And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12 NET
Peter and John had healed a man born lame and then preached to the crowd that gathered. The temple authorities took exception to their preaching about Jesus and the resurrection, so they arrested them and put them on trial before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Court.
The question raised by the Sanhedrin was, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” (Acts 4:7). Peter responded by telling them that it was in the name of Jesus, whom they had killed, but God had raised, that this man had been healed (Acts 4:10).
Peter then proclaimed that salvation is found in no other name than Jesus. It echoes Jesus’ claim that he was “the way and the truth and the life,” the only way to the Father (John 14:6). It is a very exclusive claim. There is only one route to salvation. And it is through the name of Jesus.
But what is the significance of “the name of Jesus” in this verse and the extended passage? “In the biblical sense, a name is far more than a label. It represents a person and is an extension of that person’s being and personality. To invoke the name of Jesus is to call upon his authority and power” (The New American Commentary, Acts 3:6).
To call on “the name of Jesus” is essentially the same as calling on Jesus. Salvation is only available to us through the person of Jesus. Peter is clear. There is no other way. The Jewish leaders, in rejecting Jesus, were rejecting salvation.
Many today claim that there are other routes to salvation. Or that all religions lead us to God. However, the claims of Jesus and his apostles are very different. Those other roads lead to destruction. Only Jesus, the narrow road, leads to eternal life (Matt. 7:13-14).
