Acts 5

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He is not a safe God! But he is good.

Verses 13-14 draw out the irony of this chapter:

"No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number."

The irony is this. The reality of the God these people worship is becoming more and more clear. He will not allow his church to be polluted from the beginning with false pretense. He will not allow any religious authority to stop the proclamation of the gospel from occurring. He will strike the pretensious down before the community of God. He will break his leaders from prison. The people longed for the Holy God to come to them. Now that he was there, it was a frightening reality.

So no one dared to join them

And at the same time:

More and more believed and were added to the number.

The truth about God is both a repellant and a magnet. Consider the holiness of God in your life. Are there areas that you would like to hide? Do you hide areas of your life from others, fearful that you wouldn't be accepted if they were known. Do you think you are hiding them from God. If you do, you are probably repelled from the notions of the holiness of God and have to manage around that area that is unsubmitted to Christ.

Yet, for those who honestly submit themselves to the truth of God--his holiness and grace is beautiful, attractive and genuine good news for life.