WWUTT 2641 Paul Preaches Justification by Faith Alone (Acts 13:26-43)

Even from the first sermon recorded for us, that was delivered by the Apostle Paul, he was proclaiming justification by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved by faith in him when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily study in the word of Christ for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness. Find all our videos and other ministry resources at www .utt .com.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Acts, we're in chapter 13, where Paul is preaching in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch. And we're gonna pick up where we left off last time. So let me start reading in verse 26, and I'll go through verse 41.

Hear the word of the Lord. Brothers, sons of Abraham's family and those among you who fear God, to us the word of this salvation was sent. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, recognizing neither him nor the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.

And though they found no ground for death, they asked Pilate that he be executed. And when they had finished all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

But God raised him from the dead. And for many days, he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now his witnesses to the people. And we proclaim to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children and that he raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second Psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you.

But that he raised him up from the dead, no longer to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, I will give you the holy and faithful loving kindnesses of David. Therefore, he also says in another Psalm, you will not give your holy one over to see corruption.

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and saw corruption. But he whom God raised did not see corruption. Therefore, let it be known to you brothers, that through him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

And that in him, everyone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified from through the law of Moses. Therefore watch out so that the things spoken of in the prophets may not come upon you.

Look you scoffers and marvel and perish for I am accomplishing a work in your days, a work which you will never believe though someone should recount it to you. And there we will stop as that is the conclusion of the sermon.

After that verses 42 and 43, Paul and Barnabas are pled to continue preaching to them that they would come back the next Sabbath and preach these things. There were some places where these words were received and then others, of course, as we will see going through the book of Acts where these words are rejected and then Paul goes on to the Gentiles.

But here is Paul is preaching in this synagogue. He is preaching to both Jews and Gentiles. Let me come back up to verse 26. Brothers, sons of Abraham's family and those among you who fear God, that's an address to the Gentiles.

So Paul and Barnabas are preaching at the synagogue to kind of recap what we read in the first part of this sermon. By the way, this being the longest sermon that Paul has preached in the synagogue in the book of Acts.

So this is the first of Paul's sermons that we're hearing him proclaim. And at the start, the men of the synagogue had asked Paul and Barnabas, hey, you're here, share a word with us. And so Paul stands up and he says, men of Israel and you who fear God.

So right from the very beginning of the sermon, he is addressing the Jews and those Gentiles that would be among them to hear the word of God read. So this sermon is divided into two parts and we're going into the second part today.

In those two parts, they are separated by that address, addressing the Jews and addressing Gentiles as those who fear God. And so in the first part of the sermon, Paul goes through some background, some history of the Jews with regards to their coming out of Egypt, God rescuing them from slavery.

They received the land. There was the period of the judges. There was David who was raised up, a man after God's own heart. And from the seed of David, God brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. That was in verse 23.

After John had preached before his coming, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. So he's even recalling to them the ministry of John the Baptist. Now remember, Paul is preaching in Pisidian Antioch.

This is not the same as Antioch. It's a different Antioch in the region of Pisidian. Paul and Barnabas have already preached in Antioch, which was on the Eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea, north of Jerusalem.

So they had already preached there and had led many Gentiles to come to know the Lord. Paul and Barnabas had spent a year there in the other Antioch, which is also the more populated Antioch. This one is in Pisidian Antioch.

But here you would have, even in this synagogue, people who would have known and had seen the ministry of John the Baptist, even those who would have been witness to the things that happened during Passover when Jesus Christ was crucified.

There were people in that synagogue who were likely in Jerusalem at the time that Jesus was crucified. So as Paul is proclaiming to them that Jesus is the fulfillment of all that had been spoken about in the law and the prophets he's not uttering a name to them they had not heard.

Some of them were even there and heard of Jesus being given over to be crucified and all of these events happening, all of these events that had consumed Jerusalem at the time of Passover. So if you'll remember back to the end of Luke, after Jesus had risen from the dead, there was that whole event of the walk to Emmaus where Jesus had appeared to two of the disciples there as they were going to Emmaus.

And he asked them, of course, Jesus doesn't reveal himself to them as being Jesus. They're just talking with him and they don't recognize who he is. They don't really know or have understood yet his being risen from the dead.

The women have testified to it but they just don't understand it. How could he possibly have come back from the dead? And would he be like zombie Jesus? Is he still gonna look like the beaten man that we wrapped in cloth and put into a tomb?

And so they're walking along and they're talking and when Jesus had asked him like, what are you talking about? They're baffled by this. Have you not been here these last few days? Do you not know what it is that's been going on?

So anyone who had been in Jerusalem at the time of that Passover, which would have been several years now before this sermon that we're having being preached in Pisidia in Antioch, for anybody who was there, they knew what was going on.

It was an event that consumed everything that was going on in Jerusalem at that time. There was quite an uproar concerning all of this. That even the disciples are baffled when somebody has to ask them, what are you talking about?

Have you not been here? Do you not know what has been going on in these days? So as Paul and Barnabas are in the synagogue at Pisidia in Antioch, they are talking about a name all these people knew. They knew that name.

Even if they weren't there in Jerusalem, they knew this name. It was widely spoken about among the Jews. And Paul is saying here, this Jesus whom you've heard about descended from David. He checks all the boxes concerning a Messiah who was to come.

He's the one, that's the one John the Baptist talked about. It's the one that the people turned over to be crucified. He is the fulfillment of everything that the law and the prophets told us about. And so in this next half of the sermon, as Paul starts off, brothers, sons of Abraham's family and those among you who fear God, to us, the word of this salvation was sent.

So Paul is identifying himself as an apostle here. He has been given the word of God. He has seen the risen Christ. Jesus has told him this gospel. As Paul testified in Galatians chapter one, he did not receive it from man.

It was not taught to him by any man, but he received it directly from the Lord. So Jesus has commissioned him to go out as a preacher of the gospel. To us, the word of this salvation was sent. And he's talked about those who were with him, who came down from Galilee to Jerusalem with him and are now testifying to all that they had seen and heard.

And so Paul puts us in the same place with the rest of the apostles. We're the ones who are proclaiming this. Now, it could also be that he says to us, the word of this salvation was sent could mean to exactly those that he is addressing.

Sons of Abraham's family, those who have been descended in the line of Abraham and those among you who fear God, to us, the word of this salvation was sent. It could also mean that we've heard this now.

We've heard the gospel. But I think more in the context of what he's talking about, it's with regards to his role as an apostle. Barnabas and Paul, particularly even standing among them and giving this word that they've asked him to share.

So verse 27, for those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, recognizing neither him nor the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. They did not understand that the law and the prophets were pointing to Christ, but they still fulfilled what was said in the law and the prophets by putting Jesus to death, exactly as the law and the prophets said would happen.

That he would be put to death, that he would be crushed for our iniquities, that he would be despised by men, that even his garments would be divided, that none of his bones would be broken, but his hands and his feet would be pierced, that he would even be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver.

All of these things were prophesied about and they were fulfilled by those people who did not understand what the scriptures were saying, yet still fulfilled them by condemning Jesus. And though they found no ground for death, he was innocent, he was not a criminal, he was not guilty of any of the things that they accused him of, nor could they even find testimony that would agree when they tried to charge him with anything, they could not find anything to charge him with.

They found no ground for death, nothing that was deserving of the death penalty, but they asked Pilate that he would be executed. And verse 29, when they had finished all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

And you go through the gospel accounts, all of the gospel accounts, especially Luke in this context, because this is the sequel to the gospel of Luke, both Luke and Acts having been written by Luke. But you look at the gospel accounts concerning his crucifixion and his burial, and all of those things are prophesied about in the scriptures.

Talked about in the Psalms, talked about in the prophets, every event that happens there, from the things that they even say to Jesus, the words that Jesus prays from the cross, the fact that he is beaten beyond recognition were fulfilled and done with his death on the cross.

After he had finished all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. So Paul and Barnabas are there, they're preaching in the synagogue about Jesus, and they're confirming to the people there exactly what you've heard.

You've heard that he was raised from the dead? That's what God did. God raised him from the dead. And for many days, he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now his witnesses to the people.

So those disciples who had been with him from Galilee came down to Jerusalem. If you'll remember Luke's gospel, that's kind of the trajectory of that gospel, around chapter nine, where it says that Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.

And then from chapter nine to the triumphal entry, everything is about Jesus and his disciples going to Jerusalem to fulfill what he had come to do, to lay his life down and be crucified and be buried and risen again.

And so that's the way the gospel of Luke was written. Mostly, most of that gospel is Jesus and his disciples going to Jerusalem. So the ones whom Jesus brought with him out of Galilee to Jerusalem are the ones who are witnesses to the people.

And for many days, he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem after his resurrection. We started the book of Acts that way. In Acts chapter one, verse three, it says that for 40 days between his resurrection from the grave and his ascension into heaven, he appeared to his disciples, showing them that he was alive by many convincing proofs.

And he taught them about the kingdom of God. That was going on for 40 days between his resurrection and his ascension. And now verse 32, Paul says, and we proclaim to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children and that he raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second Psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you.

It's interesting that Paul calls that the second Psalm. And that was already the order of the Psalms before we even had the book that we know today as the Psalms or rather the compilation of scripture as we have it today.

I mean, all of that was already in order even at the time of Christ. So the second Psalm at the time that Jesus was alive and was preaching on this earth was called the second Psalm even among the Jews at that time.

They had already compiled the Psalms in this way. So Paul refers to it that way in the second Psalm, you are my son today, I have begotten you. So Paul is pointing out to these people there in the synagogue, that the son that's being talked about there in the second Psalm is Jesus Christ.

He is the son of God. He is the one begotten of the father. Not that he had an earthly father. He is from the heavenly father. He is one who can be called a son to a degree that none of us can be called sons of God because even Israel were referred to as sons of God.

But Jesus is the son of God. He is the one begotten of the father. He is the fulfillment of all those things that were said about him in the second Psalm. And that Psalm of course would have been well-known to the people that are there in the synagogue.

The way it concludes Psalm 2, 12, kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. This is the one that God raised up. I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.

I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you and the nations would be made his heritage. This is what Paul is testifying to, to the synagogue there at Pisidian Antioch.

And going on verse 34, but that he raised him up from the dead no longer to return to corruption. He has spoken in this way. I will give you the holy and faithful loving kindnesses of David. So this is Paul arguing from the scriptures that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant.

So that King and that Messiah that we were waiting for that would come from the line of David, it's Jesus. Verse 35, therefore, he also says in another Psalm, you will not give your holy one over to see corruption.

That's in Psalm 16. So for David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among the fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised did not see corruption.

This is very similar to what Peter preached at Pentecost in Acts chapter two. And we see Paul preaching the same thing in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch. Verse 38, therefore, let it be known to you brothers that through him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

This is our greatest need, it is to have our sins forgiven. Our greatest need is not finally to have a Messiah that is gonna arise to an earthly throne and is gonna conquer those nations that oppress us, especially the Romans.

Our greatest need fulfilled by some earthly King. That was what they were expecting of their Messiah. That is not our greatest need. Our greatest need is the forgiveness of sins before God. And Jesus gives us that.

Through him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. And this fulfilling what is said at the end of Luke's gospel. In Luke 24, 46, he said to them, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.

And we're seeing that that is being fulfilled right here with Paul and Barnabas preaching in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch. So the forgiveness of sins through Christ has been proclaimed to you. Verse 39, and that in him, everyone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.

Justification by faith alone being proclaimed by Paul and Barnabas right there in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch. Everyone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.

Now, some will take that to say, well, the law of Moses there, it's talking about the ceremonial law and Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial law. We could not have been forgiven by our practicing the ceremonial law anyway.

No, the law of Moses is everything that is written down in the law of Moses. Even by your keeping the 10 commandments, you could not justify yourself because you're already guilty of having broken all of them.

So we are not justified by keeping the law. We are justified by faith alone in Jesus Christ. This is the doctrine of justification by faith alone that you're hearing from Paul and Barnabas being preached in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch.

Paul goes on to say verse 40, therefore watch out so that the things spoken of in the prophets may not come upon you. Look you scoffers and marvel and perish for I am accomplishing a work in your days, a work which you will never believe though someone should recount it to you.

If you don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and Paul is preaching to them, he is recounting to them what God has done, what he had prophesied in the law and the prophets and he has fulfilled in his son, Jesus Christ.

If you don't believe in Christ, then you will become like those scoffers whom God will judge and they will perish because they did not believe in the one whom God had sent. Jesus Christ who is the fulfillment of all those things that had been written about before his coming.

And now what's the reaction of the people to this verses 42 and 43. And as Paul and Barnabas were leaving, the people kept pleading that these words might be spoken to them the next Sabbath. Now, when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas who speaking to them were urging them to continue in the grace of God.

So now believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, they should now walk in the word of God that has been proclaimed to them. Our works do not save us, but if you have been saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ, you will do good works.

And so that's now the urging of Paul and Barnabas that they would work or show themselves approved and that they would walk in the righteousness of Christ that they have received through faith. And that's what we must do, my friends.

We believe and are forgiven our sins by faith in Jesus Christ and no other way. But now being followers of Christ, we demonstrate that we belong to Christ when we follow the word of Christ that has been given to us.

So turn from sin to the Lord Jesus Christ, walk in holiness and be sanctified all our days until that day that we join our Lord forever in glory. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this reminder in this sermon that we are justified not by our works, but we are saved by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And what a wonderful work you have accomplished in him that we could be forgiven our sins and receive salvation in this way. Lead us in paths of righteousness for your namesake. We pray in Jesus name, amen.

Thank you for listening to When We Understand The Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website, www .wutt .com and click on the Give tab in the top right corner of the page.

Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study When We Understand The Text.