Author: Haverland
Last saved by: Andrew

NO OTHER NAME

Readings: Psalm 118; Acts 3:1-16; 4:1-12
Text: Acts 4:12
Heidelberg Catechism LD 11
Theme: The only way to be saved is through the name of Jesus.
Purpose: To explain what salvation means and to show that the only way to be saved is by believing in the person and work of Jesus.

Many people know the name “Jesus” but use his name in various ways.

Some people say his name loudly when they hit their thumb with a hammer, or when they drop a brick on their toe, or if they want to emphasise a point in a sentence, or if they are angry. These people use his name as a swearword or, more accurately, as a blasphemy. 

Other people use the name of Jesus with reverence and awe, with love and affection, with understanding and appreciation. This is, of course, how his name ought to be spoken, because Jesus is the Son of God; he is the beautiful Saviour and the King of Creation. 

Today we want to consider why he is called Jesus and what this name means for us. We are going to do this from this verse; “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”, and we are going to look at this verse against the background of LD 11 of the Catechism. 

We will consider:
1. Your need for salvation
2. Where you will not find salvation
3. Where you will find salvation

1. YOUR NEED FOR SALVATION

Think of an enthusiastic Christian who is participating in a beach mission during a holiday time. He walks up to some random person on the beach and asks; “Are you saved?”

If our Christian friend had just met your average non-Christian kiwi you can be sure the person he spoke to would not have the faintest idea of what he was talking about! “Saved?! Had the lifeguards just pulled someone out of the water? Did he just miss getting run over by a dune buggy?! Had he escaped some terrible disease that he was unaware of?”

In our present day society most New Zealanders know little or nothing about God and the Bible. Words like sin, faith, and salvation don’t mean anything to them; they are foreign concepts, another language. 

So what did Peter mean when he used the words “salvation” and “saved”? We have just read about how Peter and John miraculously healed a cripple who was begging at one of the temple gates. This was the first miracle they had performed and it caused a great commotion. A large crowd gathered and Peter used the opportunity to preach about Jesus. Because of their preaching the apostles were arrested. The next day they were taken to the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews, and were questioned about their actions (v 7); “By what power or what name did you do this?” 

Peter referred back to the healing of the cripple (vs 9&11) and immediately went on to talk about salvation. (v 12) The Greek word translated as healing in verse 9 and the word translated as salvation in verse 12 have the same root, which can refer to a physical healing or to a spiritual healing. Peter takes advantage of this range of meaning to move from the healing of the body to the healing of the soul; he goes from the healing of one part of a person to the healing of the whole person, from the particular to the general. 

When the man on the beach hears the word “saved” he thinks of someone being rescued from drowning or from a burning house or being brought back from death after a massive heart attack. But the Bible has something even more important in mind. The most important questions are not, “what will make me comfortable, or happy, or successful, or healthy, or wealthy, or even, what can save me from dying?” but rather, “What can save me from eternal death? How can I escape the eternal punishment of hell?”
Or, to put that more positively; “How can I be right with God? What must I do to have eternal life?” This is what the Bible means by salvation. 

We have considered our need for salvation. Secondly we consider; 
2. WHERE YOU WILL NOT FIND SALVATION

Typically, every person has his own idea about what will give him life or salvation. Each person has his own particular philosophy of life, his own point of view, his own perspective, and he is convinced he is right. Some have described this as a designer religion, one tailor made to suit their own desires and needs. 

Yet Proverbs 14:12 warns; “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” The catechism identifies some of these ways that seem right to a man; it describes some of the places people look for salvation.

Some “look for their salvation and security in saints.” (HC Q.30) Keep in mind that the catechism was written in 1563 at the height of the protest against the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman church taught that the saints were especially good people and had accumulated more merit then they needed for their own salvation, so they had merit to spare, or extra points if you like. These extra merits were stored up in what was called “the Treasury of Merit”. People on earth could access those by prayer and by paying money to buy indulgences. The Roman Catholic church today doesn’t express it like this any more but they still hold to the idea that believers on earth can be helped by the merits of the saints who are in heaven. They encourage praying to the saints. There are hundreds of saints and one associated with just about every day of the year. 
The Reformers in the 16^th Century rightly condemned this idea that people could be saved through the assistance of the saints.

Others “look for their salvation and security in themselves.” (HC Q.30) This has been a temptation for people all through history.

Jesus addressed this when he spoke to the Pharisees who trusted in their own righteousness and their keeping of the law. 

And Paul wrote about this same problem in his letter to the Christians in Galatia who thought they could be saved by being circumcised and by the works of the law.

This was also a problem in the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages. They taught that a person could assist his salvation by penance, prayers, by confession to the priest, the buying of indulgences, viewing relics, visiting Rome, fasting and punishing his body. When Martin Luther was seeking to get right with God he tried all these means; they did not help him at all, but rather made his situation even worse.

People today are still trying to be saved through their own efforts. If people have any belief in heaven most think they will get there by being a good person, by keeping the golden rule, by being a family man, by helping their neighbour. All of these things are good to do but they will not make you right with God. 
We could compare it to a very poor who is given a $100 dollar note by a generous man. With it he went out and bought a lot of food. That note then came to someone else and he used it to buy clothes for himself. It then came to someone else and he used it to buy himself some tools. Then it came into the hands of a bank manager who discovered it was a counterfeit note and so was worth nothing. 
In the same way our good works can do some good along the way but when it comes to the final test they are worth nothing. Your good works will not get you into heaven. 

Neither will anything else. People look for salvation in all sorts of areas. The Jews looked for it through the law; the Greeks sought it through wisdom. Some people today look for it in education and knowledge; others in yoga and meditation; others in Islam or Buddhism or Hinduism; others in crystals or channelling or health foods or exercise. Everyone has their own view of how they will be saved. But remember, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Pr 14:21)

3. So if you cannot find salvation in any of these areas WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT? 

Only in Jesus Christ. The authors of the Catechism wrote; “Salvation cannot be found in anyone else; It is futile to look for salvation elsewhere.” (HC Q 29) They drew this directly from the words of Peter; “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

a. This is the significance of the name “Jesus”.

Today we give our children names we like, names that appeal to us. Parents look through thick books containing baby’s names and choose one of them. 
But in biblical times a child’s name had meaning. When Jesus was born Mary did not search through a scroll of baby’s names. No, the angel had given her a name; “You shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21) Jesus means; God saves, or God is salvation.   
 
It came from the Hebrew name “Joshua”, which was a favourite name for the people of Israel because he had been the great leader who followed Moses and had led Israel in their conquest of the land of Canaan. 
In the same way the Greek equivalent, “Jesus”, was also a very popular name and many Jewish parents named one of their sons Jesus. This is why Jesus Christ was often known as “Jesus of Nazareth”, to distinguish him from a Jesus who came from Cana or Jericho.  

b. Jesus was and is able to save because of his death and resurrection.

The apostles always mentioned these great saving events in their preaching. Peter does that here. In chapter 3:15 he told the Jews; “You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead.” And in chapter 4:10 he spoke to the Jewish leaders about this Jesus, “whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.” 

Jesus died to take the punishment you and I deserved for our sin. During those hours of darkness on the cross he was forsaken by God, separated from the love and mercy and grace of his Father, so that those who believe in Jesus will never be forsaken. Jesus paid for our sin with his precious blood; he took our place. “All we like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Is 53:6) 

c. Because he died and was raised Jesus can give a complete and total salvation. He can take away your guilt, release you from punishment and save you from eternal death. Jesus can deliver you from the power of the Devil. He can forgive you all your sins and give you eternal life. He can make you right with God and welcome you into the joy of heaven! The authors of the catechism assure us; “those who in true faith accept this saviour have in him all they need for their salvation.” (Q.30) That is true of you if you believe in Jesus.

d. Jesus is the only one who can do this. 

Verse 12 contains a double negative; “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name…by which we must be saved.”
Most unbelievers in our post-modern world find this far too narrow and exclusive. They accuse Christians of being “intolerant”, which is the worst possible sin of this present age, closely connected with the terrible sin of being “narrow-minded”! 

But this was and is the claim of Jesus and of Christianity. Jesus said; “I am the way, the truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) He also said; “Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matt 7:14) He himself is that gate or that door that leads to eternal life. The only way to be saved is to believe in Jesus Christ as God’s One and Only Son and to follow him in a wholehearted life of service.

There are even some in the church who find this too narrow. The World Council of Churches has sought to broaden the scope of salvation to include Jews and Muslims and people from a variety of other religions. That organization of churches wants a broad salvation that includes everyone and excludes no one. 

Those who wrote the Heidelberg Catechism had a more accurate grasp of the teaching of the Bible when they wrote that “salvation cannot be found in anyone else” and that Jesus is “the only saviour and deliverer.” 

They wrote this document in the time of the Reformation and one of the Reformation slogans was Solo Christo, which means, Christ Alone.  Salvation is found in Christ alone, not Christ plus Mary, or Christ plus the saints, or Christ plus our works. Jesus is the all-sufficient saviour. If you believe in him you will be saved.

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

Amen