The sermons in the book of Acts typically highlight God’s commitment to save despite his people’s sin, God’s faithfulness to his promises despite his people’s unfaithfulness, God’s sovereignty in carrying out his purposes despite his people’s rebellion, and God’s exaltation of Christ despite his people’s rejection.
While doing so, the preaching in Acts also boldly declares that Christ has provided a remedy for mankind’s sin problem, since upon placing one’s faith in Christ alone, one’s guilt, condemnation and enslavement to sin is completely eradicated. This is why being a recipient of God’s promises should never lead to self-exaltation, but rather self-humiliation that God would choose to be so gracious to one who is so wicked.
A right understanding of that truth leads to the following Christ-exalting dispositions—Php. 3:3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh…Gal. 6:14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
In contrast to those dispositions, during his sermon in Acts 13, Paul indirectly charges the Jewish people with expecting God’s promises and blessings, while keeping their confidence in their own flesh, which led to delivering their Promised Messiah over to execution. In other words, they refused to exalt Christ and boast only in Him and therefore he was viewed as a hindrance to their commitment to self-exaltation. This is a great lesson for us all, in that Christ will always be in the way of our self-exalting pursuits.
Self-exaltation leads to rejecting Christ
