Acts 4:12

“And in none other is there salvation, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved.”

Then he applies the words to his hearers. There is no salvation in anyone else. Jesus is God's capstone, His cornerstone. There is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved. Eternal life and eternal forgiveness is only available through Him. The question had been in what name the lame man had been healed. This reply states that it is only in that Name that any of mankind can be healed. His appeal to them is clear although cleverly worked in as part of his explanation.

‘Salvation' would have a Messianic ring to his listeners, especially when connected with Psalms 118. In the scrolls from Qumran ‘Salvation' and ‘God's Salvation' are designations of the Messiah. This is also true in other inter-testamental Jewish literature, and it appears later in the Rabbinic writings. In their view the Messiah was to be God's means of salvation. He was to be Salvation. Thus Peter's words are a further claim of Jesus' Messiahship, linked with the salvation which will bring men into the everlasting kingdom. Furthermore the name Jesus means ‘Yahweh is salvation'. Salvation is thus closely paralleled with the name of Jesus in all its senses.

But ‘salvation' can also mean ‘making whole' (compare the same word in Acts 4:9). So there is the implication that the Jesus Who had made this man whole could also make the world whole. Let them then consider that what had happened to this man should make them recognise just what Jesus could do.

Thus these words of Peter were not just a challenge, they were central to the whole question of the Name of Jesus. He was Salvation because He was the Messiah, He was Salvation because that was His name given to Him by God, and He was salvation because He brought salvation to all who needed healing, whether in body or soul.