Alright all you avid readers (I know there are so many of you :) ) This semester I have an assignment in my Honors New Testament class to post a blog each week on a given prompt. I will start all these blogs with "NT - ..." so just keep in mind these blogs are for a class assignment. Here we go!
Since the scriptures are given us for our benefit and learning as a gift from God, we ought to try to learn something from them right? But what ought we to learn? The most important and significant things of course! Since we have recently read the first few chapters of Acts for class, I want to try to find the two points that are most important to me which are imbedded in Acts Chapter 2 (that's a book in the New Testament, specifically in the second half of the King James Version of the Bible for those of you who are not familiar with it).
1. Verses 23 and 24 state, "[Christ], being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain; Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it."
I think the strongest point here is that God's will always comes to pass, and no manner of wickedness of man can thwart that. I did not know this before, but apparently the Jews believed that if a person was crucified he was cursed of God. So, the idea that Christ was the Messiah would have been absurd to them. However, God "hath raised up" Christ and brought His will to pass despite the will of the wicked. God has the power to reverse death if He so desires. I have never thought about it like that until now. Somebody wicked could come up and slaughter me tomorrow, but if God's will was to keep me on the earth for His own purpose, He could bring me back to life (I don't really think He would, but if He wanted to He could).
2. Verse 38 is especially meaningful to me, it states, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Right off the bat, this didn't really mean anything to me, however, after continuing on to the verses that follow, a new idea began to form in my mind. Peter was telling the people that they cannot be saved simply by calling upon God, or saying they believe in God. They have to know who it is they are calling upon and believing in. To know that person, you must first know the name, which is Jesus Christ. After that come the mighty miracles that arise from the power of the NAME of JESUS CHRIST. After the people understand this, they receive His word and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, they continue stedfastly in the doctrine in the name of Jesus Christ, they "continued daily with one accord (vs. 46)" and did many great things because they had been changed by the name of Jesus Christ. Now I know why we, as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, use the name of Jesus Christ in our title. His name has power. That is why we pray in his name, give blessings in his name, take upon us his name, and are changed by his name.
No comments:
Post a Comment