Continuing the study of “the saints” in Acts 9:32, we learn that righteousness and holiness are gifts of God. Peter’s healings, including baptism of the dead, show that the “commonwealth of Israel” isn’t a new Israel but a more inclusive Israel.
Author: Jeff
Some devout believers in Yeshua (Jesus) think they can never call themselves “holy” or “saints” because they still sin. So why does God and His servants apply such terms frequently to those who sincerely seek Him? At the heart of holiness is God’s acquittal of sin through Yeshua, rather achieving sinlessness.
What did Yokhanan (a.k.a. John the Baptist) mean when he told his disciples that Yeshua was “the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world”? What does it have to do with Passover and the day the Passover lamb is selected?
Sha’ul (Saul) encounters the true Messiah, Yeshua, while traveling to Damascus to arrest His followers. Over more than a dozen years, God transforms the “bulldog” of traditional Judaism of the time into one of the most powerful witnesses of Messiah Yeshua in the Roman empire.
The “Preacher” in Ecclesiastes said “there is nothing new under the sun.” The hatred against Yehudah, the Jews, has persisted throughout time, and the spirit of Amalek has taken many forms, including Haman, Antiochus IV, etc. Yet the LORD has kept Israel in the form of mostly Yehudah intact. Through Yehudah came the Messiah, the Seed of Eve Who crushed the serpent’s head and the Seed of Abraham Who brought God’s blessing to the world. That preservation of Yehudah above all odds through the eons, in the face of concerted genocidal efforts, is testimony that indeed the LORD is the one at work.
The rebuke of Simon the Magician highlights how bitterness and resentment lead to wickedness. Yet how is vengeance a part of forgiveness and personal peace? As Acts 8 ends, the Ethiopian official asks what is now a 2,000-year-old question, Can prophecies about Israel apply to Messiah?
The Sanhedrin and Simon the magician demonstrated a thirst for the power of God without having His Spirit change the heart. God has predestined mankind to be His people and sent Messiah Yeshua to make that possible again.