Bearing witness to forgiveness of your sins. Acts 10:43

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To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives  forgiveness of sins through his name.

Today's passage reminds me, you can't hear this message enough. Everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through his name. You caught that, right? Everyone! Not some believers. Everyone! As Peter reminds us through Luke's account of the early years after Pentecost, God has promised. He didn't just promise here. He promised Abraham (Gen. 15:6). More than that, Jesus himself promised. 
  • Don't be afraid, just believe. Mark 5:36
  • I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. Mark 9:41
  • Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16
  • Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. John 3:18 
  • I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. John 11:25-26
  • I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. John 12:46 
That's just six of many passages. Did you hear the message? If you are like me, you may have missed it. Just like Israel missed it. Remember, Israel had prophets foretelling Christ's coming for hundreds of years (Exo. 3:15; Num. 21:9; Deut. 18:15; Isa 7:14, 9:6, 40:10, 53; Eze. 34:23; Dan. 9:24; Micah 7:20; Mal. 3:1.)

Even the disciples themselves sometimes missed the signs and forgot the promise. Remember the passage in Luke when they, even after witnessing his multitude of miracles, doubted that Jesus was alive?
He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? (Luke 24:22)
So, today, Peter has stopped in Caesarea, at Cornelius' house, to share the Gospel, the good news. He reminds the people again of the message they had been hearing all of their lives: God accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right (Acts 10:34). Now I know some of the Jews didn't think God accepted all men, from all nations. Many had forgotten, or overlooked the promise to Abraham.

This is the good news: God is offering a free gift to us. He's still offering. It's still free. Just believe. There's nothing you can do to earn justification with God. There's nothing you can do. There's nothing you can say, although you will say. God so loves the world that he gave his son so that everyone can have eternal life, away from death, and sin, and pain, and injustice. All we need to do is turn to God, and believe.

You are forgiven.

Just believe.


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