Study Desk

All the people recognized him as the crippled man who always sat by the Beautiful Gate begging for money. Now they saw this same man walking and praising God, and they were amazed. They wondered how this could happen.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, gave glory to Jesus, his servant. But you handed him over to be killed. Pilate decided to let him go free, but you told Pilate you did not want Jesus.

And so you killed the One who gives life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses to this.

God said through the prophets that his Christ would suffer and die. And now God has made these things come true in this way.

So you must change your hearts and lives! Come back to God, and he will forgive your sins. Then the Lord will send the time of rest.

But Jesus must stay in heaven until the time comes when all things will be made right again. God told about this time long ago when he spoke through his holy prophets.

Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will give you a prophet like me, who is one of your own people. You must listen to everything he tells you.

Samuel, and all the other prophets who spoke for God after Samuel, told about this time now.

You are descendants of the prophets. You have received the agreement God made with your ancestors. He said to your father Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the nations on the earth will be blessed.'

God has raised up his servant Jesus and sent him to you first to bless you by turning each of you away from doing evil."

We want all of you and all the people to know that this man was made well by the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth. You crucified him, but God raised him from the dead. This man was crippled, but he is now well and able to stand here before you because of the power of Jesus.

But Peter and John answered them, "You decide what God would want. Should we obey you or God?

The leaders warned the apostles again and let them go free. They could not find a way to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had been done.

When the believers heard this, they prayed to God together, "Lord, you are the One who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.

With great power the apostles were telling people that the Lord Jesus was truly raised from the dead. And God blessed all the believers very much.

Before you sold the land, it belonged to you. And even after you sold it, you could have used the money any way you wanted. Why did you think of doing this? You lied to God, not to us!"

Peter and the other apostles answered, "We must obey God, not human authority!

You killed Jesus by hanging him on a cross. But God, the God of our ancestors, raised Jesus up from the dead!

Jesus is the One whom God raised to be on his right side, as Leader and Savior. Through him, all people could change their hearts and lives and have their sins forgiven.

We saw all these things happen. The Holy Spirit, whom God has given to all who obey him, also proves these things are true."