The Boldness of the Holy Spirit.

“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.” (Acts 4:12) The early church expanded rapidly due to the action of the Holy Spirit through the disciples. His work convicted people of sin, healed people of sickness and disability, and created a compassionate and loving community. The Jews who were brought to faith in Christ experienced the power and love of God as never before. Naturally the religious leaders of the Jews did not like what they saw. They viewed these apostles of Jesus as unschooled troublemakers who threatened their power. The apostles nevertheless received great courage from the Holy Spirit to confront these rulers and remind them of the part they played in the death of Jesus. They proclaimed that Jesus is God. And, in addition, they maintained that not only had Jesus risen from the dead, but that salvation was to be found in Him alone. This was an incredible and dangerous statement to make to a person of any other religion or belief system. Such a statement in our current culture is still a dangerous one to make. This great truth of salvation through Jesus alone proclaims that all other religions are worthless, ineffective and hopeless because they are essentially lies. In the spiritual pluralism that existed in the ancient world and exists in our own this is quite a radical and dangerous claim, one which many find annoying or offensive. Consequently, many would label Christians as intolerant. Therefore, many so-called Christians attempt to soften this dynamic claim by allowing for truth in other faiths and stating that God speaks to different cultures in differing ways. They fear antagonizing people or making them feel bad about themselves. But the fact is they ought to feel bad, they ought to feel guilt, because we all are sinners. Unless we feel guilt over our sins we will never know we need a savior. We will never be led to faith in Jesus alone. So, therefore, we ought to pray for the boldness of the Holy Spirit who can enable us to speak the truth in love.