Trusting in the Resurrection

Day 171: Acts 13:16-41

“but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.” - Acts 13:37-39 ESV

Did you notice in our reading for today how adamant Paul was about testifying to Jesus' resurrection? It is blowing my mind how little he actually mentions what was happening on the cross. Instead, he chose to focus on the historical veracity of Jesus being condemned to death and being taken down from the cross (verse 29). But when it came to the resurrection, Paul knew that if these Jews were to understand what happened when Jesus rose, their justification wasn't far away. Paul leaned on the Israelites' Hebrew Bible to show them how well laid out God's plan for Jesus' resurrection was.

Many people in the first century were crucified. For instance, in 4 BC alone, the Roman general Varus was said to have crucified 2,000 Jews at one time. None were raised from the dead.

In contrast, Jesus wasn't in the grave long enough to see decay (Psalm 16:10), and this is how we know forgiveness through belief in HIs name is possible. We won't find this freedom in the pursuit of flawless morality.

Millions have tried that.

It doesn't work.

If we want to be set free from every sin, we must trust in the resurrected Jesus alone.

"From beginning to end, the faith of Christ rests on the solid ground of established facts; it does not depend on dreams and visions, nor on logical deductions or intuitions of the human reason; it is built on well-attested facts." - Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (1909). Acts of the Apostles (Vol. 1, p. 414)