedrin, stated that aside from the son of God, there is "no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Salvation comes by our obedience to that Holy One. There is indeed only one name, and that is Jesus who, throughout the New Testament, is referred to in many different ways. It is fitting, since it is through Him that we find a hope of heaven, to understand some of those different terms.

q Jesus - In Matthew 1:25, the tax-collector turned Apostle writes that Joseph called the child Jesus. John writes that, though "the law was given through Moses, ?…grace and truth came through Jesus?…" (John 1:17). Without grace, we cannot be saved (Ephesians 2:8) and without the truth, we cannot be set free (John 8:32).

q God - Also in Matthew 1, the writer tells us that the name Immanuel (also identified with and as Jesus, means "God with us" (Matthew 1:23). Furthermore, Jesus "did not consider it robbery to be equal with God" (Philippians 2:6). Without God and the important relationship between "God" and His son, we have no hope of eternal life.

q Lord - Paul told the Church at Philippi that one day, "every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2:11). In fact, part of our obidience to Jesus is to confess Him as Lord (Romans 10:9). Without such a confession, we cannot please Him.

q Messiah, Christ - Andrew approached his brother Peter in John 1:40-41 and told him that he and others ahd "found the Messiah." And, John explains to the reader that the word "Messiah" is translated as the "Christ." Later in the same book, Jesus told the woman at the well that he was this Christ (John 4:25-26). Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, saying that he was the annointed, or chosen one of God, to save His people from eternal death (Matthew 16:16).

We should always remember the name Jesus and the various ways he is described in the Bible. We should then listen to His teachings and follow them, so that we might look to His name and find our own salvation.