Salvation Is Jesus

Acts 13 - Part a

Barnabas and Saul in Cyprus

In the 13th Chapter of Acts, we begin to follow Barnabus and Saul on their first missionary journey. As you know from Chapter 11, Barnabas and Saul had spent the last year in Antioch leading the mostly Gentile group of believers. From the very beginning of Chapter 13 we see God directing the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the world.

Verses 1-5:

In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper. 

From these five verses we see again how Christians are being led by the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel to those who have not heard the message of Jesus Christ.  We also see that Barnabas and Saul start their preaching in the Jewish synagogues, indicating that Jews are not automatically saved, but just like any other human, needs the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ to cover them, through faith.

In Cyprus, there is a political figure, named Sergius Paulus (a member of the procounsul), who wants to hear the word of God that Barnabas and Saul have come to preach. Serius has a Jewish attendant named Bar-Jesus (also called Elymas) who is a sorcerer and false prophet. Bar-Jesus opposed the Gospel message and tries to convince Sergius not to put his faith in the Message. The Holy Spirit through Saul (aka Paul) gives a stern reply to Bar-Jesus’ opposition.

Verses 9-12:

Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, ”You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

From these verses we see that God is not pleased with any other way of salvation besides His Son, Jesus.  The proconsul seemed to be a decent man, just like most people in the world today, but in comparison to God, we all are covered in sin and need his forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ.  We are told in verse 7 that Sergius was an intelligent man, and so he probably had his own theories on God and how to be in a right relationship with Him. Whatever Sergius may have believed about his soul and his eternal security, he was only now considering the truth of salvation through Jesus.

We see how strongly Bar-Jesus is rebuked for trying to turn Sergius from putting his faith in what these verses call “everything that is right” and “the right ways of the Lord”. The salvation of Sergius was at hand, and Bar-Jesus was hindering that process, making him a “child of the devil.” Again we see the importance of accepting the truth that Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone.