We Need Balanced Preaching
During His public ministry Jesus promised the apostle Peter that he would be given the keys to the kingdom (Matthew 16:13-19). In truth, the Lord promised this privilege to all of the apostles (Matthew 18:18). A key represents the power to open or close; in the case of the kingdom, the apostles were granted the privilege of preaching the requirements of entering the kingdom. They exercised this power on the Day of Pentecost as related in Acts 2.
It must have been quite an exciting day. The apostles were filled with the oly Spirit who enabled them to speak in other languages. News of this unusual event was noised about and a crowd gathered, wondering what exactly was happening. When some accused the apostles of being drunk, Peter and the others identified the events of the day as being the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:14-21). What followed was a sermon in which the apostles preached the gospel to the assembled Jews.
The sermon began with the affirmation that Jesus was approved of God by means of the miracles, wonders, and signs that He did. Not only was the death of Jesus according to the redemptive purpose of God, but His resurrection was the subject of Old Testament prophecy (vs. 24-31). Peter and the other apostles strengthened their argument about the identity of Jesus by adding that they were eyewitnesses of His resurrection (vs. 32).
Those who heard this sermon were pricked in their consciences and they asked the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (vs. 37). The reason for their reaction was that the apostles in their preaching had accused the Jews twice of crucifying Jesus (vs. 23, 36)! These Jews were convinced that the Man they had crucified was, in fact, the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. The apostles not only preached about the identity of Jesus, they also pointed out the sin of their listeners.
The gospel is about God’s grace. Grace is unmerited favor and God’s grace toward us has been expressed in the sending of His Son, the death of that Son and the offer of the forgiveness of sins through His shed blood (John 1:17; 3:16). The apostles preached the grace of God when they advised their listeners on that Day of Pentecost how they could be forgiven of their sins – “repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38).
Before man will seek divine grace, he must be convinced that he needs it. He must understand that he is guilty of sin. The sermon of Acts 2 demonstrates that man must be convicted of sin just as he must be made aware of the solution to his predicament. As Paul wrote, the word of God is profitable for doctrine and instruction in righteousness as well as reproof and correction (2 Timothy 3:16). Balanced and effective preaching will deal with both subjects, grace AND sin.