THE CENTRAL FACTS OF THE GOSPEL
Peter boldly proclaimed the central facts of the gospel to the crowd gathered in the Temple. They gathered in order to see how the man lame from birth, was now able to walk. Yet, Peter’s explanation must have been for more than they bargained. He told them that the lame man had been healed through faith in the name of the One they had killed, but God had raised up! He declared that it was faith in the name of Jesus that made the crippled man whole. This declaration hit many in the crowd like a spiritual lightning bolt, so that many believed.
What were the central gospel facts that Peter preached?
1) “You killed the Author of Life.” Jesus Christ, the Creator and Source of all life, went to the cross to pay for our sin.
2) “God raised Him from the dead.” The resurrection of Jesus is a central fact of the gospel. Life defeated death!
3) “We are witnesses of this fact.” Peter and the apostles were eye-witnesses of everything Christ had done and of his death, burial and resurrection. This is not second hand news, nor myth. This is reliable, documented fact.
4) Faith in the name of Jesus, the Author of Life, is the only way to be saved and receive eternal life.
What irony! What unfathomable mystery! The Author of Life . . . died for our sin? Yet, raised for our justification (Rom. 4:25)? Yes! O yes! These are the central facts of the gospel. We believe the facts. But we put our faith in the Name.