Acts is one of the easiest books in the Bible to read. It has a fast-paced narrative filled with memorable scenes.
One such scene is recorded in chapter 3. Peter and John went up to the temple to pray one afternoon. There the apostles encountered a beggar who had been lame from birth. The man asked for a little money but instead received a priceless gift. Peter announced, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus the Messiah of Nazareth, walk.” As Peter helped the man to his feet, his lifelong infirmity was instantly and completely healed. “He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.”
A crowd soon gathered in “wonder and amazement,” giving Peter an opportunity to address his fellow Israelites. His words give us a window into the mind of the man perhaps closest to Jesus of Nazareth. It’s also a chance to compare the early apostolic message with the kind of preaching we hear from evangelical pulpits today. In some ways they’re similar, but in other ways strikingly different. And those stark differences should make us sit up and take notice.
Today I’d like to focus on the fact that Peter’s sermon begins and ends with references to Abraham. “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.” Sadly, the vast majority of evangelicals fail to understand the key role the patriarchs play in the Biblical narrative. Most regard the Old Testament as simply a long prelude to the appearance of Jesus.
At best, evangelicals use the stories of the Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as isolated anecdotes, useful for illustrating either commendable or regrettable behavior. (On one hand, Abraham exhibited great faith by going boldly to the land which the LORD showed him. Unfortunately, he lied (twice) about his marriage to Sarah.)
At worst, some pastors regard the Old Testament as entirely irrelevant, except for the brute fact that Abraham was the physical ancestor of Jesus. (Ironically, this view equally popular among conservatives who seek to distance Jesus from the Torah’s insistence on obedience and liberals who wish to brush aside the Old Testament’s consistent condemnation of homosexuality. But that’s a blog for another day!)
Yet here in the book of Acts we find the apostles repeatedly presenting Jesus the Messiah as the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham and his descendants, the people of Israel. We discover that the early Christians saw themselves as the renewed Israel, carrying forward God’s purposes for the world.
We simply cannot understand Peter’s speech without learning to think like Jews. (Something evangelicals are, well, pretty terrible at.) Jewish thinking always begins with God as the creator of all things. God fashioned humans in his very own image so that they might govern the creation wisely, allowing the world to flourish as a place of peace, joy, abundance and life. Sadly, the vast majority of evangelicals regard the creation as merely a temporary waystation on the road to our true home in “heaven.”
Immediately after the creation of mankind, we encounter a crucial moment. “God blessed [mankind] and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” The word blessing carries tremendous weight in the scriptures. We might think of it as a concise way of expressing all the richness of the divine favor towards creation in general and specifically towards image-bearing humanity.
Contrary to much modern thought, the God of the Bible isn’t a cosmic tyrant perpetuating injustice. Nor is he a short-tempered bureaucrat pedantically seeking to find fault. The truth is that God is overflowing with love and generosity. He has astonishingly marvelous intentions for his creation. And God is totally committed to making those intentions a reality. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him.”
Of course, humans utterly failed to fulfill their crucial role. Their rebellion and sin resulted in alienation and enmity between God and man. Moreover, the whole creation was plunged into chaos, suffering, bloodshed, depravity, injustice and death. Rather than lavish blessing, humans instead brought God’s curses upon themselves and the world.
It’s crucial that we keep this basic framework in mind when we reach the story of Abraham in Genesis 12. The account begins with God’s command to Abraham: “Go from your county, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” This command came with a great promise: “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
The notion of blessing is invoked five times in these two short verses. The writer’s point could hardly be more obvious: the blessing of God bestowed upon humanity (and all creation) at the beginning, then tragically squandered, will be restored through Abraham and his descendants. The tremendous importance of this moment often goes completely unrecognized. God here irrevocably commits to rescue and redeem the whole cosmos, and this great salvation will come about through Israel.
The people of Israel clung to these promises down through the centuries. They were Abraham’s children! They were the ones who would at last fulfill the divine vocation for humanity. They were called to offer God the worship and obedience he required. In this way, they would reflect the divine image, govern the creation wisely and restore God’s blessing to the world. The dark consequences of human sin would be reversed. That is how God’s salvation would be accomplished.
This is the world of thought which must be embraced if we are to understand the words Peter spoke to his fellow Israelites.
Here is the climax of Peter’s oration: “Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
In no uncertain terms, Peter declares that, in Jesus the Messiah and through power of the Holy Spirit, the blessing of Abraham is at last coming upon Israel and indeed, upon “all peoples on earth.” And Peter explicitly states that this blessing involves “turning each of you from your wicked ways.” This final sentence carries massive importance yet is consistently ignored or downplayed by evangelical pastors.
If asked about the blessing of Abraham, most evangelicals would insist that this involves the forgiveness of sins which we receive through “faith” in Jesus’ atoning death on the cross. Any human conduct or effort is strictly excluded. Yet this scheme totally fails to account for what Peter actually says.
For Peter, the all-important blessing of Abraham requires a radical alteration of life. Human beings must turn away from their wicked ways and instead embrace righteousness. Please note: this righteousness is not merely an abstract quality which is credited to us. Rather, Peter is describing a concrete change whereby people leave behind past sins and embark upon a new existence characterized by actions that are good, right and pleasing in God’s sight.
This makes perfect sense when we consider the true nature of salvation. Salvation is often conceived as mere admittance through the “pearly gates” into “heaven.” That is an impoverished caricature. Genuine Biblical salvation requires restoring human beings to the image of God so that we might fulfill our original vocation of governing creation wisely and thereby enjoying divine blessing. Quite simply, this reality cannot be accomplished without the amendment of the entire person. A change in belief or trust is not enough; it must involve behavior and conduct.
In the end, we find here yet another passage in the Bible which severely challenges traditional evangelical notions of salvation. No wonder why so many pastors ignore this text, perhaps hoping that their listeners won’t notice the glaring discordance.
Now it’s also certainly true that Peter does not envisage this dramatic alteration coming about through unaided human effort. Note his wording: “When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.” This transformation is firmly rooted in the power of the risen Messiah, whose Spirit enables his followers to become the genuine human beings they were made to be.
