Acts 4 — No Other Name

Today’s Passage: Acts 4

The sermon of Acts 3 is cut short by an arrest. The Sadducees, the priests, and the captain of the temple guard seize Peter and John for proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead, and even so, before the day is over, about five thousand men have come to believe. Brought before the rulers, Peter is filled with the Spirit, and he names Jesus as the stone the builders rejected and the only name under heaven by which we must be saved. The council threatens the apostles, but they will not be silenced. When they are released, the whole church lifts its voice in the words of Psalm 2 and asks God not for escape but for boldness. This chapter holds opposition and courage together, and both of them serve one single claim: there is no other name.

As you read, hold this: There is no other name by which we must be saved.

Acts 4:1–4 (BSB)

¹ While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, ² greatly disturbed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. ³ They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in custody until the next day. ⁴ But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

Notice what disturbs them: the teaching, and the resurrection. They can lock the two men up for the night, but they cannot lock up the message, and while the apostles sit in custody the number of believers only grows. Chains do not cancel the word of God.

Acts 4:5–12 (BSB)

⁵ The next day the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, ⁶ along with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and many others from the high priest’s family. ⁷ They had Peter and John brought in and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being examined today about a kind service to a man who was lame, to determine how he was healed, ¹⁰ then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹ This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ ¹² Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Their question about power and name turns out to be a gift, for it opens the very door Peter longs to walk through. He answers with everything at once: the Name itself, the cross, the resurrection, the rejected cornerstone, and the salvation (σωτηρία) sōtēria, pronounced so-tay-REE-ah. Strong's G4991, salvation, deliverance, rescue. When Peter says that “salvation exists in no one else,” he is not boasting, and he is not being narrow for the sake of it. He is being faithful to the only Lord who was crucified and raised, and there is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved. This is not a sentence to soften or to set beside other options; it is a conviction we hold closed and unmoved. Our own confession has already said that His death and resurrection are the only ground of our rescue, and Acts 4:12 is that very confession spoken aloud in a courtroom. found in no one else. A simple kindness done to a lame man has become a courtroom for the gospel. Verse 12 is not fine print at the bottom of the page; it is the beating heart of the apostles’ faith.

Acts 4:13–22 (BSB)

¹³ When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus. ¹⁴ And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in response. ¹⁵ So they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. ¹⁶ “What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷ But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.” ¹⁸ Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God. ²⁰ For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” ²¹ After further threats they let them go. They could not find a way to punish them, because all the people were glorifying God for what had happened. ²² For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

The evidence itself leaves the council with nothing to say, and yet politics still reaches for a muzzle. The apostles’ answer draws a line that has steadied the church ever since: when a human command runs against God’s own commission, it is God who must be obeyed. They are not looking for a quarrel, and they do not pick one. They simply cannot stop speaking of what they have seen and heard, and the name they refuse to drop is the name of verse 12.

Acts 4:23–31 (BSB)

²³ On their release, Peter and John returned to their own people and reported everything that the chief priests and elders had said to them. ²⁴ When the believers heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. ²⁵ You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? ²⁶ The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.’ ²⁷ In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed. ²⁸ They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen. ²⁹ And now, Lord, consider their threats, and enable Your servants to speak Your word with complete boldness, ³⁰ as You stretch out Your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” ³¹ After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Watch what the church does when its leaders come home from prison. It does not scatter, and it does not strategize; it prays. The believers lift their voices together, they address God as the Maker of heaven and earth, they pray back the words of David, and they confess that even the cross unfolded under His sovereign hand. And when they finally come to their request, it is not for escape but for boldness. Then the place is shaken, the Spirit fills them, and the word goes out. This is the church’s own reflex under threat: it asks God for grace to keep saying the name.

Acts 4:32–37 (BSB)

³² The multitude of believers was one in heart and soul. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they owned. ³³ With great power the apostles continued to give their testimony about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And abundant grace was upon them all. ³⁴ There were no needy ones among them, because those who owned lands or houses would sell their property, bring the proceeds from the sales, ³⁵ and lay them at the apostles’ feet for distribution to anyone as he had need. ³⁶ Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (meaning Son of Encouragement), ³⁷ sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

There is power in the apostles’ testimony and grace resting over the whole company, and among them not a single need goes unmet. Barnabas shows us what open-handed encouragement looks like, selling a field and laying the money down for others. Chapter 5 will soon hold up a counterfeit of this generosity, but chapter 4 shows us the real thing, and it teaches us that the name which saves a person also gathers a people.