What Shall We Do?

 Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

January 14, 2021

What Shall We Do?

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Acts 2:41

Read: Acts 2:37-41

In Acts, Luke has continued the message he began in the Gospel of Luke where there is a gathering momentum of Jesus calling Israel to repentance. The closer Jesus got to his Passover destiny in Jerusalem, the more he confronts the sins of Israel. The nation was forgetting the poor and oppressed and had turned to violence instead of peace. Called to be a light to the world, Israel has become just like her neighbor states. Israel ignored Jesus’ call for repentance, and thus Jesus took upon himself the sin of Israel as he went to the cross.

Peter recalled all of this on Pentecost and announced that while it was too late for the nation, it is was not too late for the individuals. They could call on the name of Jesus and be saved from sin and death. Three thousand heeded the call on that Pentecost morning and formed the New Community of Believers.

In these pandemic days, when church attendance is through live streaming and Holy Communion is drive-through, we are in danger of COVID-19 ushering in cheap grace as a way of life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer noted that cheap grace includes Communion without confession, which is exactly what many churches are offering today.

My Takeaway: Bonhoeffer also noted, “Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.” These words inspire me continuously pray, “O Lord, I acknowledge You to be by Creator and my God. I render You the homage of my being and my life. I am not my own, I am Yours. By creation and redemption, I am Yours.”

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2021 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.