Week 1 Day 2-Hearing, Heeding, & Heart

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DAY 2 – HEARING, HEEDING, AND HEART (Acts 2:40-41)

⁴⁰And with many other words he (Peter) solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” ⁴¹So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

     Verse 40. The “many other words” Peter used to encourage the people to be saved are not told, but it is clear that salvation was his conclusion. “Save yourselves” (KJV, NIV) is a poor translation. This same word is translated in John 5:34 as “be saved.” 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:5, and Ephesians 2:8 all state that only God through Jesus Christ can save us, not we ourselves.

     1. HEARING – The first step in salvation is that we must hear the word of God. Peter preached to the crowd and they “received his word” (verse 41).

Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:17). Obviously in the New Testament times, the Bible was not readily available as it is today, and the people were not always able to read it. However, they would gather regularly to hear its message.

A core belief we have as church members is faith in the Word of God. Romans 10:14-15 goes on to say that salvation begins with the Word of God.

¹⁴ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ​​“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, ​​who bring glad tidings of good things!”

We can only call upon the Lord for salvation if we truly believe. We can only believe after we have heard the gospel. Our church members are people of the Bible who believe the Word of God and strive to obey its teachings. Our class lessons and sermons are always based on the Bible.

In Part 3 of this study, we will learn more about the basic core beliefs we have that identify us as church members, including our belief in the inspired Word of God. Hearing (or in the modern sense “reading”) the word of God is the beginning step of our faith, but not the end. 

     2. HEEDING – If we truly place our faith in Jesus Christ, it will impact our actions. When the people received Peter’s word, they responded with action.

     The Bible says we must hear, and we also must heed His Word. (But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22; My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18). This truth leads us to the second part of faith. 

     3. HEART – True saving faith will make that 18 inch journey from “hearing in our head” down to “heeding with our heart.”

     We must receive in our hearing AND believe in our hearts. This dual action of receiving and believing is seen in John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” Peter’s call for the people to be baptized was the first call for faith in action.

     In baptism, we symbolize the act of salvation, so we are only baptized once and after we have trusted Christ as Savior. It is shown through immersion.

     In the Lord’s Supper, we symbolize the act of sanctification, or our ongoing growth and being “set apart” which is what the word sanctification means. As a result, we observe Communion often, showing our identification with His death and also our expectation of His promised return.

     These two symbols of our salvation show a visible demonstration of both our salvation and sanctification.

Click here for Week 1, Day 3