Elements of a confident Faith

Read Acts 4.

Peter and John continued to publicly proclaim the resurrected Jesus.  With a large crowd gathered at the Temple, it did not take long for the religious leaders to react.  When they heard the message from Peter and John and saw the response of the people, they felt threatened.  They thought they could stop Jesus, but He is alive.  They had to stop the Apostles.  Peter and John were arrested and spent the night in jail without being charged of any wrong.

The next day, the Sanhedrin met to confront and intimidate the men.  Their questions and concerns were multiple and not all were voiced.

1. Authority (v.7)
The Sanhedrin saw themselves as the only ones to authorize the teaching about God and the Scriptures.  The problem was that the Pharisees held their traditions in equal or higher authority than the Old Testament.  The Sadducees did not go beyond the Pentateuch in their reverence for Scripture and they did not believe in the resurrection of anyone, let alone Jesus.  And since Peter and John had not been educated as they were (v.13), there was no respect for these disciples.

Peter's answer to "what power or by what name did you do this?" was direct and clear.  He spoke by the name (authority) of Jesus "whom you crucified."

2. Evidence (v.14)
What prompted this scene began in chapter 3 with the healing of a 40-year-old lame man.  The man had been unable to walk since birth.  This well-known beggar outside the Temple was "walking and leaping and praising God" (3:8).  The miracle validated the message.  God's power displayed was a "sign" to them (v.15).  "They had nothing to say in opposition."

Faced with such undeniable evidence of this man and the empty tomb, their hard hearts rejected what God was trying to say to them.  This falls into the category of "Don't bother me with the facts.  My mind is made up."  Since no crime had been committed, only good, all they could do was dismiss Peter and John (v.15).

3. Boldness (vv.23-37)
How were these followers of Christ able to stand up for their faith in this way?  First, they were filled with the Spirit (v.8).  They yielded themselves to God's authority and control.  As a result, they spoke with boldness, or "frankness, bluntness," with confidence.  A person who has doubts about the truthfulness of God's word and lacks the empowerment of the Holy Spirit will speak hesitantly of their faith and allow for other opinions.  Afterwards, they prayed to be able to continue to speak with boldness.

Note that they were not being obnoxious in their boldness.  Their great confidence was in the uniqueness of the message.  "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (v.12).  Their great power (v.33a) was not based on personality but the Holy Spirit working through them.  Their great grace (v.33b) was demonstrated in the open display of generosity toward other believers.