Faith in the Name of Jesus

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

FAITH IN THE NAME OF JESUS

Acts 3:11-16

11 While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.

NIV    

We have noticed and looked at the fact the people were astonished, but now we should focus on the response of Peter to their astonishment. Peter asks them why were they surprised and why were they staring at him and John. He was quick to make it clear that this miracle was certainly not because of any power or godliness they had. This in and of itself could be a good life lesson for us. Sometimes we use the first person when speaking about the gifts, such as, I have the gift of discernment, or I have the gift of teaching. This might imply that we think we have some form of godliness, which might not be the truth. All that we are, all that we have, all that we do is solely because of God. All the gifts are his, all the power is his, and how and who he empowers is completely under his authority. We can only be a willing vessel to be used by God for his purpose which is to bring glory to himself. Any pride we have in our own abilities, our own talents, or display of his gifts operating in our lives is sin. Peter made it clear it was not about him, but about Jesus, however he also made it clear this man was healed due to having faith in the name of Jesus. To have any of the gifts of God displayed or operating in our lives, such as this gift of healing, or any of the gifts, such as the gift of helps, administration, discernment, tongues, prophesy, word of knowledge, teaching, preaching, or any of the other gifts we need to have faith in the name of Jesus. Certainly we all can learn in the human capacity many abilities, but we cannot function as God intends us to, unless we have faith in the name of Jesus. We can teach, we can preach, we can help others, we can administrate, we can give, we can have knowledge, all in human strength, but that does not mean we are operating in the gifts given by God, for we cannot heal, have wisdom, speak in tongues, or interpret, we cannot prophesy or perform miracles, unless the power of God is operating through us. So if we are going to bring glory to God, we must always be sure to credit God for any of our actions, which are brought about by the Spirit operating in our lives because of our faith in the name of Jesus.