Bible Verse of the Day Wednesday August 2nd, 2023

Acts 13:38  “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

Usually, in the New Testament, when Paul refers to "my friends," it refers to brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. However, there are some verses of scripture when the term brothers and sisters might suggest only physical descendants of Abraham, specifically, Isaac and Jacob. In the beginning chapters of Acts, the Apostles often referred to their Jewish counterparts as brothers or sisters, especially when attempting to share the gospel of Christ Jesus with them. When the day of Pentecost came, many Jewish men were pierced in their hearts when they got the word that they had crucified their Messiah, their Lord, and Savior. 

In this Scripture verse, the apostle Paul was preaching to some Jewish people in a synagogue in Antioch on a Sabbath day. He began with reading the Law and the Prophets and moved on to the Psalms in teaching them the scriptures that prophesied the coming of the Messiah. He preached through Jewish history until he came to John the Baptist, who introduced Christ as the promised Messiah to the world (John 1:29).

Paul would first go to the Jewish people at the synagogues when we came into a new city. He did this so that the Jewish population would have a chance to receive Christ before the Gentiles; he feared that if the Gentiles came to Christ first, the Jews would see that as opposing the will of God.

Paul began with the Law, and the Prophets, continuing with the Psalms, began teaching the scriptures to the Gentiles. Starting with the Israelite’s bondage in Egypt, he continued through Jewish history, leading to the calling of John the Baptist. John preached the baptism of repentance to the Jewish people of his time and then introduced Jesus as "the Lamb of God," who takes the world's sins away.

Belief in His death on the Cross for our sins allows fellowship with a righteous God. God had to address access into His perfect righteousness before He could provide salvation for those who believe. How do people escape if they reject God’s way of salvation (Hebrews 2:1-3)?

Paul’s charge against Jews was that they were ignorant of Scripture. They were unaware of the prophecies about the coming of Christ, their unbelief was unnatural for a Jew. It is on the authority of the Word of God that we know we have forgiveness in Christ. We must always be brought back to Scripture for our justification.