No Other Name Acts 4:1-12

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, NASB).

What’s in a name? This is a question that I have heard asked as far back as I can remember. I have heard people say, “Don’t shame the family name.” Obviously, a name is very important. We say things like, “He/she has a good name.” Conversely, we might say, “He/she has a bad name.” What’s in a name? We identify people by their names. A name can be used to describe a person. A name may designate certain attributes of a person. A name may have power and influence. A name may designate authority. In our scripture passage Peter tells the religious leaders that a person must be saved by the name Jesus. What does Peter mean by this statement? How does Peter’s statement compare with modern statements made about salvation and heaven? These and other questions I want to briefly address in this article today.

Before we dive into some of the questions that we have about Jesus, salvation, and heaven, let us take a look at what is taking place when Peter makes his statement. In order to do this we must begin at Acts 3:1. In this text we find two of Jesus’ apostles, Peter and John, going up to the temple to pray (3:1). They see people carrying a lame man to the gate called Beautiful “in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple” (v. 2). The man sees Peter and John, and he asks them for a donation. Peter tells the man that he has no money. However, he will give him what he has. Peter says, “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” They take the man by the hand and the man stands up. He leaps and praises God. The people that see what is taking place are amazed. This prompts Peter to tell them about salvation in the name of Jesus. He tells the people about Jesus. The prophets foretold Him. He is sent from God. He suffers the rejection of the religious leaders. He is crucified on the cross, but he is raised by the power of God. He invites them to repent and be saved from their sins. This causes a problem.

Acts 4:1-4 tells us that the religious leaders are greatly disturbed “because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (v.2). The Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection (Matt. 22:23; Mar. 12:18; Acts 23:8). Peter and John are put into jail until the next morning. Peter and John are questioned by the religious rulers (v. 5-6). It is important that we carefully scrutinize the questions they ask Peter and John and their reply to the questions asked.

Verse seven records the questions that the religious leaders ask Peter and John.”When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, ‘By what power, or in what name, have you done this?’” What do the religious leaders want to know? There are two words that we need to examine. First, they ask about the power that they have. The word power (Greek=dunamis) means ability; ability to perform this miracle. This disturbs the rulers because they believe that they are the representatives of God and they do not have the ability to heal. The word name (Greek=onoma) means authority, character. Again, the religious leaders recognize that Peter and John have authority to command things to happen that they do not have. They hear Peter and John tell people about God’s promise through Moses and the prophets that the Christ will come. The people are the sons of the prophets, and through the covenant that God made with them that they too can be saved (3:24-26). Peter answers their question. He tells them the source of his power to heal the lame man. He tells them the source of his authority that permits him to do the things that he does. His power (ability) to heal comes from the name (authority) of God.

Peter addresses the rulers and elders of the people. He says, “let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health” (v. 10, NASB). Peter continues in verse eleven saying, “‘He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone’” (NASB). What’s in a name? What is Peter saying about the one who gives him the ability and authority to heal? What is Peter saying about the one in whom one must be saved?

First, a person’s name is used to identify a person. Peter is specific in his identity of the one who gives him ability and authority to do the work that he does. His name is Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of Luke the writer records that God gives Him the name “Jesus”. God sends the angel Gabriel to a virgin named Mary. The angel tells the young maiden that she will give birth to a son. The angel says to Mary, “‘And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus’” (Lk. 2:31, NASB). God gives the son to be born his name. This is a specific identification for the child that is to be born of this specific mother. Notice how the angel is specific in his salutation to Mary. Luke records these words of Gabriel: “The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God’” (2:30). God chooses a particular woman to bear a particular child. The child is to be identified with the name Jesus.

There is a specific reason that the name Jesus is chosen. This is a second reason that a name is given and used. A name can be used to describe certain characteristics of a person, and describe the works that one does. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (vv. 32-33). Let us look at how Peter describes the one who gives him ability and authority to heal.

The one that gives him ability and authority is named Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Christ. He is the Messiah that the prophets spoke of. Now the name Jesus might apply to several people. However the Jesus that Peter speaks about is described as the Nazarene, This man named Jesus who is known as the Nazarene was crucified. The stories about Jesus the Nazarene is well known among the Jews. Whether or not He is raised from the dead is a subject of debate. Peter declares that God raised Him from the dead. His power and authority is greater than the power and authority of the religious leaders. Although they had rejected Him (v. 11) and they had crucified Him the evidence of His resurrection is seen in the power and authority that Peter has to restore a lame man to good health.

There are two reasons that this story is important for us. First, as Peter states the only one that can save us is Jesus Christ the Nazarene. There is only one way to God. Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (Jn. 14:6, NASB). God gives Jesus His name because His coming into the world is God’s only means that God accepts as the means for our salvation. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16, NASB). Thus, there are not other names that identify a person as the Son of God. It is inappropriate to refer to Jesus as the divine because many people have been referred to as the divine. These include the Roman emperors and the Pharaohs of Egypt. A second reason that this story is important for us is that it informs us of human limitations. Regardless to the titles that religious leaders have, they do not have the ability and the authority to save us from our sins. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the one that you and I must believe in. It is in the name of Jesus that you and I must receive power and authority to do the work that God calls us to do. If we are performing works under any other name we do so to our peril. At the end of the age Jesus is going to return to judge us. He is going to separate the sheep from the goat (25:33). Those who have done works without the power and the authority of Jesus will be cast out. Jesus is going to say to these people,”Depart from me, accursed ones, into eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41, NASB). On the other hand Jesus will say to those that have worked in His name, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (v.34). As we read this text we can see that both the sheep and the goat are judged by the same works. What’s in a name? What’s in the name of Jesus? There is no other name by which we must be saved.