Summary
The Six Essentials of Witness
In the household of Cornelius, Peter delivers what may be the shortest great sermon in Scripture—roughly a minute in length—yet packed with everything a Christian needs in order to bear witness to Jesus Christ. Having just learned through a vision that the gospel is not for the Jew alone but for the Gentile as well, Peter opens with a brief introduction: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality… in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him" Acts 10:34-35. The "fear" he speaks of is awe and reverence born of faith, and "doing what is right" is the active fruit such faith cannot help but produce. With the porch built, Peter goes straight to the house—six essentials for the proclamation of Christ. You can follow the full exposition in "Essentials" Acts 10:34-43 (3-31-19).
1. Peace. "You know the message he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ" Acts 10:36. At the heart of the gospel is the human need for peace with God. Sin is the great gulf that separates sinners from a holy God; "while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son" Romans 5:10. Witness begins here—not with moralism or self-improvement, but with the honest diagnosis that we are at enmity with God and need to be made right with him.
2. Messiah. Peter speaks of "Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power" Acts 10:37-38, echoing Isaiah 61:1, the very text Jesus applied to himself. To speak of "the Anointed One" in Jewish ears was to name the Messiah. Notice what Peter does not lead with: the teachings of Jesus. Begin instead with his identity—God in the flesh, the promised Christ. If a witness starts with teachings, Jesus is reduced to a wise man with a philosophy. The teachings come later; first comes the question, "Who is he?"
3. The Cross. "They put him to death by hanging him on a tree" Acts 10:39. The peace that sinners need is purchased only one way: "through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things… making peace by the blood of his cross" Colossians 1:20. On the cross, the wrath of God against sin fell upon the spotless Lamb. This is the great exchange—Jesus takes our sin and gives us his righteousness.
4. The Resurrection. "But God raised him on the third day and made him to appear… to us who… ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead" Acts 10:40-41. Peter is careful: this is no symbolic survival of a movement or memory of a teacher. It is bodily resurrection, witnessed in the eating and drinking of real men with a real risen Lord. The empty tomb is God's public validation that the sacrifice has been accepted. Without it, as Paul says, "your faith is futile and you are still in your sins" 1 Corinthians 15:17.
5. Judgment. Jesus "is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead" (Acts 10:42; cf. Acts 17:31). Every person who has ever lived will stand before the risen Christ. There are only two ways to stand on that day: clothed in the righteous garment given through faith in Jesus, or exposed in the nakedness of one's own sin. The Creed's confession that "he will come again to judge the living and the dead" is no abstraction; it is the fifth pillar of Christian witness.
6. Forgiveness. "To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name" Acts 10:43. This is the gift the gospel delivers. As Peter preached at Pentecost, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" Acts 2:38. In the waters of Baptism, God washes the sinner in his promises and incorporates him into his family.
Peace, Messiah, Cross, Resurrection, Judgment, Forgiveness—six essentials, one minute, the whole gospel. Peter has shown that a faithful witness need not be long to be full. The Christian who knows these six things knows what to say.
Video citations
- "Essentials" Acts 10:34-43 (3-31-19) — Would you open your Bible, please, with me to the 10th chapter of the Book of Acts? The sermon, the sermon. The proclamation of the anerrant and an enthelable word of mighty God. As we've studied,…