Peter’s Fearless Faith
The book of Acts is a detailed narrative that accurately and beautifully communicates the growth of the first-century Church.
It chronicles the “Deeds of the Defenders” as the Holy Spirit worked through them to carry the Gospel to the whole world.
But what does it take to be a FEARLESS servant of God, and how can we prepare ourselves to allow God to work through us to accomplish His will today? Let’s take a look at just one example from the book of Acts and see what it takes to build a FEARLESS faith.
In Acts chapter 2, the apostle Peter preached the first Gospel message about Jesus Christ. He, along with the other apostles, stood up among a tremendous crowd of Jews from around the world and told them the truth about the person they had crucified only 50 days earlier.
Truly, this required a FEARLESS faith from Peter and the other apostles; but let’s notice a few specific things about Peter that can help us build this same kind of faith in our own lives. In this issue of Discovery, we are going to notice and examine the fact that… PETER WAS READY. What were some of the things that caused Peter to be ready for this awesome opportunity?
He was in the right PLACE/POSITION
As Jesus ascended into heaven, He told the apostles to “stay in the city [Jerusalem—Luke 24:49] until you are clothed with power from on high.” It had also been prophesied that the Church would be established in the city of Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2,3; Luke 24:46,47), so being in this particular place put Peter in the right position to preach the Gospel. If he had been anywhere else, he would not have been ready!
He was given POWER from God
Jesus had told His followers that His Kingdom/Church would come “with power” (Mark 9:1), and it certainly did in Acts 2:1-4. The Holy Spirit filled the apostles with the miraculous ability to speak in other tongues/languages, the power that they would need to prove to their audience that they were speaking a message of truth, directly from God. Part of being ready meant accessing the power that God provided!
He was around the right group of PEOPLE
God chose a time when Jerusalem was filled with Jews from “every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5) for the apostles’ first presentation of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. God knew exactly who the audience would be. Everything was ready, including Peter.
It might be a good time to ask ourselves the question, “Am I ready to show the same kind of faith that Peter showed?” To help us answer this question for ourselves, let’s ask a few questions:
Am I in a PLACE/POSITION to tell others about Jesus?
Although there is no physical/geographical place where God expects us to be, there are certainly some “spiritual locations” that put us in a position to FEARLESSLY present the message of the Gospel. For example:
Have I put on the whole armor of God? If I have put on the spiritual armor that Paul talks about in Ephesians 6:10ff., then I am in a spiritual position to have FEARLESS faith. If I haven’t done that, then I won’t be able to “stand against the wiles of the devil” (v. 11).
Am I “walking in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time” (Colossians 4:5)? If I am making wise decisions around those who are not yet Christians, and if I am taking full advantage of the time that God has given me, then I am putting myself in a position to show FEARLESS faith! If I’m not doing that, then I am probably not ready.
Am I being transformed from the inside out, or am I allowing myself to be conformed to the world around me? If I am listening and obeying Romans 12:1-2, then I am putting myself in a position to have/share my FEARLESS faith! If not, then I will not be any different from anyone else around me.
Do I have the right kind of POWER to tell others about Jesus?
Obviously, we are not given the same kind of “power” that the apostles were given in Acts 2, but are we still equipped by God with “power” today? Does our faith rely on our own power, or is God still involved? We are reminded in Romans 1:16 that it is the Gospel itself that “is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.” As Peter himself would say in Acts 3:12 after healing a lame man,
“[W]hy look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?”
The power to save a soul from sin, as Peter fully understood, does not come from us. Do we realize the source of spiritual power?
Am I around the right group of PEOPLE?
Our “audience” today is “every creature” (Mark 16:15), and our lifestyle of FEARLESS faith is supposed to attract attention (Matthew 5:14-16). If we haven’t been attracting an “audience,” perhaps we aren’t “salty” enough (Matthew 5:13)! Although we are not responsible for the way that people respond to the Gospel, we are certainly responsible for living the kind of life that will help us teach/spread that message! Are there people in your life that you can share the Gospel with? If not, then we have something we can learn from Peter about FEARLESS faith, don’t we?
Building a FEARLESS faith is not always easy, but when we look into Scripture, we see many wonderful examples—like Peter—who can help us be stronger in our own faith. The book of Acts is an incredibly encouraging account of how God’s people grew in faith and in number during the first century. Take a look for yourself, and see even more powerful examples of FEARLESS faith!
Do you want to continue to examine the FEARLESS faith of Peter, and others like him within the books of Acts? Take a look at the FEARLESS VBS that will be available in 2022 from Apologetics Press, and you can learn much more about what it takes to have this kind of faith!
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