Focal Passages: Acts 3:14-26
We have learned in the previous two lessons that humanity’s purpose has been tarnished to the degree that we cannot restore it ourselves. In this lesson we learn that only through the gospel of Jesus can that purpose be restored forever.
Restoration comes through Jesus alone. Peter’s sermon in Acts 3 occurs after Peter and John encounter a beggar at the temple gate called Beautiful who has been lame since birth. Peter and John enter through a beautiful gate but witness a grotesque sight. The imagery here is unmistakable. The world that focuses on beauty, strength and power often overlooks weakness, infirmity and the ugliness of life.
Instead, Peter and John “looked straight at the man” (Acts 3:4) and confronted his need. he apostles had no money to give, but they had the power of Jesus to heal (vv. 6-7). They along with the healed man continued into the temple where Peter preached a powerful sermon. Peter reminded those at the temple how we have all rejected the Lord and are dead in our trespasses and sins. In verse 16, Peter tells the crowd that the lame man was healed through faith in the name of Jesus. As this man’s health was restored, our purpose in life can only be restored through the gospel of Jesus. Only through the name of Jesus is our life made new.
Moore
Restoration requires repentance. What must we do to access that life-giving restoration that only Jesus can provide? We must repent in faith. Verse 19 is the key command of the chapter. It mirrors what Peter says in his famous Pentecost sermon in the preceding chapter. Whereas in chapter two Peter instructed those in attendance to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, here Peter instructs those in attendance to “repent and be converted” (3:19 KJV).
The word repentance literally means in the original language a “change of mind” and the term “be converted” in the KJV is translated here in the CSB appropriately as “turning back.” Both verbal instructions describe a unified action of transformation where we change our worldview by turning our backs to the world and our former life of sin and turn toward the Savior in faith.
Baptism, as mentioned by Peter in chapter 2, is the outward expression and declaration to the world of that transformational conversion that has taken place spiritually. The bottom line is that forgiveness of sins and restoration of our purpose in life can only come through repentance and faith.
Restoration leads to victory. Peter concluded his sermon in the temple by referring to Moses’ prophetic words from Deuteronomy 18. Moses instructed the children of Israel that God would send a prophet one day that would serve as the culmination of the entire prophetic ministry that Moses had initiated. Jesus ultimately fulfilled Moses’ prophecy by being the very Word of God incarnate.
Peter also pointed out that Jesus fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant where God promised to bless all the nations through Abraham’s offspring. Through Jesus alone has God brought all nations together under the dominion of His gospel. It is Jesus who has torn down the dividing walls between us. Only Jesus has the power to usher the believer into the blessed life of purpose that can truly achieve victory over a life of evil. B&R
