Be
it known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man is proclaimed to you remission of sins, and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come on you which is spoken in the prophets: ‘Behold, you scoffers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which you will in no way believe, if one declares it to you.’”
Acts 13:38-41
Acts 13 [30.] But God raised him from the dead, and he was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people. We bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled the same to us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second psalm,
‘You are my Son.
Today I have become your father.’
Acts 13 [34.] “Concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ Therefore he says also in another psalm, ‘You will not allow your Holy One to see decay.’ For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw decay. But he whom God raised up saw no decay. Be it known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man is proclaimed to you remission of sins, and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come on you which is spoken in the prophets:
Acts 13 [41.] ‘Behold, you scoffers, and wonder, and perish;
for I work a work in your days,
a work which you will in no way believe, if one declares it to you.’”
Acts 13 [42.] So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now when the synagogue broke up, many of the Jews and of the devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas; who, speaking to them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. The next Sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed.
Meaning:
Paul has shown the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch that God raised Jesus from the dead and so fulfilled the promises made to David (Acts 13:30-37). These verses close his sermon. They state what the resurrection means for his hearers, an offer of forgiveness, and they end with a solemn warning.
- “Through this man is proclaimed to you remission of sins”
“Therefore” ties the offer to the resurrection. Because Jesus lives, forgiveness can be offered in his name. This was the message the risen Jesus gave his disciples: “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations” (Luke 24:47). Peter said the same to Cornelius: “through his name everyone who believes in him will receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43). The offer is personal (“to you”) and universal (“everyone who believes”).
- “Everyone who believes is justified from all things”
Here, for the first time in Acts, we hear the word that would become central to Paul’s letters: justified. To be justified is to be declared righteous, acquitted and accepted by God as judge. The condition is believing, not achieving. Paul later wrote, “We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law” (Romans 3:28), and, “a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2:16).
- “From which you could not be justified by the law of Moses”
Readers understand this phrase in two main ways. Some take it to mean that the law could not justify from anything, while Christ justifies from everything. Others take it to mean that the law’s sacrifices dealt with some sins but not all, while Christ’s work covers every sin. Either way, the point is that Jesus does what the law could not do. Hebrews says, “it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Paul does not despise the law; he shows that it pointed beyond itself to Christ.
- “Beware therefore”
Good news brings responsibility. Paul ends with words from the prophet Habakkuk (Habakkuk 1:5). In Habakkuk, God warned Judah that he was “working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you”: he was raising up the Babylonians to judge his unfaithful people. The Hebrew text says “Look among the nations,” while the Greek translation used in the synagogues reads “you scoffers,” the wording Paul quotes.
- “I work a work in your days”
Paul applies the prophecy to his own time. God was again doing something astonishing, the resurrection of Jesus and the offer of forgiveness to all, Jews and Gentiles alike. Those who dismissed it as unbelievable risked the fate of those who scorned Habakkuk’s warning. The same book contains the great promise Paul would later quote: “the righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17). Faith receives God’s work; scoffing refuses it. The very next Sabbath showed that some would scoff (Acts 13:45).
The Significance of Acts 13:38-41
- Forgiveness is offered to everyone
No one is too far gone and no sin too great. The message of forgiveness through Jesus is for “everyone who believes,” then and now.
- Do not neglect so great a salvation
The warning remains: “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation” (Hebrews 2:3). God’s offer calls for a response, and indifference is itself a choice.
Cross-References:
Luke 24:47: "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem." The message Paul proclaimed.
Romans 3:28: "We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." Paul’s teaching on justification.
Galatians 3:11: "Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, “The righteous will live by faith.”" Habakkuk’s promise applied to faith in Christ.
Habakkuk 1:5: "for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you." The prophecy Paul quoted.
Conclusion: Paul closed his sermon by offering forgiveness of sins through the risen Jesus and declaring that everyone who believes is justified from all that the law of Moses could not deal with. He then warned, in the words of Habakkuk, that God was doing an astonishing work in their days, and that those who scoffed at it would perish. Forgiveness and warning stand side by side, calling every hearer to believe.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible