Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for this is none under name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
What’s the biggest obstacle in open-air preaching and evangelism today? I’d say it’s the blatant denial of God and His authority to righteously judge. (Psalm 10:3-4,13) Many folks today, largely due to what is called ‘postmodernism,’ deny the very existence of sin, essentially. No sin means no need for salvation.
What’s the second biggest *problem* I encounter today? What about the LARGE number of people who actually acknowledge sin and, in fact, admit they are sinners? What distinguishes them from those who will not perish? Christ does. John 14:6 (article here).
Why is this important? Because Satan has created counterfeit religious systems; these systems teach partial truths, such as the truth that there is such a thing as sin. Satan is entirely satisfied if you believe you are a sinner, as long as you don’t obey Christ. So false systems have been created which allow men and women to believe they are a sinner, but to deny the truth spoken in Acts 4:12. Neither is there salvation in ANY OTHER (emphasis my own). The apostles not only proclaimed that salvation is available in the Christ, but affirmed Jesus’s own declaration that there is NO salvation in any other. Jesus isn’t an “option.” He is not one of many possible paths to God. He is the only path, and the only path to salvation. Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness, Church of Christ and Catholicism – these are all religions that deny Christ as the only savior; the only provision for salvation. Christ isn’t one of a number of gods to put on your shelf, He’s God almighty, solitarily! He doesn’t open the door for you to work your way to God, or prove your righteousness to Him; He is the only provision and all the provision!
Does it offend you that I say Christ alone can save? Good! It means you understand the scripture; God has enlightened you to spiritual truths you could otherwise never understand. Praise Him and fall on your knees and beg for His mercy, through Christ alone. If you are not bothered by this it is likely because you are already His; or you are suppressing some truth. (Romans 1:18) You love you sin so you deny its very existence or the power of God. Your pride will not allow you to fully and totally rest on Jesus Christ for your soul’s atonement, because you believe God ought not judge you, or you have a perverted view of God, an idol you worship; usually this is the “God who would never judge.” You make up pithy sayings like, “My god is too big for that” or “My god is love, she would never hate or punish her creatures.”
These statements seem profound in their simplicity from human terms, but they are unscriptural and not based in any truth; they are rooted in “what makes you feel better about yourself.” Christ came to free you from that slavery! The bondage of trusting in an unseen, irrational god. The God of your own reason, or Darwin or Dawkins! Instead you are called to trust in the seen (through the incarnation and revelation through scripture) God, Jesus Christ. You are urged to believe the rational God whose logic is infallible, whose arguments can never lose, whose conclusions are always based on true assumptions and reason.
Dear Christian reader, are you LIVING AS IF you believe this verse? Do you desperately pray for your unsaved family, coworkers, neighbors and acquaintances like they may GO TO HELL ANY SECOND? Do you support other people’s religious activities even if you know they deny salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone? Do you celebrate religious diversity in the name of tolerance and getting along with others, all the while allowing people to be deceived by demons and false teachers? Ultimately, by NOT leading them to the cross, you are, due to your negligence, leading them to Hell. Depraved Indifference is a legal term which we can define as
conduct must be ‘so wanton, so deficient in a moral sense of concern, so lacking in regard for the life or lives of others, and so blameworthy as to warrant the same criminal liability as that which the law imposes upon a person who intentionally causes a crime.
For you to say you believe Acts 4:12 is to say you believe that everyone you meet is either going to Hell due to their sin, or on their way to Heaven based on the merit of Christ alone, by His grace alone. For you to approach any individual without the mindset that “this person either LOVES the gospel or NEEDS the gospel” is irrational, based on that belief. So we must always be ready! (1 Peter 3:15) Be encouraged, you carry the most important message ever from the greatest King ever about the most awesome story ever! Share it! Do it with joy, compassion, respect, love and boldness! Everyone NEEDS it or already EMBRACES it, so proclaim it and trust the results to God!