Acts 13:38Plain English VersionYou see, my friends, I’m telling you this message. Jesus died for us, so if we believe in him, God will say we are not guilty of the bad things we did. Jesus will make us right and good. The law that Moses gave us can’t do that, it can’t make us right and good. See the chapter |
And God says you have to tell everyone about me. Tell them that they have to turn away from the bad things they do and turn to God, so that he will say they are not guilty of the bad things they did. You have to start telling people that message here in Jerusalem, and then go on to other countries, until you tell it to the people in every country.
The next day, John saw Jesus coming to him. John said to the people there, “Look at that man. He is the special one that God sent. You know how people kill a young sheep to pay for the bad things they did. Well, God sent this man to die, like those young sheep. He is going to let people kill him, to pay for all the bad things that everybody in the world does.
Peter told them, “You have to turn around and follow Jesus. Then let us baptise you, to show that you turned away from the wrong things you are doing, and now you follow Jesus Christ. Then God will not do payback to you for those bad things. And he will give you the Holy Spirit to live in you, just like he promised. You see, God promised to give the Holy Spirit to everyone that he picks to be his own people. That promise is for you, and for your kids, and even for people in other countries a long way away.”
Paul kept on talking to them. He said, “You Jewish people have to understand this. God sent his message to you, but you didn’t listen to it. So he is sending that message to the people that are not Jews, and they will listen to it, and believe it.” That is what Paul told the Jewish people in Rome that did not believe his message.
And he gave Jesus the best place in heaven, right next to God himself, on his right-hand side, the place where the most important person sits. And God made Jesus our leader, the one that can save us. God did that so that all the Israel people can turn back to him, and they can stop doing bad things, and then he will not punish them.
Instead, be good to each other, and try to understand how other people feel. If somebody does wrong to you, don’t do payback to them, but let it go. Be good to each other, just like God is good to you. He doesn’t do payback to you. You belong to Jesus Christ now, so God doesn’t punish you for those bad things you did.