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In Acts 5:30-32 Christ is revealed as the Leader and Savior: “The God of our fathers has raised Jesus, whom you slew by hanging Him on a tree. This One God has exalted to His right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Christ was slain by the Jews on a tree and exalted by God to His right hand to be the Leader, as the Ruler of the kings, to rule over the world, and to be the Savior to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel (Rev. 1:5; 19:16). Christ, exalted by God to be the Leader and Savior, was also witnessed by the disciples and the Holy Spirit, who was one with the disciples.
Acts 5:30 tells us that Christ was slain by the Jews on a tree. Acts 5:31 goes on to say that God has exalted the crucified Jesus “to His right hand as Leader and Savior.” The Greek word rendered “Leader” is archegos, meaning “author,” “origin,” “originator,” “chief leader,” “captain.” This word is used only four times in the New Testament and always in reference to Christ (3:15; Heb. 2:10; 12:2). It has been translated a number of different ways in various versions because there is no precise English equivalent to the Greek. The thought is that this One is the origin and Originator, the Author, the Leader, and the Inaugurator. He is above all, and He is spontaneously the Ruler with authority. God has exalted Jesus, the One rejected and killed by the Jewish leaders, as the highest Leader. His being the Leader is a matter related to His authority. He rules sovereignly over the earth with His authority so that the environment may be fit for God’s chosen people to receive His salvation (Acts 17:26-27; John 17:2).
The Lord Jesus as the highest Ruler is above kings and presidents. In a very real sense, Christ as the Ruler of the kings dethrones all the kings. Only He is the Ruler. According to Revelation 1:5, He is the Ruler of the kings of the earth. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (19:16). Christ is both the Ruler and the King. As the Ruler of all the enthroned ones, He rules the entire earth. Today the entire world is under the Lord’s ruling. He is sovereign over everyone and everything.
As the Leader, the Ruler, He is ruling the earth for the purpose of our salvation. He is ruling so that we may be saved. We believe that God chose us, and then at the right time the Lord Jesus, the Ruler of the kings of the earth, exercised His authority to produce a certain environment so that we had no choice except to believe in Him. In a sense, we have been “caught” by the Lord in His sovereignty. We have been caught by Christ and in Christ; furthermore, we have been caught in the church. He is the Ruler of the kings, arranging the environment so that we were constrained to believe in Him. Without such an environment, we would not have believed in Him. Actually, believing in the Lord does not depend on us — it depends altogether on Him. He has been exalted to be the Leader over all the kings to arrange the environment so that His chosen people will believe in Him.
The One God has exalted to His right hand is not only the Leader but also the Savior. Leader is related to His authority, and Savior to His salvation. Jesus’ incarnation made Him a man, His human living on earth qualified Him to be man’s Savior, His crucifixion accomplished full redemption for man, His resurrection vindicated His redemptive work, and His exaltation inaugurated Him to be the ruling Leader so that He might be the Savior.
According to Peter’s word in Acts 5:31, the Lord is the Savior “to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” To give repentance and forgiveness of sins to God’s chosen people requires Christ to be exalted as a ruling Leader and Savior. His sovereign ruling causes and leads God’s chosen people to repent, and His salvation based upon His redemption affords them forgiveness of sins.
Repentance is for forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4). On God’s side, forgiveness of sins is based upon His redemption (Eph. 1:7). On man’s side, forgiveness of sins is through repentance. Repentance and forgiveness are major gifts, and only the Lord Jesus as the Leader and Savior is qualified to give them. We need to realize that in this universe He is the only One qualified to give repentance and forgiveness of sins. It is the Lord who has caught us and compelled us to repent. Otherwise, we would not have repented. Repentance is not of us; it is a gift given by the exalted Leader and Savior. Following repentance, we received the gift of forgiveness. We should praise the Lord that He is qualified to give repentance and forgiveness to God’s chosen people.
When Christ was on earth, He saved Peter, John, and many others. However, although the title “Savior” is applied to Christ in His earthly ministry (John 4:42), He was not officially the Savior until His ascension. We were saved officially by the Christ on the throne, by the One in glory. When we were saved, we were seated with Him in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:6). Christ has saved us from the throne and to the throne. This is the ascended Christ as our Savior.
Christ exalted by God to be the Leader and Savior was witnessed by the disciples and the Holy Spirit. In Acts 5:32 Peter goes on to say, “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” The Greek word translated “things” here is rhema, referring to instant words. Both the apostles and the Holy Spirit were witnesses of these things. This indicates that the Holy Spirit was one with the apostles. In this verse Peter says that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. Obedience is the way and the condition to receive and enjoy the Spirit of God.
Acts 7:55 speaks of Stephen seeing Jesus standing at the right hand of God: “But being full of the Holy Spirit, he looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” This verse unveils that Christ is the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God to be the comfort, encouragement, and strength to the one martyred for Him.
Stephen saw the ascended Christ as the Son of Man. This means that the Christ who is in the heavens still has His humanity; He still possesses a human nature. Some do not believe that Christ today is still the Son of Man. They claim that Christ became a man by incarnation but that in His resurrection He put off His humanity. They think that Christ today is merely the Son of God, that He is no longer the Son of Man. However, it is erroneous to teach that Christ in ascension is no longer the Son of Man. In ascension Christ is still both the Son of God with divinity and the Son of Man with humanity.
According to Acts 7:55, Stephen saw the glory of God. This was a great vindication and encouragement to the persecuted one. Verse 55 says that Stephen also saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. The Lord in ascension is usually referred to as sitting at the right hand of God (Matt. 26:64; Heb. 1:3, 13). But Stephen saw Him standing there. Sitting is for resting, whereas standing is for working. Because a member of His Body was suffering on earth, the Son of Man was seen standing at the right hand of God. This indicates that the Lord was greatly concerned for His persecuted one.
Stephen did not care for the environment. Rather, being full of the Spirit, he looked intently into heaven. In Acts 7:2 Stephen said that the God of glory appeared to Abraham. Now we are told that Stephen saw the glory of God and Jesus as the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. In the entire New Testament this occurred only once. Furthermore, in 7:56 Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” The earth rejected Stephen and was closed to him, but the heavens opened up to him, indicating that the heavens were with him and for him.
In Acts 10:36 Peter speaks of Christ as the One who is “Lord of all.” All refers here to all men, all peoples (1 Tim. 2:4). Christ in His ascension is the Lord not only of the Jews but also of the Gentiles. He is the Lord of all the different races and peoples on earth. With Him there is no respect of persons. As the Lord of all, Christ is the Lord of the Jews and the Gentiles for all of them to be saved.
Acts 10:39-43 indicates that Christ was done away with on a tree by the Jews, raised on the third day by God, and designated by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead; whoever believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.
In verses 39 through 41 Peter speaks to Cornelius concerning Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection: “We are witnesses of all the things which He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom also they did away with by hanging Him on a tree. This One, God raised on the third day; and He has made Him manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses appointed beforehand by God, to us, ones who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.” In verse 40 Peter says that God raised this One, but in verse 41 he says that the Lord rose from the dead. Regarding the Lord as a man, the New Testament tells us that God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 8:11). However, considering Him as God, the New Testament tells us that He Himself rose from the dead (14:9).
In Acts 10:42 Peter says, “He has charged us to proclaim to the people and solemnly testify that this is the One who was designated by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead.” Here we see that Christ has been designated the Judge of all mankind. He will judge both the living and the dead. The resurrected Christ at His second coming will be the Judge of the living before the millennium on His throne of glory (Matt. 25:31-46; 2 Tim. 4:1). He will also be the Judge of the dead after the millennium on the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-15). Therefore, the Lord will exercise God’s judgment over all men, over the living and the dead.
In Acts 10:43 Peter continues, “To this One all the prophets testify that through His name everyone who believes into Him will receive forgiveness of sins.” This proves that even though Cornelius feared God and worked righteousness and his prayers and alms had been accepted by God, he still needed God’s forgiveness of his sins through believing into Christ the Redeemer. Although he was devout, he was yet still sinful and could not say that he had not sinned. Thus, he needed redemption and forgiveness. Christ, who is the Judge of the living and the dead, can also be experienced and enjoyed as the Redeemer into whom we may believe to receive forgiveness of sins.
