Acts 6:8-15
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Reflection
Jesus had promised the Holy Spirit to empower his disciples as his witnesses (Acts 1:8), and Luke now provides us an example of a Spirit-empowered witness named Stephen. He was a man whose testimony about Jesus was marked by power (6:8) so great that Christ’s opponents “could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking” (v. 10). Their only defense was to use half-truths to create lies about Stephen’s teachings (vv. 11–14), to which he would powerfully respond one last time (see ch. 7).
We must be careful not to underestimate the mighty power of the gospel. In the mouths of those who are filled with the Holy Spirit, it is an unstoppable force in the disciple-making mission (cf. 1:16; cf. 1 Cor. 1:18).
1 John 2:1-6
2: My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Reflection
The word “propitiation” (1 John 2:2) refers to a sacrifice that satisfies the wrath of God against sinners. Those who do not believe in Jesus will not be rescued from God’s wrath (cf. 5:12), but those who put their faith in Jesus have already been delivered. Jesus absorbed the wrath of God toward us for our sin and opened the way for God’s full favor to be shown to all who believe.
Those who truly believe in Jesus demonstrate their faith by their obedience to Christ’s commands. Whoever obeys Christ out of a genuine love for God (2:5) finds assurance that he is genuinely “in him” (v. 5). John is not referring to perfect obedience but to a new direction in life that springs from the radical transformation of having been born again (cf. 3:9). John isn’t teaching that our obedience merits or earns God’s love, but rather that those who have God’s love will show it in the way they live. Our obedience does not gain his love but evidences it. Our disobedience does not remove his love but it weakens our sense of assurance. We cannot confidently claim that his grace is ours if we show no evidence that our lives are his.
Psalm 6:1-4
6: O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
The sacrifice of Christ has forever removed God’s wrath from Christians because Jesus already endured it on our behalf. If you are trusting in Christ, enjoy the peace that he purchased and draw near to God today with confidence that his favor is set upon you.