The Cure for Selfishness, Part 2

Series: Acts
January 28, 2018
Acts 5:1-16
George Robertson

Rachel Denhollander is one of the hundreds of women whom Larry Nassar abused during his long career. During his trial, over 150 of the women he abused were allowed to deliver impact statements before the court, with Nassar present. Denhollander’s 45-minute statement was perhaps the most impactful. Here is what she said, in part:

 The Bible you carry says it is better for a stone to be thrown around your neck and you thrown into a lake than for you to make even one child stumble. And you have damaged hundreds. The Bible you have carries a final judgment where all of God’s wrath and eternal terror is poured out on men like you. Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you. I pray you experience the soul crushing weight of guilt so you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me—though I extend that to you as well.[1]


Larry Nassar’s sin was selfishness. He selfishly put his own desires before the health and well-being of vulnerable girls, and in so doing caused terrible harm.

1. Gospel Healing

In part 1, we asked the question, “why do we need to turn to the gospel to be cured of our selfishness?” Now we ask the question, “how does the gospel cure us of our selfishness?” There are at least four ways.

A. Re-creates Disciples

First, the Gospel re-creates us as disciples and heals the breach we have in our relationship with the God who made us.  We are born creatures of God and thus to be in a covenantal relationship with him.  However, when we grow up disobeying, rebelling, and refusing to entrust ourselves to him we live contrary to that purpose.  In other words, we were created to be his disciples and it is only by his saving grace that we are re-created to be what we are supposed to be.

To understand this passage, it is important to tease out who the various people groups are in vv. 12 and 13.  First, Luke reports that all the apostles were performing miraculous signs among the “people,” who would be the residents of Jerusalem.  “All the believers” who met in the Portico most likely refers to the five thousand who had recently been added to the Church.  Solomon’s Portico would have been sizeable enough to accommodate them.  Luke says that “no one else dared join them.”  Who would these be?  These were the unbelievers, who though sympathetic, were afraid to be a part of their company.  The term translated “no one else” or “the rest” or “those from outside” frequently in the New Testament refers to unbelievers (Lk. 8:10; Ep. 2:3; 1 Th. 4:13; 5:6).  These people perhaps were afraid of the authorities, but more than likely they were afraid of the holiness of God expressed in recent events.  Salvation can be frightening because you must give up your selfishness and commit yourself to the Lordship of Christ.  He will take over your life, change your values, transform your speech, cause you to spend your money differently, give you new relationships—he will change you

B. Restores the Body

Then notice that the Gospel heals the body, if not in this life certainly at the resurrection. As he did in his earthly ministry, the Lord demonstrates his concern for the bodies of those created in his image. The first question of the Heidelberg Catechism warmly relates the Christian disciple’s comforting knowledge of the Savior’s physical as well as spiritual care: 

 

Question #1:  What is your only comfort in life and in death?

Answer:  That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.  He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.  He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven:  in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.  Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

 

Some people think that the thought flow from v.14 to v.15 is abrupt, so they rearrange the text.  However, Luke very intentionally puts v.14 in front of v.15 to demonstrate the priority of faith.  The emphasis is on the verb “believed” in v.14.  Then Luke shows the strength of their faith in v.15 when he says that they not only trusted Christ to save their souls, they also looked to him for complete physical healing.  In other words they recognized that they belonged to him body and soul.  In fact, they had become so confident in the power of their Savior that they believed that the mere shadow of an apostle could heal them.  Theirs was not a superstitious faith but rather a faith in a supernatural Savior who could use the simplest of means to work wonders. 

C. Rescues the Soul

Notice that the Gospel also heals the wounds of our souls.   Luke, the physician, makes a distinction between physical anomalies and afflictions created by demon possession.  Records of demon possession are only found in the Gospels and Acts, right at the beginning of the New Testament Church (cm. Acts 8:7; 16:16; 19:15; Mt. 8:16; 10:1).  When the Gospel enters a new area in which the Church is greatly outnumbered by unbelief, where there are few medical means, and where there are few if any Bibles in the common tongue, it is common for the conflict between good and evil to increase greatly.  And it is common for the preaching of the Gospel to be accompanied by healings and wonders.[2]

 

What this demonstrates is Jesus’ complete care for his people.  Christ battles to free our souls from all oppression of sins which are directly or indirectly the result of evil spiritual forces. There is nothing about us that Christ will leave un-renovated.  He beautifully restores us mind, body, and soul.  The beauty of this Gospel is intended to drive out the ugliness of selfishness.

D. Renews Dignity

Finally, Luke specifically mentions that women were being added to the number. This is significant because Luke is demonstrating that the Gospel restores the dignity of classes of people previously scorned by their culture, like women in Luke’s day.  Luke’s gospel is sometimes called the “Gospel of Women” because of the dignified place he affords them.  Acts is no different.  Luke shows that they were an integral part of the Church from the very beginning.  They were a part of the core leadership (1:14). And later he draws attention to the importance of their teaching and service ministries (8:3,12; 9:2; 13:50).  It is yet another demonstration of the healing and dignity the Gospel brings. It restores men and women to mutually respectful roles. And the Gospel restores all people despised by culture for no other reason than that they are different. The Gospel renews the dignity of women, the dignity of minorities, the dignity of unborn children, the dignity of the elderly, and the dignity of the poor.

 

Examples abound in our world of how the ugliness of selfishness causes hurt and brokenness. The reality is that we all struggle with the sin of selfishness in some way, but the good news is that Christ overcame selfishness by his selflessness, coming to earth to set us free from the physical and spiritual bondage of sin. Look to the gospel to be healed of your selfishness and out of gratitude seek to heal others.

 

[1] “Read Rachael Denhollander's full victim impact statement about Larry Nassar,” CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/24/us/rachael-denhollander-full-statement/

 

[2] Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church (Grand Rapids:  Eerdmans, 1970), 193.

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