Acts 4:12

Act_4:12

Neither is there salvation in any other.

Salvation in none other

This is--

1. The substance of every apostolic announcement.

2. The experience of every pardoned sinner.

3. The strength of every courageous confession.

4. The foundation of all missionary preaching of the Church. (J. P. Lange, D. D.)

Salvation in Christ alone

I. Salvation is a subject of world-wide interest, for all need it.

1. The infant at birth needs salvation, and unless kindly hands save it, and minister to its necessities, it must perish. Through Childhood the saving interposition of others is needed. Even in manhood there is constant exposure to dangers, salvation from which is required. In age, sickness, and sorrow, how great is the need of temporal succour and salvation!

2. The unhappy fall of our first parents has involved all their descendants in ruin. By it the human race has been brought into imminent peril (Rom_3:10; Rom_3:23; Eze_18:4). Nor is the danger of sinners the less real because they are ignorant of it, or affect to make light of it. See to it that you neglect not so great salvation. To give prior consideration to any earthly consideration, however pressing, is a terrible mistake.

II. Salvation in Christ.

1. With the general outlines of the plan of salvation in Christ we are all happily familiar. We know how the Divine pity was extended to man in his fallen estate (Job_33:24). Christ undertook our cause, and purchased our salvation by His death (Isa_53:5; Rom_5:6; Rom_5:8; 1Pe_2:24; 1Pe_3:18). Now, since Christ was really God, His sufferings had an infinite value, and His life might well be regarded as more than an equivalent for the life of guilty man; and since He was perfectly man, it was both possible and proper for Him to take mans place, endure his punishment, and procure his salvation, so that God can be, and is just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus (Rom_3:26).

2. The conditions on which this salvation is bestowed are also familiar, viz., repentance and faith (Act_20:21). Compliance with these conditions is necessary. Nor can you justly complain of this. The seaman, provided with chart and compass, and instructions as to their use, who refuses to follow his instructions, and perishes, has only himself to blame. The man who has taken poison, and refuses the antidote, will have but scant pity.

3. And how much does the expression salvation in Christ include?

(1) By it the mind is brought in contact with the entire range of human history. We are led to think of the fall of our first parents, the promise of a Deliverer in the seed of the woman, the types and shadows of the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, the incarnation of the Messiah, His atoning death, His triumphant resurrection and ascension, the mission of the Holy Spirit as His representative and administrator until He shall come again, His high-priestly intercession and mediatorial reign, the coming judgment of quick and dead.

(2) Nor are thoughts connected with the salvation of the individual less full of interest. Salvation in Christ comprehends the first dawn of conviction of sin, the apprehension of the plan of salvation, the exercise of repentance and faith, the joy of forgiveness, adoption, and renewal, a life of holiness and usefulness, with its vicissitudes, its conflicts, and its triumphs, conquest of death, entrance into heaven, everlasting life in Gods presence, where there is fulness of joy, the light of perfect knowledge, the glow of perfect love, the rapture of perfect felicity, and all this for ever.

4. This salvation, as it is needed by all, is adapted to all. Of all so-called faiths the gospel alone is equally suited to all latitudes and Lives. Some religions can only flourish in certain countries, just as some kinds of food are peculiar to certain climates; but this seed of the kingdom is like corn--wherever man lives it will grow.

5. And this greatest of all blessings, while adapted to all, is intended for all. It is cause for thankfulness that the chief blessings even of this world are not the exclusive property of the great and wealthy. And salvation may be the portion of the poor as well as of the rich. Moreover, it may be embraced by the illiterate as well as by the learned.

6. This salvation is in the name of Christ. Amongst the Jews a mystic virtue was supposed to be attached to certain names (chap. 19:14-16). And we rejoice to know that the name of Jesus is still the most potent of charms, and is invested with glorious mystic and saving properties.

III. Salvation in Christ alone.

1. With regard to the salvation of the race, of no other being except Christ has it ever been affirmed, He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world (1Jn_2:2). Christ, however, having redeemed all, claims the homage and the hearts of all (1Ti_4:10).

2. As to the salvation of the individual, this, too, is to be had in Christ alone.

(1) We cannot save ourselves. The poor sinner under conviction resolves, it may be, to turn over a new leaf, but the first thing he does is to make a blot at the top of the next page. But even supposing he could succeed, what would it profit him while his former sins still cried for vengeance? For a sinner to undertake to lead a moral life henceforward is merely like a bankrupt promising his creditors that for the future he will always pay cash. Nor can we save ourselves by the merit of our penitence and faith. Impenitence is a perpetuation and aggravation of sin; but penitence has in it no atoning efficacy. And unbelief--the refusal to accept Christ--is a sin; but faith is not a meritorious act which earns salvation.

(2) And as we cannot save ourselves, so also no other human being can save us. We would not undervalue the loving efforts of others for our salvation. Who can tell how much those of us who are now saved owe to the examples, counsels, prayers, and faith of pious parents and devoted friends? The conditions of salvation cannot be fulfilled by proxy.

(3) Nor can any human system save us.

(a) Look at the various systems of heathenism. How degrading and demoralising their teaching and tendency!

(b) Sometimes an impious priesthood has professed to dispense salvation by external religious rites and sacramental efficacy; but such a claim is mere blasphemy.

(c) Philosophy has often made proud pretensions as to the elevation and salvation of mankind, but her actual performances have not been such as to warrant boasting. Education and civilisation may do much for man; but with regard to his sorest need they are helpless. The greatest benefits which it is in their power to bestow may be enjoyed, and enjoyed to the full, by sinners whose end is everlasting destruction. In the great work of human redemption Christ is absolutely alone (Isa_63:1-3; Isa_45:22; Mat_1:21; Heb_7:25). (A. O. Smith, B. A.)

Salvation by Christ alone

I. What is implied. That there is salvation for us in Christ, we appeal--

1. To the typical representations of Christ. There were a great variety of sacrifices under the law which typified the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. To the positive declarations concerning Him. Nothing can be conceived more clear and strong than the Scripture declarations of Christs sufficiency to save. How forcibly has the prophet marked the extent (Isa_45:22), the fulness (Isa_1:18), and the freeness (Isa_55:1-2) of His salvation!

3. To matter of fact. We can draw aside the veil of heaven, and point to some before the throne of God who are such monuments of grace as leave no doubt respecting the sufficiency of Christ to save any others whatsoever. Let us now turn our attention to--

II. What is expressed. It is of infinite importance to every one of us to know that, as there is salvation for us in Christ, so there is no salvation in any other.

1. There is not.

(1) In whom else can we find the requisites of a Saviour? In whom can we find a sufficiency, either of merit to justify, or of power to renew, a sinner? If we should apply to the highest angel in heaven to give us of his merit, he would tell us that he himself is only an unprofitable servant; for that he does no more than is his duty to do (Luk_17:10). If we should intreat him to change our hearts, he would confess his utter inability to effect so great a work. Shall we then look to ourselves? We are full of sin.

(2) If there were any other Saviour, the most eminent of Gods servants would have had some intimation of it. Abraham (Rom_4:3-5); David would probably have been acquainted with such an important fact in order to his own salvation; but he sought refuge in none but Christ (Psa_51:7). We might hope at least that some information of this kind would have been given to the Apostle Paul (Php_3:9; 1Co_2:2).

2. There cannot be. We are warranted by the Scriptures to say that, consistently with His honour, as the Moral Governor of the universe, man could not have been saved without a Mediator: nor could any Mediator besides Jesus have been found to execute all that was necessary for our salvation. But there is yet another ground on which we may deny that any other could save us, namely, that if we were indebted to any other, either for righteousness or strength, we could not join in the songs of the redeemed in heaven, but must separate from the heavenly choir (Rev_7:9-10), and ascribe to ourselves, or to some other, the honour of our salvation. And how would this comport with the dignity of Jehovah, who has determined that no flesh should glory in His presence?

Address--

1. The careless. Wherefore are men so indifferent about their spiritual concerns? Is it that they are in no danger of perishing? Surely the very circumstance of Christ being sent down from heaven to die for us is enough to alarm all our fears, and to convince us that, if the salvation offered us could be procured by none but Him, the danger of those who are not interested in Him must be inexpressibly great.

2. The self-righteous. It is difficult to convince those who are looking to Christ in part that they are really renouncing Christ altogether.

3. The desponding. By nature and practice. Let none complain as though they were beyond the reach of mercy: for there is nothing impossible with Jesus: with Him there is mercy; with Him is plenteous redemption; and He shall redeem Israel from all his sins (Act_3:16; Act_4:10). (Theological Sketch-Book.)

Salvation only from above

In Germany there was a prison of exquisite beauty; its floors and walls were highly polished; it was roofless, and the prisoner could look out upon the beautiful sky. A prisoner was placed therein, and for a moment congratulated himself upon the polish and splendour of his apartments; he could freely breathe the fresh air and see the stars that decked the brow of night, or the sun that rose in glory; but after a time he observed that the walls were gradually approaching him, softly as the fall of the dew from the hand of night; noiselessly, as by the force of gravitation, those walls drew nearer, inch by inch, and as they came closer and closer the cold sweat stood upon his brow, for he saw that those walls were soon to embrace him in the arms of death. There was but one way of escape, and that was from above; a friendly hand might possibly be put down, but there was no such friendly hand for him. That represents the condition of humanity; the walls are approaching, there is but one way of escape, and the relief comes from above. The Son of the Highest from His Fathers throne is reaching down His hand of power into our dungeon; our hope is to grasp it, or the walls of our dungeon will crush us to death. There is none other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. (J. P. Newman, LL. D.)

Salvation in Christ alone

You have been a good child to your parents, said the venerable George

III. to his daughter, the Princess Amelia; we have nothing for which to reproach you; but I need not tell you that it is not of yourself alone that you can be saved, and that your acceptance with God must depend on your faith and trust in the merits of the Redeemer. I know it, replied the dying princess, with gentle resignation, and I could not wish for a better trust.

Christ the only Saviour

Believe a dying man, said Dr. Johnson in his last days to his physician. There is no salvation but in the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

Christ the only Saviour found out too late

It is not long since that a prominent business man, when closely pressed by his pastor, who had lately come to the church, replied with a call force which was meant to put an end to further pertinacity: I am interested in all religious matters; I am always glad to see the ministers when they call; but I have in the years past thought the subject over long and carefully, and I have come to the decision deliberately that I have no personal need of Jesus Christ as a Saviour in the sense you preach. Only two weeks from this interview, the same man was suddenly prostrated with disease; the illness was of such a character as to forbid his conversing with any one, and the interdict from speaking was continued until he was within an hour of death. A solemn moment was that in which a question was put to him, intimating he might talk now if he could--nothing would harm him. The last thing, and the only thing, he said was in a melancholy and frightened whisper, Who will carry me over the river? (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

Christ the only Saviour

A young French nobleman, a particular friend of Napoleon III., becoming unaccountably gloomy in mind, and threatened with insanity, was urged by the Emperor to apply for advice and treatment to the celebrated Dr. Forbes Winslow. He came to London, and the great doctor, after careful questioning, discovered the character of his disease. He was tormented with a thought--and the thought was Eternity! where shall I spend it? This haunted him day and night. Dr. Winslow told him he could not help him. He had sought in the wrong quarter for his cure. Is there no hope, then! exclaimed the nobleman in despair. Yes; listen to me, and I will tell you how I was helped and healed said Dr. Winslow. When I was younger I had your complaint; and I tried every resource but the right one. At last I carried my case to the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer, and He gave me health and peace. Go thou, and do likewise. The nobleman was astonished, but he stayed while the doctor read to him the portions of Scripture that had been blessed to himself, and after prayer, light and comfort came to him. The new medicine had cured him.

The way of salvation

Salvation is the total restoration of man from his fallen estate; and yet it is something more, for Gods salvation fixes our standing more secure than it was before we fell. It first heals our wounds, removes our diseases, takes away our curse, puts our feet upon the rock Christ Jesus, and baying thus done, at last it lifts our heads to be crowned with the King of heaven. Some people, when they use the word salvation, understand nothing more by it than deliverance from hell and admittance into heaven. Now, that is not salvation: those two things are the effects of salvation. We are redeemed from hell, and enter heaven because we have been saved. Observe here--

I. A negative fact. Neither is there salvation in any other.

1. Did you ever notice the intolerance of Gods religion? In olden times the heathen respected the gods of their neighbours: but Jehovah put this as one of His first commandments, Thou shelf have none other gods besides Me. The Christian religion is just as intolerant. The Brahmin may admit that there is salvation in fifty religions besides his own; but we admit no such thing. There is no true salvation out of Jesus.

2. What is the reason of this intolerance?

(1) Because there is the truth with the Jew and the Christian. A thousand errors may live in peace with one another, but truth is the hammer that breaks them in pieces. A hundred lying religions may sleep peaceably in one bed, but wherever the Christian religion goes as the truth, it is like a fire-brand. Truth cannot afford to be yoked with error- it gives to error its due, declaring that it hath no salvation.

(2) Because we have here the sanction of God. It would be improper in any man who had invented a creed of his own to state that all others must be damned who do not believe it; but since this religion is revealed from heaven, God, who is the author of all truth, hath a right to append to this truth the dreadful condition. We are not really intolerant, for we are but echoing the words of Him that speaketh from heaven, that there is no salvation out of Him.

3. Now persons say, Do you imagine, then, that none are saved apart from Christ? I reply, I dont imagine it, but I have it here in my text. Well, but how is it concerning the death of infants? Are they saved? and if so, how? I answer, Saved they are beyond a doubt; but not apart from the death of Christ. Another says, But how about the heathen? Holy Scripture saith but very little concerning them; but there are texts which lead us to believe that there are some who, led by Gods Spirit, are seeking after Him; and it may be that the God of infinite mercy is pleased to make to them revelations, so that they may be made partakers of the blood of Jesus Christ, without having such an open vision as we have received. But this much is certain: no heathen, however moral--whether in the days of their old philosophy, or in the present time of their barbarism--ever did or ever could enter the kingdom of heaven apart from the name of Jesus Christ.

4. But it is a great deal better not to talk upon speculative matters, but to come home personally to ourselves. And let me now ask you this question, have you ever proved by experience the truth of this great negative fact? Once I thought there was salvation in good works, and I laboured hard to preserve a character for integrity and uprightness; but when the Spirit of God came into my heart, sin revived and I died; wherein I thought I had been holy I found myself to be unholy. After that I thought, surely salvation might be obtained, partly by reformation, and partly by trusting in Christ; so I laboured hard again. But after fagging on for many a weary day, like a poor blind horse toiling round the mill, I found I had got no farther, for Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them. Perhaps I have in my presence some who are trying to gain salvation by ceremonies. You have been baptized; you take the Lords Supper; you attend church; and if you knew any other ceremonies you would attend to them. As well might you labour to build your house with water, as to build salvation with such poor things as these. These are good enough for you when you are saved, but if you seek salvation in them, they shall be to your soul as wells without water, clouds without rain, and withered trees, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.

II. A positive fact, viz., that there is salvation in Jesus Christ. Thou hast long been trying to find the road to heaven, and thou hast missed it. Guilt, like a heavy burden, is on thy back, and thou darest not yet cry for pardon. Satan whispers, It is all over with thee; there is no mercy for such as thou art: Christ is able to save many, but not thee. Poor soul! Come to the Cross of Christ, and thou shalt there see something which shall remove thine unbelief.

1. Come now with thy defilement, and look at Christs purity; and as thou lookest at that purity, like the lily, and thou seest the crimson of His blood overflowing it, let this whisper be heard in thine ear--He is able to save thee, sinner, inasmuch as though He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet He was without sin; therefore the merit of His blood must be great. Oh, may God help thee to believe on Him!

2. But this is not the grand thing which should recommend Him to thee. Remember, He who died upon the Cross was no less than the everlasting Son of God. If He were a mere man, a Socinians or an Arians Christ, I would not bid thee trust Him; but since He is none other than God Himself incarnate in human flesh, I beseech thee cast thyself upon Him: He is able, He is willing, doubt no more. He is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by Him.

3. Recollect again, as a further consolation for your faith, that God the Father has accepted the sacrifice of Christ. It is the Fathers anger that you have the most cause to dread. Now, Jesus was punished in the stead of every sinner who hath repented, and God the Father hath accepted Christ in the stead of sinners. Ought not this to lead you to accept Him? If the Judge -has accepted the sacrifice, sure you may accept it too; and if He be satisfied, sure you may be content also. If the creditor has written a full and free discharge, you, the poor debtor, may rejoice and believe that that discharge is satisfactory to you, because it is satisfactory to God. But do you ask me how I know that God has accepted Christs atonement? I remind you that Christ rose again from the dead.

4. Another argument is this--many have been saved who were as vile as thou art, and therefore there is salvation. The chief of sinners was saved years ago; that was the Apostle Paul: but even if thou should exceed him, still that word uttermost goes a little beyond you. I could turn to you myself, and tell you that surely there must be salvation in Christ for you, since I have found salvation in Christ for myself. Often have I said, I will never doubt the salvation of any one, so long as I can but know that Christ has accepted me.

5. To quicken thy diligence, however, I will conclude by noting that if you do not find salvation in Christ, remember you will never find it elsewhere. What a dreadful thing it will be for you if you should lose the salvation provided by Christ! For how shall you escape if you neglect so great salvation? (C. H. Spurgeon.)

One only way of salvation

I. Other way of salvation there cannot be, for that one way is Gods way; its divinity necessitates its exclusiveness. It is clear, that when man fell, he lay at the mercy of his Sovereign. To Him alone it pertained to determine these two points-whether the offender should have means of salvation at all; and then, what those means should be. If, in the exercise of the mercy in which He delights, Jehovah determined on mans salvation, and appointed and revealed the way, how can the conclusion be resisted that that way is the only way? The name by which we are to be saved must he given; i.e., it must have Divine appointment. If Jesus be the name given, then must it be the only name that can furnish any valid and satisfactory plea at the throne of the eternal God? If men could have been saved in ways of their own, God would not have devised one of His; and the very fact of His having done so is sufficient to show that men cannot be saved in ways of their own. It is related of Alphonsus, of Castile, that on having the Ptolemaic system of astronomy explained to him, he jeeringly said, that had he lived at the time, to give the Almighty counsel, he could have instructed Him to make a universe better. We now know that the scoff of presumptuous profanity was founded in sheer ignorance. And so it is in every one who fancies that he can dictate to God the way to save him. Men calling themselves philosophers have speculated whether God could have saved men in any other way than that which Christianity reveals, so as to forget the necessity of an interest in the way which He has accomplished. The question with us should be, what God actually has done, and if you admit that God has done what was best, you admit that He has done what alone He could do without ceasing to be God.

II. We argue the same thing from the Divinity of the Executor of the plan; that is, from the person of the Redeemer. He is God manifest in the flesh. Now if this is true, then that there can be no other Saviour must of necessity be as true. Either such a Mediator and such means of salvation were necessary, or they were not. If they were not, God could never have had recourse to them, for He is infinitely wise, doing nothing in vain, never using great means for little ends; and if they were, then all others must have been not only inadequate, but infinitely inadequate. The Mediator between God and man must either have been created or Divine. Then if a creature were sufficient, no matter how exalted, a Divine Mediator was infinitely above the exigency of the case; and if, on the contrary, a Divine Mediator was requisite, then was a created infinitely beneath the exigency of the case. We might base our argument, with equal conclusiveness, on the wisdom or the goodness or the justice of God. Take, in connection with the Divinity of the Saviours Person, the sufferings which He endured. Then, if all this was not necessary, the adoption of such a plan was at variance with the Divine justice and goodness.

III. We argue exclusiveness, on the ground that the plan revealed is the only one that bears to be tested by the principle of adaptation to what the existing case requires. This principle of adaptation is largely appealed to, as exhibiting the evidence of Divine perfection in the works of creation. This principle is as applicable in the moral world.

1. The gospel plan of salvation is in the essential and elementary principle of it, as well as in its provisions, adapted to the circumstances of man as the party to be saved. As guilty and condemned, he needed pardon and justification; and these are provided for by the mediatorial propitiatory obedience unto death of the divinely constituted and Divine Saviour. As depraved and sinful, he needed renewal in the spirit of his mind, sanctification; and this is provided for him by the work of the Holy Spirit in association with the work of Christ.

2. It is the only scheme adapted to the character of Him who saves. There is no salvation in any other, because He is the only Saviour by whom, and His the only name by which, in saving the lost, the glory of God is in every point secured.

IV. The last ground on which we rest the exclusiveness of the gospel method of salvation is the completeness of the salvation itself. It is a salvation worthy in all respects of God, and fully meeting the wants of man. It is a salvation from guilt, sin, suffering, death, hell, to a state of pardon and acceptance and favour, to the exercise of holy principles and holy affections, to life, to happiness, to usefulness, to heaven, and all for eternity. All Gods works are perfect, and this not less than others. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)

Jesus the only Saviour

This passage is remarkable as forming part of a sermon by Peter--who thrice denied this very Jesus--and as having been first delivered in the hearing of the judges and murderers of Jesus. When Jesus stood before their tribunal, He told them that hereafter they would see the Son of Man standing on the right hand of power, and when the sacred writer speaks of His second coming, he says, Every eye shall see Him, and they also that pierced Him. Now, it must have been a foretaste of this fearful truth when His apostles stood in their presence. In illustrating this subject, let us--

I. Remove an objection. A difficulty arises in the minds of some, as if the doctrine savoured of intolerance. They rest satisfied with the general idea that Christianity is true and important, but do not feel that it is the only Divine religion. Now these views are precisely those of the ancient heathens, who would have allowed an image for Jesus as one amongst many idols. What they found fault with was the universal demand that every idol should be destroyed, and that Jesus alone should be regarded as the object of worship and the author of salvation. But this is evidently the very spirit of Christianity. No blood can cleanse sin but that which was shed on Calvary; no power can open the gate of heaven but that of Him who hath the key of David, opening so that no man can shut, and shutting so that no man can open; no power can overcome the strong man armed, but the power of Him who binds Satan in chains and bruiseth him under the feet of His people. If men would only meditate on the solemn truth, that God spared not His only-begotten Son, who died the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, he would see that it is blasphemy to imagine that the salvation of man can be secured in any other way. For if so, God would have spared His only-begotten Son. Nor is there any ground for imagining that the doctrine of the text is at all inconsistent with just views of the benevolence of God. Suppose a body of men cast ashore on a desert island, smitten with disease, and famishing, and that in such circumstances one solitary ship was descried making towards the island, loaded with bread, but carrying an infallible physician, who offered to supply and heal the diseases of the people and to carry them to a land where they should hunger no more, and where there should be no more death--what would you think of the perishing men if they objected to all this because there was only one ship by which to escape, only one physician, only one supply of bread--because vessels had not been sent to all sides of the island, and bread of various kinds, and physicians of various qualities? Would you not think them insane and deeply ungrateful? Now this is the very case before us, only not nearly so strong. And what are we to think of such as object solely on the ground that God has not sent many deliverers instead of one; and instead of hailing the glorious offer, stand by callous and indifferent, and imagine that somehow or other they will escape, although death and famine are raging around.

II. Explain the truth.

I. We are said here to be saved by the name of Christ. This is a mode of expression sometimes used in Scripture; as, e.g., The name of the Lord is a strong tower; where by the name of the Lord is meant God Himself. We speak of the greatest names of antiquity, and of men filling the world with the terror of their names, when in both cases we mean not the names but the persons. And so we are saved by Christ Himself, although in Scripture we are said to trust in His name. In His name shall the Gentiles trust.

2. The form of expression, also, in the first part of the verse, is peculiar. The apostle does not represent Christ as giving salvation as a thing disconnected from Himself, but as a thing existing in Him, as a great treasure-house of spiritual blessings in Christ, from whom all the members united to Him by faith derive strength, nourishment, and salvation. The general doctrine here is, that Christ is the only Redeemer as He was the only Creator; and that He only is able to create us again, as He was to make us at first. The special doctrine is, that this fulness of mediatorial power is laid up in Christ as the Head of His Church, and that it descends from Him upon all His members, like the holy anointing oil from the head of Aaron, which flowed down to the skirts of his garments. The general truth is, that Christ alone hath removed the curse of the law and silenced the accuser of the brethren. He hath died, the just for the unjust, that He may bring us to God, and is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. The special truth is that it hath pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell, and that we become partakers of all the blessings which He hath purchased only when by faith we become branches of the true vine, living stones in the spiritual building of which Christ is the chief corner-stone. And these blessings are in no other. The merits of saints only exist in the imaginations of blinded idolaters; for every saint is by nature a child of wrath, even as others. If we desire blessings we must go to the Master of the house direct, for none of the servants can supply our wants.

III. Show the concurrence of scripture in this truth. The whole stream of revelation from the beginning points to Jesus and His finished work. The law which was given by Moses pointed to that grace and truth which were to come by Jesus Christ. The prophets prophesied beforehand His coming and sufferings. The angels of heaven filled the air with melody at His birth, and announced that the great Deliverer had at length arrived. The Spirit of God descended like a dove, and rested on His head, and a voice from heaven said, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him. John, who baptized Him, said, Behold the Lamb of God, etc. Old Simeon said, Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, etc. Philip said to Nathanael, We have found, etc. And what was the uniform doctrine of the apostles? Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And the song of heaven is full of Christs atonement. (J. Begg, D. D.)

Salvation exclusive but comprehensive

I. The nature of this salvation. St. Peter might well have meant--

1. Salvation from physical discomfort and pain. The circumstance was the healing of the cripple which the judges thought was effected by magic, but which the apostles ascribed to the name of Jesus, who had simply employed them. Pain and discomfort, although they may be transfigured by resignation, may yet crush out heart and hope, and our business in imitating God is to cure it if we can. Our Lord did by His apostles what He still does by generous hearts. The inspiring force of our hospital system is the grace and charity of Christ.

2. National salvation. This was the point of the reference to Psa_118:1-29. Christs way of delivering the nation was by becoming the corner-stone of its hope. For Israel was the real cripple. As a political body the Roman power had broken it. Still more was it crippled morally. The devotion of prophets and psalmist had died away, and in its place were Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians. The old heart had been eaten out. What Israel wanted was new life, and its only Saviour was He who had healed the cripple.

3. Spiritual salvation. This was implied by the national, and the spiritual salvation of the nation implied that of the majority of its members. A nation is but an aggregate of individuals seen as such by God. To save men they must be taken one by one. Did not the Redeemer, who gave Himself a ransom for all, love me and give Himself for me? Does not the Spirit, by whom the whole Church is governed and sanctified, dwell in each separate soul? Does not a mother deal with her children personally? So Christ dealt with Peter, Thomas, Mary Magdalene, as if there were no other souls in existence.

II. Salvation in this sense is no monopoly of Israel. What was Israel that she should claim the sole monopoly of the saving name? The final absolute religion could not but be universal. The question of the Gentiles had not been raised, but there was behind the apostles the broad commission. The old infection of nature still remains in the world. Who mill save it? Now, as eighteen centuries ago, Jesus washes out the stains of a guilty past, and gives new desires, aims, hopes, enthusiasms, and renews by His eternal Spirit what His enemies have destroyed.

III. Salvation was exclusively confined to the power of the Lord Jesus. Christ was not one among many possible saviours; He was the only Saviour. And the ground of Peters confidence was that he had not a human speculation or theory, but, as he firmly believed, the final, absolute, one truth. Error may pay its insincere and splendid compliments to that which contradicts it. Truth can only firmly, tenderly, unvaryingly say, It is I who save; neither is there salvation in any other. No man cometh to the Father but by Me. The apostles speak as men who had found the secret of life, hope, happiness, salvation, and their highest ambition was that others might share their privilege.

1. When we affirm that there is salvation in none other than Jesus, we do not deny that other religions than Christianity have in them certain elements of truth. They would not exist if they had not. The element of truth in them enables them to resist dissolution. But they cannot save.

2. When we affirm that Christ alone can save men, we do not deny that other agencies can improve mankind. Education, etc.

3. But such influences as these are bounded by the horizon of time; they have no effects in the great hereafter. They are not opponents nor rivals; they move in a different sphere.

4. There can be no doubt that this conviction was in the first ages of Christianity, and has been since a great motive power in urging devoted men to spread the religion of their Master. (Canon Liddon.)

Christ our only home

On a huge cross by the side of an Italian highway hung a hideous caricature of the Beloved of our souls, who poured out His life for our redemption. Out of reverence to the living Christ we turned aside, disgusted, from the revolting image, but not until we had espied the words Spes unica, in capitals ever its head. Here was truth emblazoned on an idol. Yes, indeed, Jesus, our now exalted, but once crucified Lord, is the sole and only hope of man. Assuredly, O Lord Jesus, Thou art spes unica to our soul.

Other refuge have we none,

Hangs our helpless soul on Thee.

We found this diamond in the mire of superstition: does it sparkle any the less? (C. H. Spurgeon.)

None other name

A few persons were collected round a blind man, who had taken his station on a bridge in the City Road, and was reading from an embossed Bible. Receiving from the passers-by of their carnal things, he was ministering to them spiritual things. A gentleman on his way home from the City was led by curiosity to the outskirts of the crowd. Just then the poor man, who was reading from Act_4:1-37., lost his place, and, while trying to find it with his fingers, kept repeating the last clause he had read, None other name,--None other name,--None … Some of the people smiled at the blind mans embarrassment, but the gentleman went on his way musing. He had lately become convinced that he was a sinner, and had been trying in many ways to obtain peace of mind. But religious exercises, good resolutions, altered habits, all were ineffectual to relieve his conscience of its load, and enable him to rejoice in God. The words he had heard from the blind man, however, rang their solemn music to his soul--None other name. When he reached his home and retired to rest, the words, like evening chimes from village towers nestling among the trees, were still heard--None other name--None other name. And when he awoke, in more joyful measure, like matin bell saluting the morn, the strain continued, None other name--None other name. The music entered his soul, and he awoke to new life. I see it all; I see it all! I have been trying to be saved by my own works--my repentance, my prayers, my reformation. I see my mistake. It is Jesus who alone can save me. To Him I will look. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name--none other name--none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

The power of the name of Jesus

A brave cavalry officer was dying of his wounds. He thought himself on the field, at the head of his gallant men, and fancied that a heavy gun was just in front of them ready to be fired. His distress was great. At length he thought the gun had been fired, and his men, badly cut up, were retreating. Here I interposed, saying, There is no gun there; you are safe among friends. Let me alone, he sternly replied; I must recover my command and renew the attack. No, said I, let us not think of battle scenes. You are soon to die. Let us talk of Jesus. The mention of that name seemed to exert the powerful influence I had often heard ascribed to it. His agitation ceased at once; his delirium passed away; a smile lit up his pallid features. After a moments silence, he said in a low tone, Jesus, Jesus! It is He who said, Come unto Me, etc. I want rest, I am weary. Soon after he entered the glorious rest of heaven. (W. Baxendale.)

The one saving name

The text declares that Christs is the only saving name on earth. Other terms are used elsewhere to indicate the paramount value of His religion over all other instrumentalities for mans well-being in this world and in that to come. But, either from an inadequate idea of moral evil, or from a failure to see the perfect fitness of Gods remedy for it, this truth is yet widely unfelt or denied. Men resort elsewhere, and apply to this or that pretender, instead of the only infallible Physician. With some insufficient and temporary expedient, they patch up evils which the miraculous touch of the Son of God is requisite to cure. Lanterns and lamps are of no little use, but he would not be accounted wise who should propose to substitute them for the sun. Let us consider some of the substitutes which have been proposed by some men for the great instrument of mans highest good.

I. Liberty--the goddess, as Mammon is the god, of the present civilisation. Summoned upon the theatre of Europe by the fearless voice of Luther, breaking forth in the tremendous throes of successive French revolutions, and winning her more complete triumph in the New World, liberty is one of the strongest passions of modern history. And no wonder. When you have entered the house of human bondage, and remembered its dreadful secrets, no wonder your blood boils. The Bastiles of tyranny have fallen before this potent indignation. Let them fall. All honour is due to those who have lifted the yoke from the neck of humanity, and said to myriads, Ye are men, go free. But then we need only glance at the condition of the freest nations to see that Liberty can be no substitute for the gospel. Under her dominion men may know their rights, but they need another master to teach them their duties. Liberty must take law into her partnership, or she is but another name for license. And when the general relations of society are equitably adjusted, and justice done between man and man, what a wide empire of character is beyond her reach! National liberty, glorious boon as it is, is external. But the liberty wherewith Christ makes His people free is carried into the inmost recesses of the mind. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty--Liberty from anger and malice and lust and drunkenness, and the whole legion of evil spirits wherewith society is possessed.

II. Modern civilisation. The crying demand for a spiritual regeneration is postponed for external ease and luxury. When the sacred writer wished to describe the growing degeneracy of the chosen people, he said, Jeshurun [a term of endearment for Israel] waxed fat, and kicked. That phrase describes the two great eras in a nations growth: first, of prosperity; and secondly, of insolent power, forgetting right. Thus modern civilisation has woven so thick a veil, that many seem to be incapable or indisposed to see underneath the living texture of Divine laws, and our accountableness to the will of the Supreme. Strange and deplorable result, if home become so attractive that it should prove a rival to heaven! Sad mistake, if the charms of earthly friendship and comfortable life should dull our sensibilities to our holy relationship to God and Christ! We need to know that what is best and safest in this modern civilisation has flowed from Christianity; but that, so far as it is disconnected from Christ, as its controlling principle and sanctifying motive, it is base and soulless and dangerous; that there is hazard of entombing our souls in this magnificent earthly good. The splendid gift of life was not bestowed that we might dress in purple or fine linen, or fare sumptuously every day, or even that we might ride a mile a minute, cross the ocean in ten days, or send a despatch round the globe in the twinkling of an eye. He who rides a mile a minute ought to be using that grand conveyance on no fools errand. He who can cross the Atlantic in ten days should feel himself commissioned to do some great and good work for man, when the Almighty has thus put in his hands the sceptre of the winds and waves, and they obey him. He who can send swifter than the suns flight messages from clime to clime ought to charter the telegraph with some good tidings of good. Modern civilisation is all good and safe, when kept down at the proper secondary mark; but if it arise, and assume prouder titles, and the privilege of monopolising immortal capacities for mortal uses, the watchmen must cry aloud, and spare not. For none can look abroad, and not see that the world, so called, has got a fearful hold of mens minds. Everything, even virtue, is to be turned to profit. What does not bring money is not, in general, thought to be worth anything. Then is there no fear that we have another God than the Lord of heaven and earth, even Mammon, as the actual deity of our worship! Tried by every rule, and weighed in every balance, modern civilisation, as such, is found wanting. Ill can it suffice for its own temporal needs, and keep itself out of fire and water; how much less meet the great need of immortal man! Ill can it stand in the place of Christ for the healing of the nations. Its god is gold, its aim is self; too many of its governments are tyrannies; too many of its cities Sodoms; its highest honours are military butcheries; and its only tolerable deserts are discoloured reflections from His glory who died on the Cross.

III. Reformation, philanthropy, a new organisation of society. The plea is ingenious, because it has some truth to give it countenance, that, notwithstanding Christianity has existed so many centuries, the dreadful evils of society have gone unreformed. True, but it is because it has been corrupted, both under Greek, Catholic, and Protestant forms. But there it is, in the life of Christ, in the books of the New Testament, and it will never suffer man to give sleep to his eyes until it has made all things new. It is said, also, by the reformer, that though men make institutions, institutions, in turn make men. For example, that you may preach heavenly-mindedness, but how can you expect any considerable amount of spirituality in the brutal camp, or in the damp, cold cellars of city pauperism? We confess we cannot. It becomes, accordingly, a matter of the last consequence that the permanent institutions of society, and the customs of the time, should all square with the Christian standard, Christ must sit as sole and final umpire upon all the great questions that now agitate society. And in this just judgment, whatever Christ, by His Word, rejects, we, who are His followers, must reject; and whatever He commands we must do, let whoever will say nay. So much we yield to reformation. But what we protest against is, simply, that moral reformation, or any new organisation of society, can take the place of the religion of Christ. For, in the outset, how could these great moral movements start, unless there were the heaven-derived and omnipotent influences of Christian ideas acting behind? This is the ever-flowing river that sets in motion all the wheels and complicated machinery of practical philanthropy. This is the exhaustless reservoir and lake that fills all the pipes, aqueducts, and fountains, and quenches a citys thirst, and cleanses a citys impurity. Christ is the reformers wisdom and guidance and strength, and without Him he could do nothing. Then, again, grant that you could by a possibility get the world all reformed, the timepiece wound up and running well, properly more equalised, education and happiness universal. How long would the millennium last without Christ? Self is still there, and passion is busy, and the old man will again come to life though he has once been crucified with the lusts thereof; and then the world is as bad as it was before, and you have all your work to do over again. No; Christ is the only Sovereign and legitimate Reformer, as He is the Saviour of the individual soul, and those only who go forth in His name and spirit are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds.

IV. Education. We grant, indeed, that if the world is ever to be better and happier, it must be in no slight measure by a better family and common school nurture. But education, like all other great movements of benevolence, is powerless of good when disjoined from Christ. The culture of the mind exclusively becomes a doubtful good, if moral training keep not an even pace with it. Jesus, as the perfect representative of our spiritual nature, encourages the earliest moral training, He called children to Him, and pronounced His blessing upon them. At one time He set a little child in the midst, and bade His disciples be converted and become like little children, or they could not enter His kingdom. And He left it in charge to His apostles, Feed My lambs. Education, then, in its higher forms, has the explicit encouragement of Him who knew what was in man. (A. B. Livermore.)

One saving name

We can destroy ourselves and each other, but we cannot save ourselves or each other. There are some dangers and evils from which we can save both ourselves and our fellows, but from the worst we can neither save ourselves nor others. All that in this case we can do for ourselves is to look to a Saviour, and for others to direct them to a Redeemer. We are seldom satisfied with what we have. Eve desired the forbidden fruit; and the Jews desired a Saviour entirely different from Him to whom the prophets had given witness, and whom God had sent. To this fact Peter calls attention, and then adds, Neither is there salvation in any other, etc. Note here--

I. Salvation.

1. Ignorance with respect to the highest subjects is compared to darkness; to be called out of darkness into marvellous light, is in part salvation.

2. Foolishness is ever attendant upon sinfulness. To receive wisdom from above, and to be made, concerning the highest ends and the best means, truly wise, is in part salvation.

3. The imagination is a faculty ever busy for good or evil. Unless connected with knowledge and wisdom, its fabrications are vain and wicked. To have all such imaginations cast down, is in part salvation..

4. The heart of man is a tree bearing corrupt fruit, and a fountain pouring forth bitter water. To have created within us a clean heart and a right spirit, is in part salvation.

5. The will of man was created to correspond to the will of God, as a wheel within a wheel, but it has fallen from its place and revolves out of its sphere. Like the rudder of a ship, the will was intended to keep men true to the glory of God while compassing the broad way of Gods commandments. But the helm is in the hands of pirates, and the vessels prow is to the rock, or the quicksand, or the iceberg. To be delivered from a rebellious and wayward will, and to be made ready to do the will of God as an obedient child, is in part salvation.

6. Conscience is a faculty which many suppose can never become corrupt. But a man may do evil when he acts conscientiously, for there are evil consciences. To have the conscience cleansed and healed by the precious blood of Christ, and rectified by the Holy Ghost, is in part salvation.

7. God created man in His own image (Gen_1:27). As the painting or the statue to its subject, as the mirror to the spectator, so was the first man, in the beginning, to his God. But the mirror is broken, and the statue is defaced, and the painting is rent, and the child has fallen and is disfigured and maimed. To have the mirror replaced, the picture renovated, the child healed, and the Divine likeness restored, is in part salvation.

8. With a sinful nature we are born. To have our sinfulness crucified and its dominion destroyed, is in part salvation.

9. The position of man was, in his first estate, righteous and filial. But we have fallen from our position by sin, and are accounted guilty and ungodly. To be justified, is in part salvation.

10. There is an evil spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience. To be delivered from his presence and power, is in part salvation.

11. There is evil in all human institutions and arrangements. Gods world is good, but mans has much evil. To be made to overcome the world, is in part salvation.

12. Death has crept over our human nature, spiritual death. To be morally and religiously quickened, is in part salvation.

13. Punishment hangs over our guilty heads like a thunder-cloud pregnant with storm, and the impending tempest murmurs in our present sorrows. The wages of sin is death, and all the evils to which flesh and soul are heir are as instalments of the wages of sin. To have the firmament of life cleared of these clouds by the forgiveness of sins, is in part salvation.

14. Such are the derangements of evil, that the forgiven and regenerated are exposed to affliction, and it is appointed that they too should die. To be sustained in the hour of tribulation, to go down into our grave and to rise again, shouting, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? is in part salvation.

15. Paradise was lost by Adam, but paradise is regained by Jesus Christ. To enter that garden as our own, and enjoy its innumerable delights, and to realise therein everlasting life, this is the consummation of salvation. This salvation God promised at the beginning, this God has provided, and this we offer you in the preaching of the gospel.

II. Salvation in a person.

1. Deliverances are sometimes wrought by things. The shipwrecked one is saved by clinging to a floating spar, the tenant of a house on fire by the trap-door in the roof. And deliverances are effected by things employed by persons, as by a crew in a lifeboat, a fireman and the fire-escape, a physician and his medicines. There are, moreover, persons whose profession is some work of salvation, as the medical practitioner, the fireman, and the lifeboat crew.

2. The salvation of which we have been speaking is not in the Divine purpose, or in the Divine fiat, or in anything, but in a living Saviour.

3. To be saved by a Saviour.

(1) This shows our weakness, and in our weakness we see our wretchedness. We are like one drowning, bound hand and foot. We are like one exposed to the flames, and paralysed in every limb. We are like one poisoned, upon whom the sleep of death is already creeping.

(2) This arrangement removes all cause of boasting from the saved.

(3) It places the redeemed under special obligations. They are indebted to their Saviour as to none other. Father, mother, husband, wife, have done nothing for us compared with Him who saves us.

(4) It renders the actual work of salvation a service of sympathy and love. Salvation comes not from a mere power or force, but it is connected with intelligence, affection, and volition, and is therefore not liable to failure.

(5) it creates a new relation and connection. By our existence we become the offspring of God. By our entrance into life we have parents of the flesh. And these and other connections are natural. We have Creator, mother, father, perhaps brothers, sisters, in the ordinary course of providence. But a Saviour is distinct from all other relations. Blessed is the man who, looking toward one mighty to save, can say My Saviour. A man may be an orphan and friendless, but with a Saviour anything but desolate, while he who, in the midst of the largest and most loving circle, has no Redeemer is not only a forlorn, but a lost man.

III. Salvation in a person whose name is made known.

1. Six thousand years ago the Saviour of men was simply called the seed of the woman. Then He was denominated the Shiloh, the Prophet, Wonderful, Root of Jesse, Righteous Branch, Jehovah our Righteousness. And the angel who announced the conception said, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, etc.

2. Jesus is the name given among men as the name of the Saviour. To this Jesus give all the prophets witness as the Christ of God. This Jesus was proclaimed Saviour by the angel Gabriel, by another angel, and by a multitude of the heavenly host. This Jesus was introduced by one of the greatest prophets the earth has ever known. The works He wrought bare witness of Him. The heavens were thrice rent, and from the excellent glory a voice came, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Eclipse and earthquake saluted Him as the Saviour when He died; resurrection revived His renown, and ascension established it for ever, That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow. It is an interesting fact that the name Jesus occurs nearly seven hundred times in the four Gospels, Christ alone some sixty times in the Gospels and in the Acts, Jesus Christ but five times in the Gospels, and Christ Jesus not once in those books. We may regard Jesus as therefore the name given among men.

3. Joshua, to which name Jesus corresponds, is composed of a portion of the name Jehovah, and of a word which signifies salvation. So that the etymon would signify the Lords salvation, or Lord of salvation. This name was given to the Son of Man, to a Bethshemite in the time of Samuel, to a governor among the cities of Judah in the days of Josiah, and to a high priest in the days of Haggai. The name, though in use, was not common, and it was given the Son of Mary with a special signification.

4. But who is this Jesus? He is God manifest in flesh. He has all the attributes and properties of God, but while on earth He made Himself of no reputation, etc. He has all the attributes and properties of humanity, but without sin. In Him is all that is requisite for complete redemption. God has given this name--in writing to be read, by preaching to be heard; given it Himself that it may never be forgotten, and that it may be above every name; given it among men, that men may read and hear it, learn and repeat it, incorporate it with their prayers and their songs, and that it may become as familiar in their mouths as any household word.

IV. Salvation limited to this person.

1. There have been other names under heaven given among men. The Pharisees gave the name of Abraham, and said, We have Abraham for our father, and the name of Moses, saying, We are Moses disciples. The false prophet of the sixth century gave his own name. The Church of Rome gives the name of the Holy Catholic Church, the names of angels, saints and martyrs, and above all, the name of Mary. But Abraham was the ancestor of the Saviour, not the Saviour; Moses was a prophet of the Saviour, not the Saviour; Mahomet was self-deceived and a deceiver; the Church is composed of the saved, not of saviours; the angels minister to the heirs of salvation, they cannot save them; and Mary is indebted for her own salvation to her own son Jesus.

2. But not only have other names been put forward, but things have been presented as saviours. Thus, sacraments are given among men as means of salvation, and men-made creeds, and membership with particular churches, and good works. But these are given among men by men, and not by God.

3. It would be interesting to inquire into the causes of other names and things being put forward. Perhaps the chief cause is pride. We shrink from the practical acknowledgment of entire and absolute dependence upon the grace of God for our redemption; we despise the simplicity of faith, or we are not prepared to follow after holiness. But, however, this may be, neither is there salvation in any other.

4. There is much mystery surrounding this name, the mystery of the holy incarnation, of the union of the Divine and human natures, of oneness with the Father, co-existing with subjection to the Father, of the temptation and agony, and of the Eloi, Eloi, of the grave, and resurrection and ascension; but we cannot afford to neglect the name Jesus because of the mystery which surrounds it, because neither is there salvation in any other.

5. There are differences of opinion concerning Him who bears this name Jesus. Some deny His Deity, others His true humanity. Some refuse to recognise Him as victim and priest, and do Him homage only as a teacher; others leave Him in the sepulchre among all the mighty dead. The unbelieving Jew still accounts Him an impostor, the believing Gentile crowns Him Lord of all. But amidst this diversity of opinion we may not say, I suspend my judgment. We must on this subject make up our minds. Nor can we hold error without fearful peril, for neither is there salvation in any other.

6. Many who say they are saved by Christ show no signs of redemption. As we look at them we say, Saved from what? If they be saved, what must they have been before? There are men who boast that they are saved, who are such children of the devil, that many have said, If this be salvation, may Heaven keep it far from me! But what then? Although many who say they are saved exhibit no signs of salvation--yea, more, although but few be saved--yea, more, if as yet not one soul has been saved, my text abides true, Neither is there salvation in any other.

7. Many men think their own cases too singular to be saved by Christ Jesus. One man is sceptical, and his doubtings are, in his judgment, of the most extraordinary character. There have been sceptics many, but none like himself. A second was once an atheist or a deist, and in the denial of religious truth proceeded farther than he can conceive it possible for an infidel to go. A third has been a blasphemer. A fourth has been a licentious profligate. A fifth has been more cruel than a beast of prey. A sixth once wore the form of godliness while destitute of the power. A seventh once heard the Word with joy, but endured only for a while; tribulation arose and he was offended. The eighth has been a bitter persecutor. Now, each of these say, Jesus may save others, but He cannot save me. But whatever eminence a man may have in that which is sinful, if he be saved at all, he must be saved by the Redeemer of the least of sinners. There is one sun to rule our day, one moon to rule our night, one atmosphere round our globe in which to breathe and move, and not another. Neither is there salvation in any other.

Conclusion:

1. And are there any persons here who believe not on Jesus? If there be, who can they be? Surely not the children of believing parents? Not those who are now, or who have been, in our Christian schools? Not the possessors of a New Testament? Not those who regularly or even occasionally hear the gospel? Not such as know this name Jesus? Or is it so, that the unbelievers here consist of these very classes? Not believe! Why do you not believe? This name, by faith in this name, saves. The ignorant by faith come to this Jesus as a teacher; the unwise by faith come to this Jesus as wisdoms fountain; the foolish builders by faith come to earths Creator; the impure by faith come to this Jesus, as to a fountain opened for sin and all uncleanness; the conscience-wounded creature comes by faith to this physician of souls, that He may make him whole; the fallen come by faith to this Jesus, mighty to save, that He may lift them up; and if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you will be saved.

2. My brothers, believe. Do I hear you say, Go thy way for this time? For this time! Why for this time? Ah, I know why--that you may drink more freely of this worlds pleasures.

3. Believers in this name, do your utmost to make it known. When you see it, does it not sparkle beneath your eye as the gem of gems? When you hear it, does it not sound as heavens sweetest music in your ear? and in your heart of hearts, do you not feel it to be the power of God to your salvation? Then do your best to sustain the men by whom, and to uphold the places in which, this name of names is preached. (S. Martin.)

Only one way in

Standing opposite Fort William, a missionary heard the Mussulmans and Chinamen saying, There are very many gates into Fort William--there is an hospital gate, a water, gate, and others. Now, Sahib, it is just the same in regard to heaven. Chinamen get in at one gate, Mussulmans in at another, and Hindoos in at another! Yes, the missionary said, that is true; but there is a sentinel at every gate, and every sentinel has the same watchword, and you cannot get into it without that watchword. There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

Christianity the only reformatory force

1. Four great facts confront us at every turn.

(1) There is that in the world which men have consented to call vice.

(2) There is that in the world which men have consented to call virtue.

(3) This vice and virtue has its residence not in the human physique or intellect, but in that which you and I have consented to call character.

(4) The power to suppress vice and to develop virtue is not in man nor of man, but from God.

2. These are four facts, confirmed by the whole race, that stand to-night unchallenged. And we stand here to advocate the great thought in the text that the only power whereby vice can be suppressed and virtue developed is the power of Christianity, manifested through a personal Christ, resident in the human heart.

I. The liberalism of to-day is opposed to such a thought, and points us to other sources of reformatory power.

1. Our attention is directed to China, where a name is held as sacred as the name of Christ by us. Once a year the Emperor, surrounded by his court, enters a temple, and exclaims: Confucius, Confucius, how great is Confucius; before Confucius there was no Confucius, and since Confucius there has been no Confucius; Confucius, Confucius, how great is Confucius! Now what was the radical conception of humanity by Confucius? It was that humanity is radically good, that it is capable of the highest form of virtue, independent of any external force; hence he gives to his countrymen the five relations. The great reformatory force of Confucius was subordination; the obedience of the wife to the husband; of the child to the parent; of the youngest brother to the eldest brother; of the youngest friend to the oldest friend; and of the subject to the Emperor. Let us honour Confucius for the moral principles he gave his countrymen; but those principles have been tested under the most favourable circumstances, and what are the results? Go all through the Chinese Empire, and what do you find? Lying and theft, and all forms of dissipation; the degradation of women; and an expenditure of £33,400,000 annually in one branch of idolatry.

2. Then in the East there is another rival name, the name of a man who sways his sceptre over more than 100,000,000 of people in China, Japan, the Isles of the Sea. Sakya-Muni went forth with the two great ideas that vice is the result of the change that is apparent all around us, and that to secure virtue the mind must rise to that law under which no things change. Hence the name Buddha is given to one who ascertains that changeless law. I have no interest in misrepresenting this great man. I would estimate him a providential man, as Socrates and Plato. But when he is brought as a rival against my Master I am bound to sit in judgment upon his proposals to make humanity better. He gave noble precepts to his people, and that six hundred years before Christ came into the world. He issued His commandments, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not commit adultery, all of which, however, can be traced to Moses. But now go all through where Sakya-Muni has swayed his religious sceptre. Here not only are his precepts violated, but all the precepts in our Ten Commandments.

3. In India we find another rival to our Master in the form of Brahma. The great theory in Brahminism for the elevation of humanity is that as sin abides in the flesh, and virtue in the intellect, we must reduce the physical to the minimum, and exalt the intellect to the maximum, and then we suppress vice and develop virtue. Well, let us judge of Brahminism by its results. Let us go to that fair land, where all nature is lovely and only man is vile. Look at the idolatry--360,000,000 of gods! Woman is degraded; childhood, especially female child-hood, is sacrificed; Thuggism prevails, and there vices are dominant. And all this is the result of the insufficient reformatory force in Brahminism.

4. I do not mention Mohammedanism, for Mohammedanism is not original; it is plagiarism.

II. Now turn to Christianity. What is Christs radical idea of the condition of humanity? It is that human nature is bad, and that this badness is in the condition of the will, conscience, and affections, and that out of this moral condition flows vice, and that out of vice comes the misery of the world. Now, what does He propose to do? To transform by a supernatural power.

1. We must not look upon Him as a mere philanthropist; Christs philanthropy is subordinate to His supernatural power. Christ did not come to improve the physical condition of man. Do you tell me that He performed miracles? True; but not as a philanthropist. He did not raise all the dead, or heal all the sick; but only where He could write a credential for His great mission to renew the human heart. The significance of the miracles of Jesus Christ is this, that all through the East there prevailed the idea that sin was in matter, and that there was no power in the universe by which matter itself could be controlled. Hence He performed His miracles simply to prove that He was higher than nature, and that matter was subject to Him. He was not a philanthropist in the ordinary sense. The orphans cried in the streets of Jerusalem, but He erected no orphan asylum; He never founded a college. He might have given to the world a perfect system of science and a Materia Medica that would have alleviated the sufferings of humanity. But He did nothing of the kind. He might have anticipated great inventors; whatever to-day seems to be the glory of our civilisation must have floated through His Divine imagination. But this was not the purpose of His coming. Nor did He come as a statesman. Twice He was invited to be a judge, but He declined; once He was asked to be a king, but He refused. He expressed no preference for this form of government or that. He knew that government was oppressive, and slavery fearful, but He issued no proclamation of emancipation. The social evil prevailed, but He organised no meetings for reclamation. Intemperance prevailed, yet He never offered the pledge of total abstinence to any. War prevailed, yet He did not organise peace societies. Even idolatry cursed every hill and valley, yet He organised no crusade against idolatry. What He did not do is as remarkable as what He did do. The infidels of to-day arraign Him because He did not do these things.

2. But listen! His eye looked down the ages, and, passing over China, saw what subordination or subjugation had failed to do; over the region swayed by Buddha, and saw what his teaching had failed to do; over India, and saw that intellectual culture had proved a failure; over Rome, and saw that law had failed to suppress vice or develop virtue; ever Greece, where art was in its glory; and there He saw that the aesthetics of civilisation had failed, and that art was not a reformatory force. Then He said, I will now enter the citadel of man; I will come to each individual, and ask him to permit Me to incarnate Myself in him; to enchain his conscience to My severe morality, to harmonise his will with Mine, to enthrone Myself in his affections; I will make each man a living, walking, speaking Christ.

3. He resolved not to do what men could do. He knew that man, unaided by Him, could educate the mind, could bless the orphan and comfort the widow; but He resolved to touch the fountain of life that all the streams might be pure, and just in proportion as He is received as the regenerator of the human heart, in that proportion do public charities become facts, and benevolence is a sublime truth in the world. A learned Chinese in Philadelphia wrote a series of articles to this effect--that in his country there were houses of charity for the reception of the widow and the aged, but he should have had the honesty to tell two facts--first, that in his country there is no house of charity which antedates the introduction of Christianity; and, secondly, that on the banks of the Yang-tse-kiang there is a house of charity for animals which antedates Christianity. Those Chinese are in advance of Darwin, for they say these animals are to be men in the next world. In the same city I attended the semi-centennial of the Bible Society. First came upon the stand a mute, who, in his graceful language, recited to us the Beatitude, Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Then came a beautiful girl born deaf, but Christian science had taught the mute lips to speak, and she whispered, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Then came a Chinese lady who was born blind, brought to this country and converted, and Christian science had taught her fingers to read deftly in the language of the blind, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Christian science is doing to-day what Christ did in His person. The genius of Christianity working through renewed hearts is writing its credentials in favour of our Divine Lord. Is it true He did not found a college or a university? He did something better; He placed in the hands of each man a book that should tell men of the character and the claims of Almighty God; that should inform man of his own origin, that he is immortal, and responsible to the ages as he is to God; a book that should present to him the noblest specimen of virtue and the grandest laws of morality, and wherever this Book has spread its banner of wisdom and love knowledge has been diffused, universities founded, and science advanced. Christ did not come as a statesman? He declared the brotherhood of mankind; He announced the eternal principles of truth and justice, and He knew that wherever these principles were accepted, from a heart that had been renewed by Him, there government would be modified, oppression would cease, and liberty would be enjoyed. Is it true He did not organise missions to reclaim the poor courtesan? He knew it was necessary to create a new affection in the heart of men and of women, for Him to be received into the human heart, to restrain passion; and He knew that, having been thus received, there would come a reformation of this fearful class in society. Only in a Christian land, and as Christianity becomes a living force in society is the social evil branded and banished. Is it true He did not offer the pledge of total abstinence to any? He knew that antecedent influences would be at work at first, and that great moral forces must operate. Is it true He did not organise peace societies? He whispered that Beatitude, Blessed are the peacemakers, and He very well knew that only as humanity is transformed by His power would war-passions cease and men live in sweet harmony together. Christian men have organised the only peace societies in the world. (J. P. Newman, LL. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 4:12. Ἐν ἄλλῳ οὐδενὶ, in none other) i.e. it is wholly in Him alone that salvation is. Hereby the question, Act 4:9, by what means, is clearly set at rest (is a fixed point).—ἡ σωτηρία, the salvation) which was promised, and long wished for, whereby we escape every misery: the salvation (health) of body and soul: with which comp. Act 4:9. There is great force in the article.—γὰρ, for) It is necessary that there should be divinely given and proclaimed a name, wherein there is salvation. It belongs not to us to mark out, or devise, a name whereby to obtain salvation: it belongs not to Rome to canonise the departed.—ἓτερον, other such [‘alterum,’ second]) This has the force of Epitasis (augmentation of the force of what precedes, by addition), in relation to the ἄλλῳ [‘alio’] preceding. Ammonius observes: “ἕτερος is used in the case of two; ἄλλος, in the case of more than two.[35] Comp. 1Co 12:8-9, ἄλλῳ δὲ—ἑτέρῳ δὲ; 2Co 11:4; Gal 1:6-7, notes.—τὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν, under heaven) i.e. in all the earth: ch. Act 2:5. The dwellers on the earth had need of salvation; and it behoved the Saviour to establish (plant) salvation on the earth. Mat 9:6, “The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive.”—τὸ δεδομένον, given) Which has been given, viz. from heaven.—ἐν ἀνθρώποις, among men) There is one Mediator: there is no second one in the whole human race. 1Ti 2:5.—ἡμᾶς, us) viz. all men.

[35] Not merely is there the wished for salvation in none other (of many), but there is no second name, besides that of Jesus, whereby we must be saved. Ἕτερος has more the sense, different, than ἄλλος.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_4:12. To the foregoing figurative assurance, that Jesus is the Messiah, Peter now annexes the solemn declaration that no other is so, and that without figure.

And there is not in another the salvation, i.e. κατʼ ἐξοχήν the Messianic deliverance (Act_2:21). Comp. Act_5:31, Act_15:11. This mode of taking ἡ σωτηρία is imperatively demanded, both by the absolute position of the word with the force of the article, and by the connection with the preceding, wherein Jesus was designated as Messiah, as well as by the completely parallel second member of the verse. Therefore Michaelis, Bolten, and Hildebrand err in holding that it is to be understood of the cure of a man so infirm. Nor is the idea of deliverance from diseases generally to be at all blended with that of the Messianic salvation (in opposition to Kypke, Moldenhauer, Heinrichs), as Peter had already, at Act_4:11, quite departed from the theme of the infirm mans cure, and passed over to the assertion of the Messianic character of Jesus quite generally, without retaining any special reference to bodily deliverance.

ἐν ἄλλῳ οὐδενί] no other is the ground, on which salvation is causally dependent. Soph. Aj. 515: ἐν σοὶ πᾶσʼ ἔγωγε σώζομαι. Eur. Alc. 279: ἐν σοὶ ἐσμὲν καὶ ζῆν καὶ μή. Herod. viii. 118: ἐν ὑμῖν ἔοικεν ἐμοὶ εἶναι ἡ σωτηρίη.

γάρ] annexes a more precise explanation, which is meant to serve as a proof of the preceding. For also there is no other name under the heaven given among men, in which we must obtain salvation.

οὐδὲ γάρ (see the critical remarks): for also not. The reading οὔτε γάρ would not signify namque non (so Hermann, Opusc. III. p. 158), but would indicate that a further clause corresponding to the τέ was meant to follow it up (Klotz, ad Devar. p. 716; Kühner, ad Xen. Mem. i. 2. 31; Ellendt, Lex. Soph. II. p. 444 f.), which, however, does not suit here, where the address is brought to a weighty close. The use generally doubtful, at least with prose writers, of οὐκ … οὔτε instead of οὔτε … οὔτε (Baeumlein, Partik. p. 222), is here excluded by γάρ, which makes the notion of neithernor inapplicable.

ἕτερον] a name different from that name. On the other hand previously: ἐν ἄλλῳ οὐδ., in no one but in Him. Comp. on Gal_1:7.

τὸ δεδομ. ἐν ἀνθρ] which is granted by Godgiven for goodamong men, in human society. The view adopted by Wolf and Kuinoel, that ἐν ἀνθρ. stands for the simple dative, is erroneous. Winer, p. 204 [E. T. 273].

ἀνθρώποις] in this generic reference did not require the article. See Ast, Lex. Plat. I. p. 177 f.; Kühner, ad Xen. Mem. i. 4. 14; Stallb. ad Plat. Crit. p. 51 A; Prot. p. 355 A. ὑπὸ τ. οὐραν., which might in itself be dispensed with, has solemn emphasis. Comp. Act_2:5.

ἐν ᾧ] as formerly ἐν ἄλλῳ. The name is to be conceived as the contents of the believing confession. Fides implicita (in opposition to the Catholics) cannot here be meant; Act_3:19; Act_3:26.

δεῖ] namely, according to Gods unalterable destination.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 4:12 . ἡ σωτηρία , cf. Act 5:31 , Act 17:11 , i.e. , κατʼ ἐξοχήν , the Messianic salvation. The interpretation which would limit ἡ σωτ . to bodily healing is less satisfactory; infinitely higher than the healing of one man, Act 4:9 , stands the Messianic salvation, for which even the Sanhedrists were hoping and longing, but see also Rendall’s note, in loco . A parallel to the expression is found in Jos., Ant. , iii., 1, 5, but there are many passages in the O.T. which might have suggested the words to St. Peter, cf. Isa 12:2 ; Isa 49:6-8 ; Isa 52:10 . οὔτε γὰρ ὄνομα , see on Act 1:15 , Act 2:21 . οὐδὲ is the best reading, Winer-Moulton, liii. 10, “for not even is there a second name” the claim develops more precisely and consequently from the statement ἐν ἄλλῳ οὐδενὶ · ἕτερος μὲν , ἐπὶ δυοῖν · ἄλλος δὲ , ἐπὶ πλειόνων ( cf. 1Co 12:8 , 2Co 11:1 , Gal 1:6-7 ), Ammonius, quoted by Bengel. τὸ δεδομένον : on the force of the article with the participle, see Viteau, Le Grec du N. T. , pp. 183, 184 (1893) = τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ ὄνομα , τὸ δεδομ . ἐν ἀνθρώποις , μόνον ἐστὶν ἐν ᾧ δεῖ … and Blass, Grammatik des N. G. , p. 238; cf. Luk 18:9 , Gal 1:7 , Col 2:8 . ᾧ δεῖ σωθῆναι : “Jesus when He spoke of the rejection as future, predicted that the stone would be a judgment-stone to destroy the wicked builders. But Peter takes up the other side, and presents the stone as the stone of Messianic salvation; this name is the only name under heaven that is a saving name. Here Peter apprehends the spiritual significance of the reign of the Messiah,” Briggs, Messiah of the Apostles , p. 34, and the whole passage.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There is no other man, or no other power and authority whatsoever: which kind of speech being usual among the Jews, rose upon this, that when we are in danger, we call upon them at whose hands we look for help.

Of God.

Anywhere: and this setteth forth unto us the largeness of Christ’s kingdom.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved--How sublimely does the apostle, in these closing words, shut up these rulers of Israel to Jesus for salvation, and in what universal and emphatic terms does he hold up his Lord as the one Hope of men!

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. Neither is there salvation in any other] No kind of healing, whether for body or soul, can come through any but him who is called JESUS. The spirit of health resides in him; and from him alone its influences must be received.

For there is none other name] Not only no other person, but no name except that divinely appointed one, Mt 1:21, by which salvation from sin can be expected-none given under heaven-no other means ever devised by God himself for the salvation of a lost world. All other means were only subordinate, and referred to him, and had their efficacy from him alone. He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world; and no man ever came, or can come, to the Father but by him.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Neither is there salvation in any other. He passeth from the species [salvation] unto the genus, [or more particular,] and he goeth from the corporal benefit unto perfect health, [or general.] And assuredly Christ had showed this one token of his grace, to the end he might be known to be the only author of life. We must consider this in all the benefits of God, to wit, that he is the fountain of salvation. And he meant to prick and sting the priests with this sentence, when as he saith that there is salvation in none other save only in Christ, whom they went about to put quite out of remembrance. As if he should say, that they are twice damned who did not only refuse the salvation offered them by God, but endeavor to bring the same to nought, and did take from all the people the fruit and use thereof. And although he seemeth to speak unto deaf men, yet doth he preach of the grace of Christ, if peradventure some can abide to hear; if not, that they may at least be deprived of all excuse by this testimony.

Neither is there any other name He expoundeth the sentence next going before. Salvation (saith he) is in Christ alone, because God hath decreed that it should be so. For by name he meaneth the cause or mean, as if he should have said, forasmuch as salvation is in God’s power only, he will not have the same to be common to us by any other means than if we ask it of Christ alone. Whereas he saith under heaven, they do commonly refer it unto creatures, as if he should say, that the force and power to save is given to Christ alone. Notwithstanding, I do rather think that this was added, because men cannot ascend into heaven, that they may come unto God. Therefore, seeing we are so far from the kingdom of God, it is needful that God do not only invite us unto himself, but that reaching out his hand he offer salvation unto us, that we may enjoy the same. Peter teacheth in this place, that he hath done that in Christ, because he came down into the earth for this cause, that he might bring salvation with him, Neither is that contrary to this doctrine, that Christ is ascended above all heavens, (Ephesians 4:10.) For he took upon him our flesh once for this cause, that he might be a continual pledge of our adoption. He hath reconciled the Father to us for ever by the sacrifice of his death: by his resurrection he hath purchased for us eternal life. And he is present with us now also, that he may make us partakers of the fruit of eternal redemption; but the revealing of salvation is handled in this place, and we know that the same was so revealed in Christ, that we need not any longer to say, “Who shall ascend into heaven?” (Romans 10:6.) And if so be this doctrine were deeply imprinted in the minds of all men, then should so many controversies concerning the causes of salvation be soon at an end, wherewith the Church is so much troubled. The Papists confess with us, that salvation is in God alone, but by and by they forge to themselves infinite ways to attain unto the same. But Peter calleth us back unto Christ alone. They dare not altogether deny that we have salvation given us by Christ; but whilst they feign so many helps, they leave him scarce the hundredth part of salvation. But they were to seek for salvation at the hands of Christ wholly; for when Peter excludeth plainly all other means, he placeth perfect salvation in Christ alone, and not some part thereof only. So that they are far from understanding this doctrine.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(12) Neither is there salvation in any other.—Here the pregnant force of “hath been made whole,” in Act_4:9, comes out; and St. Peter rises to its highest meaning, and proclaims a salvation, not from disease and infirmity of body, but from the great disease of sin. The Greek has the article before “salvation.” That of which Peter spoke was the salvation which the rulers professed to be looking for.

Given among men.—Better, that has been given. The words must be taken in the sense which Peter had learnt to attach to the thought of the Name as the symbol of personality and power. To those to whom it had been made known, and who had taken in all that it embodied, the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the one true source of deliverance and salvation. Speaking for himself and the rulers, Peter rightly says that it is the Name “whereby we must be saved.” Where it is not so known, it rises to its higher significance as the symbol of a divine energy; and so we may rightly say that the heathen who obtain salvation are saved by the Name of the Lord of whom they have never heard. (Comp. 1Ti_4:13.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. Neither is there salvation in any other] Rather, And our salvation is not in any other. The article with the noun (ἡ σωτηρία) seems thus better expressed. St Peter thus intimates that the cure of the lame man is only a sign of the power of salvation for the soul which was in Jesus. The people were to draw from the effect produced by “Arise and walk,” the conclusion that the same power could as surely give the greater blessing, “thy sins be forgiven thee” (Mat_9:5).

given among men] Communicated to men by God, as a means of salvation.

whereby we must be saved] Through whom we must of necessity seek our salvation if we would be saved.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neither is there salvation in any other,.... Meaning not corporeal healing, but spiritual and eternal salvation; the Syriac version renders it, neither is there "redemption in any other": Christ is the only Saviour and Redeemer, who was promised and prophesied of as such; who has saved and redeemed his people from the law, sin, and Satan; nor is salvation to be sought and hoped for from any other; not in a man's self, nor in any other creature, angels or men; not in and by his own works, and legal righteousness; not by obedience to the law of Moses, moral or ceremonial; nor by the light of nature, much less by an observance of the traditions of the elders:

for there is none other name; thing or person, be it ever so great, or whatever show of power and strength, of holiness and religion, it makes; as the name of kings, princes, and the great men in the world; or of ministers and preachers in the church; or even of Christians and believers, which may be only a name to live; none but the name of Jesus, his person, blood, and righteousness:

under heaven: throughout the whole earth, in all the nations and kingdoms of it; nor even in heaven itself, among all the mighty angels there, thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers; none but the Father and the Spirit, who are one with Christ: there is none but he

given among men; and he has been freely given by his Father, as an instance of his matchless love to the world; and also freely given by himself, to be a sacrifice for the sins of his people; and is freely preached among men, as the only Saviour of them; for there is no other,

whereby we must be saved: God resolved in his purposes and decrees, in his council and covenant, upon the salvation of his chosen people; and he appointed his Son to be the salvation of them, and determined he would save them by him, and by no other, and in no other way; wherefore, whoever are saved, must be saved by him, see Hos 1:7 the Arabic version adds, "unless by him only".

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Ver. 12. For there is no other name] We have no co-saviour, we need no other master of requests in heaven, but Christ. Say we of Popish saints and mediators, as that heathen did, Contemno minutulos istos deos modo Iovem propitium habeam. William Tracy, Esq., in Henry VIII’s time, made it in his will, That he would have no funeral pomp at his burial, that he passed not upon a mass, that he trusted in God only, and hoped by him to be saved, and not by any saint, &c. Hereupon his body was taken up and burnt as a heretic, A.D. 1532. Some schoolmen (saith Acosta) promise salvation without the knowledge of Christ. And Sleidan telleth us, that at the Council of Trent, the salvation of heathens, by the sole strength of nature without Christ, was much talked of. And Venator, the Arminian, saith, I deny this proposition, no man can be saved that is not set into Christ by a lively faith. The various of Collen set forth a book De Salute Aristotelis. And Erasmus {a} (whether in jest or earnest I know not) useth this litany, Vix possum me continere quin dicam Sancte Socrates ora pro nobis. But if any do seriously fancy any other way to salvation besides Christ, that proverb mentioned by Aristotle in his Meteorology, is verified of him, viz. κακα εφ εαυτον ελκει, ως το κακιας νεφος, he is a wicked and Wretched miscreant.

{a} Erasm. in Praef. ad Tusc. Cic. Quaestiones.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neither is there salvation - The word “salvation” properly denotes any “preservation,” or keeping anything in a “safe” state; a preserving from harm. It I signifies, also, deliverance from any evil of body or mind; from pain, sickness, danger, etc., Act 7:25. But it is in the New Testament applied particularly to the work which the Messiah came to do, “to seek and to save that which was lost,” Luk 19:10. This work refers primarily to a deliverance of the soul from sin Mat 1:21; Act 5:31; Luk 4:18; Rom 8:21; Gal 5:1. It then denotes, as a consequence of freedom from sin, freedom from all the ills to which sin exposes man, and the attainment of that perfect peace and joy which will be bestowed on the children of God in the heavens. The reasons why Peter introduces this subject here seem to be these:

(1) He was discoursing on the deliverance of the man that was healed - his salvation from a long and painful calamity. This deliverance had been accomplished by the power of Jesus. The mention of this suggested that greater and more important salvation from sin and death which it was the object of the Lord Jesus to effect. As it was by his power that this man had been healed, so it was by his power only that people could be saved from death and hell. Deliverance from any temporal calamity should lead the thoughts to that higher redemption which the Lord Jesus contemplates in regard to the soul.

(2) This was a favorable opportunity to introduce the doctrines of the gospel to the notice of the Great Council of the nation. The occasion invited to it; the mention of a part of the work of Jesus invited to a contemplation of his whole work. Peter would not have done justice to the character and work of Christ if he had not introduced that great design which he had in view to save people from death and hell. It is probable, also, that he advanced a sentiment in which he expected they would immediately concur, and which accorded with their wellknown opinions, that salvation was to be obtained only by the Messiah. Thus, Paul Act 26:22-23 says that he taught nothing else than what was delivered by Moses and the prophets, etc. Compare Act 23:6; Act 26:6. The apostles did not pretend to proclaim any doctrine which was not delivered by Moses and the prophets, and which did not, in fact, constitute a part of the creed of the Jewish nation.

In any other - Any other person. He does not mean to say that God is not able to save, but that the salvation of the human family is entrusted to the hands of Jesus the Messiah.

For there is none other name - This is an explanation of what he had said in the previous part of the verse. The word “name” here is used to denote “the person himself” (i. e., There is no other being or person.) As we would say, there is no one who can save but Jesus Christ. The word “name” is often used in this sense. See the notes on Act 3:6, Act 3:16. That there is no other Saviour, or mediator between God and man, is abundantly taught in the New Testament; and it is, indeed, the main design of revelation to prove this. See 1Ti 2:5-6; Act 10:43.

Under heaven - This expression does not materially differ from the one immediately following, “among men.” They are designed to express with emphasis the sentiment that salvation is to be obtained in “Christ alone,” and not in any patriarch, or prophet, or teacher, or king, or in any false Messiah.

Given - In this word it is implied that “salvation” has its origin in God; that a Saviour for people must be given by him; and that salvation cannot be originated by any power among people. The Lord Jesus is thus uniformly represented as given or appointed by God for this great purpose Joh 3:16; Joh 17:4; 1Co 3:5; Gal 1:4; Gal 2:20; Eph 1:22; Eph 5:25; 1Ti 2:6; Rom 5:15-18, Rom 5:21; and hence, Christ is called the “unspeakable gift” of God, 2Co 9:15.

Whereby we must be saved - By which it is fit, or proper δεῖ dei, that we should be saved. There is no other way of salvation that is adapted to the great object contemplated, and therefore, if saved, it must be in this way and by this plan. The schemes of people’s own devices are not adapted to the purpose, and therefore cannot save. The doctrine that people can be saved only by Jesus Christ is abundantly taught in the Scriptures. To show the failure of all other schemes of religion was the great design of the first part of the Epistle to the Romans. By a labored argument Paul there shows Rom. 1 that the Gentiles had failed in their attempt to justify themselves; and in Rom. 2–3 that the same thing was true also of the Jews. If both these schemes failed, then there was need of some other plan, and that plan was that by Jesus Christ. If it be asked, then, whether this affirmation of Peter is to be understood as having respect to infants and the pagan, we may remark:

That his design was primarily to address the Jews, “Whereby we must be saved.” But, The same thing is doubtless true of others. If, as Christians generally believe, infants are saved, there is no absurdity in supposing that it is by the merits of the atonement. But for that there would have been no promise of salvation to any of the human race. No offer has been made except by the Mediator; and to him, doubtless, is to be ascribed all the glory of raising up even those in infancy to eternal life. If any of the pagan are to be saved, as most Christians suppose, and as seems in accordance with the mercy of God, it is no less certain that it will be in consequence of the intervention of Christ. Those who will be brought to heaven will sing one song Rev 5:9, and will be prepared for eternal union in the service of God in the skies. Still, the Scriptures have not declared that great numbers of the pagan will be saved who have not the gospel. The contrary is more than implied in the New Testament, Rom 2:12.

Neither has the Scripture affirmed that all the pagan will certainly be cut off. It has been discovered by missionaries among the pagan that individuals have, in a remarkable way; been convinced of the folly of idolatry, and were seeking a better religion; that their minds were in a serious, thoughtful, inquiring state; and that they at once embraced the gospel when it was offered to them as exactly adapted to their state of mind, and as meeting their inquiries. Such was extensively the case in the Sandwich Islands; and the following instance recently occurred in this country: “The Flathead Indians, living west of the Rocky Mountains, recently sent a deputation to the white settlements to inquire after the Bible. The circumstance that led to this singular movement is as follows: It appears that a white man (Mr. Catlin) had penetrated into their country, and happened to be a spectator at one of their religious ceremonies. He informed them that their mode of worshipping the Supreme Being was radically wrong, and that the people away toward the rising of the sun had been put in possession of the true mode of worshipping the Great Spirit. On receiving this information, they called a national council to take this subject into consideration. Some said, if this be true, it is certainly high time we were put in possession of this mode. They accordingly deputed four of the chiefs to proceed to Louis to see their great father, General Clark, to inquire of him the truth of this matter.

They were cordially received by the general, who gave them a succinct history of revelation, and the necessary instruction relative to their important mission. Two of them sunk under the severe toils attending a journey of 3,000 miles. The remaining two, after acquiring what knowledge they could of the Bible, its institutions and precepts, returned, to carry back those few rays of divine light to their benighted countrymen.” In what way their minds were led to this State we cannot say, or how this preparation for the gospel was connected with the agency and merits of Christ we perhaps cannot understand; but we know that the affairs of this entire world are placed under the control of Christ Joh 17:2; Eph 1:21-22, and that the arrangements of events by which such people were brought to this state of mind are in his hands. Another remark may here be made. It is, that it often occurs that blessings come upon us from benefactors whom we do not see, and from sources which we cannot trace.

On this principle we receive many of the mercies of life; and from anything that appears, in this way many blessings of salvation may be conferred on the world, and possibly many of the pagan be saved. Still, this view does not interfere with the command of Christ to preach the gospel, Mar 16:15. The great mass of the pagan are not in this state; but the fact here adverted to, so far as it goes, is an encouragement to preach the gospel to the entire world. If Christ thus prepares the way; if he extensively fits the minds of the pagan for the reception of the gospel; if he shows them the evil and folly of their own system, and leads them to desire a better, then this should operate not to produce indolence, but activity, and zeal, and encouragement to enter into the field white for the harvest, and to toil that all who seek the truth, and are prepared to embrace the gospel, may be brought to the light of the Sun of righteousness.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Neither is there salvation, for soul or body, in any other person or thing.

For there is none other name; because in distress men did usually call upon their false gods by name, as, O Baal, hear us, 1Ki 18:26.

Under heaven; whether patriarch or prophet, priest or king; especially referring unto Moses, in whom they did trust; and therefore under the gospel especially we must lift up our hearts.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Salvation in any other—As the building cannot be saved without the corner stone, so the world cannot be saved without this name.

Be saved— From the fact that the Greek word for saved is applied to the restoring of the lame-born, some commentators have thought that the salvation here named must also be of a temporal nature. But it is plain that Peter passes from a salvation which only the lame-born needs to a salvation they all needed, and that all men need. It is very absurd to suppose that Peter meant that in Jesus’ name we all are to be saved from bodily disease or any other temporal evil. Peter meant the same salvation as is ever implied in the very name of Jesus—he shall save his people from their sins. For man there is no Saviour but Christ; no salvation but from his atonement. Even those who never heard his name, if saved, are saved by his gracious power.

Actual faith by those who truly know him, and virtual faith, “the spirit of faith,” in those who know him not, are the tie which binds the sinner to the cross and its salvation.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And in none other is there salvation for neither is there salvation in any other, A.V.; neither is there any other, etc., for there is none other, A.V.; that is given for given, A.V.; wherein for whereby, A.V. The eighteenth Article of Religion refers directly to this verse as proving that eternal salvation can be obtained only by the Name of Christ.

The unfolded banner of salvation.

Neither is there salvation in any other," etc. The contrast between the position of Christ"s heralds thee and now. They pointed to one miracle just wrought; we point to the whole succession of wonders along the line of Christian history. Already the Name of Jesus is above every name.

(1) A proclamation;

(2) a warning;

(3) an invitation.

I A PROCLAMATION. "None other name.

1. The proclamation of witnesses. They knew the person, they saw the power, they were subjects of the grace. The Name was a history, testified by those who published it. Others could take knowledge that they had been with Jesus. So Christians still can speak of the Name as in their own hearts and lives "above every name.

2. The proclamation of inspired teachers. The name misunderstood among Jews, because salvation itself nothing to them, not spiritually regarded. The Name of the "Messiah" represented the promise of atonement, spiritual deliverance. The apostles themselves taught of God, otherwise would never have known the secrets of the Name. They proclaimed salvation necessary to all, denouncing the self-righteousness of the Jews.

3. The proclamation of sincere philanthropists. "Under heaven given among men." The standard set up at Jerusalem, but it meant conquest of the whole world. No name will bear this test but Christ"s. Other names, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, have but a limited range, of sympathy divide the world, not unite it. The history of man is a progressive preparation of the race to acknowledge a Name which shall be adapted for universal recognition and homage. A missionary spirit the test of a true Church.

II A WARNING. There are other names among men. Recall the chief dangers of our present time. The builders at the temple of human progress are setting at naught the corner-stone. An emasculated Christianity, robbed of its deepest adaptation to the wants of men; a mere bundle of moral principles and examples. The pride of the human intellect set on the throne; in rationalistic criticism; the dry bones of the Bible offered instead of the living reality; in socialistic theories put in place, of spiritual change, which alone can produce the fruits of righteousness; in sophistical arguments against the leading doctrines of the gospel; and pretended philanthropy, which means nothing but trifling with the awful realities of sin, and undue exaltation of the material above the spiritual interests of men. Other names in the Church. The priest hiding the Savior; the ritual shutting out the truth; sectarianism dishonoring Christ; names of leaders and teachers made into temptations to spiritual pride, and mere hero-worship substituted for simple-minded obedience to Christ"s commandments. Yet the Name above every name in fact, and must be seen to be so. The Name of the coming Judge, who, though he find not faith on the earth, will still destroy all that exalteth itself against him, "that God may be all in all.

III AN INVITATION.

1. To acceptance of a free gift. Given amongst men." Contrast between Christ"s method of helping men and that of the world"s teachers.

2. To separation from a lost cause. The names of the world represent the old things which are passing away. Come out and be separate. Name the Name of Christ in order to realize salvation. Half-hearted religion no joy.

3. To anticipation of a final victory. As the Name we honor represents a life which went up from the lowliest places on earth to the highest in heaven, so those who are called after the Name rise to the throne to reign with Christ. Will you sell such a birthright for vain delight? Will you forfeit such a prospect for lack of faith? R.

The one saving Name.

As one of the earliest preachings of the gospel, this sermon contains a striking illustration of the simplicity of the gospel message. From it we may learn what things were set forth as the primary and essential facts of Christianity, before the development of Christian doctrine. Theology is a science formulated by human genius; for it we are mainly indebted to Augustine and Anselm and Calvin. But it would be a sad thing indeed, for the thousands of" wayfaring men," if an adequate apprehension of a human theology were essential to personal religion. This sermon deals with facts, with the known historical facts of our Lord"s life, death, and resurrection; and with the unknown facts, declared upon the apostolic authority, of Christ"s office, commission, and authority, as risen and exalted. Upon these facts the sermon makes deductions and applications, as in our text.

I SALVATION. Some have strangely suggested that by this word St. Peter only refers to bodily healing, and simply asserts that in Jesus Christ is the true miraculous power. But we cannot thus lose the deeper meanings and applications of truth. Sin is the great human ill, and salvation, to be any salvation at all to man, must deal with and compass it. For this sin that has wrought and is working in us we need "salvation," and it is but to mock us to say that Christ is not the Savior from sin. Show what a large, comprehensive word "salvation" is; compare it with healing, teaching, reforming, etc. It is the word which expresses the deepest need to which any soul can ever awake. At the very edge of death the aroused jailor cries, "What must I do to be saved?" Plead as to whether there has yet been open vision to the discovery of this master-need. What, indeed, can it profit any one of us to gain the whole world, and have our soul unsaved?

II SALVATION BY A NAME.

1. A name stands for a person, and includes whatever rights may belong to him. Illustrate by the ambassador acting in the name of the queen; travelers finding safety in using the name of Englishmen; Moses coming forth in the Name of Jehovah. So the apostles went forth, spoke and wrought, in the Name of Christ. And salvation is by the Name, i.e. by the present rights and power of the living Savior, whom apostles introduced to men.

2. A name stands for a plea. As St. Paul used his name as a Roman citizen. The Name of Jesus is a sufficient plea to secure acquittal, for all due satisfactions have been wrought by Christ. The Name of Jesus becomes a sufficient plea to secure acceptance, for all required righteousness has been won by Christ; and we, by faith united to him and bearing his Name, come into his power and share his rights.

III SALVATION ONLY BY ONE NAME. "None other name" is designed to be exclusive. Then see what it excludes. Few, perhaps, will now actually substitute something for Christ, and deliberately say, "I will not be saved by Christ." But there was, in older times, a subtle substituting of fancied ideas about God"s mercy; and there is now danger of our substituting knowledge and science. Many will try to put something along with Christ. Men try to join their own name with Christ"s; or they put together the Virgin Mary and Christ; or the Church and Christ; or even, in subtle forms, the Bible and Christ; or feelings and Christ. All are wrong things if they are set in the first place with Christ; all may be good if kept in their proper second places. For soul-salvation there is only one Name; the essential thing is that we stand in living relations of faith and love with him whose "Name is above every name.

IV SALVATION IN THE ONE NAME FOR ALL. Otherwise it could not be exclusive. If it is to be the only Name, then it must be the all-sufficient Name, or God would be deceiving us in permitting such broad and gracious invitations to be made to us. The real wants of men are common to all men. We all want health, love, knowledge, and truth; and it is equally true that we all want pardon of our transgressions, liberty from the slavery of self and sin, the life of righteousness, and the hope of the eternal glory. "Salvation" gathers up all these, and all these are found in and through Christ Jesus only.

CONCLUSION. The way of salvation keeps its simplicity. And "to you is the word of this salvation sent." There is one Name only one Name; believe, and you shall be saved. Search the world over and the ages through, there is no other; and yet one day to this Name "every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There is no other name whereby we must be saved - The apostle uses a beautiful gradation, from the temporal deliverance which had been wrought for the poor cripple, by the power of Christ, to that of a much nobler and more important kind, which is wrought by Christ for impotent and sinful souls. He therein follows the admirable custom of his great Lord and Master, who continually took occasion from earthly to speak of spiritual things.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

salvation

(See Scofield "Rom 1:16").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, 1. A positive assertion, that there is no salvation but by Christ; or, that besides, or without him, there is no possibility of salvation, either for Jew of Gentile; both those under the Old Testament have, one and the same common Saviour.

Observe, 2. The ground and reason of this confident assertion, That there is no salvation but by Christ; namely, because there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved:

That is, no other person designed or appointed by God, to be the author of redemption to, and procurer of salvation for, a lost and miserable world, but only Christ.

Take we good heed then, that we do not reject or set him at naught; for in rejecting of Christ, we reject the wisdom of God, the authority of God, the love of God, yea, the salvation of God.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 11

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Salvation in none other. No other Savior but Jesus; no salvation if his is rejected; no other name or power to save from destruction, unless he is accepted. Why, then, should men invoke the Virgin, or the saints?

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

12. καὶ … ἡ σωτηρία. Render, and salvation is not in any other, i.e. salvation in all the fulness of its conception. St Peter thus intimates that the cure of the lame man is only a sign of the power of salvation for the soul which was in Jesus. The people were to draw from the effect produced by ‘Arise and walk,’ the conclusion that the same power could as surely give the greater blessing, ‘thy sins be forgiven thee’ (Mat 9:5). Cf. on σώζω, Act 4:9, and the use of σωθῆναι immediately.

τὸ δεδομένον ἐν ἀνθρώποις, i.e. communicated to men by God, as a means of salvation.

δεῖ implies the necessity of seeking our salvation in this name, if we are ever to find it.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12.] In Jos. Antt. iii. 1. 5, Moses, praying to God for Israel, says, ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ εἶναι τὴν σωτηρίαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἐν ἄλλῳ. σωτηρία is used here in the higher sense of salvation, not with reference to the healing of the lame man. See reff. The article implies, ‘the salvation for which we all look;’ our salvation: ἐστὶν ἡ σωτ. is paraphrased in the next clause by δεῖ σωθῆναι ἡμᾶς.

οὔτε γὰρ …] lit. for neither is there another name under heaven (which is) given (by God) among men (not ‘to men,’ Vulg., Beza, Kuinoel), whereby we must be saved: i.e., as E. V. Dr. Burton’s rendering, ‘For neither is the name which is given among men, whereby we are to be saved, any other than this,’ is ungrammatical.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Salvation [η σωτηρια] . Note the article : the salvation; the Messianic deliverance.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.