Acts 3:16

"Through faith in His name, His name has strengthened this man." He speaks thus because the healed man believed as a result of the healing. Does this mean, then, that the lame man stood firmly on his feet by believing in the name of Christ? …

His name - Himself: his power and love. The faith which is by him - Of which he is the giver, as well as the object.

It explains likewise the great gospel mystery of our salvation by Christ; it is his name that justifies us, that glorious name of his, The Lord our righteousness; but we, in particular, are justified by that name, through faith in it, applying it to ourselves.

And his name, through faith in his name,.... That is, the name of Christ, or the power of Christ, through the faith of the apostles in him, while they made use of his name, and said, "in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth", &c.

And his name - Jesus, the Savior: through faith in his name, as the Savior, and author of life, and all its concomitant blessings, such as health, etc. It is not quite clear whether the apostles refer to their own faith in Jesus, or to the faith of the lame man. It is true Christ had promised that they should perform miracles in his name, Mar 16:17, Mar 16:18. And that whatsoever they asked of the Father in his name, he would grant it, Joh 16:

why marvel at this?--For miracles are marvels only in relation to the limited powers of man. as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk--Neither the might nor the merit of the cure are due to us, mere agents of Him whom we preach.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

His name, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong, &c.--With what skill does the apostle use the miracle both to glorify his ascended Lord and bring the guilt of His blood more resistlessly home to his audience!

You see, dear Friends, that this notable miracle was worked by means of the name of Jesus. Twice it is mentioned. "His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong." It will be well for us to look back to see what name it was which Peter had used in working this miracle of healing. Turn to the 6th verse. "Then Peter said. . .In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk."

You see, dear Friends, that this notable miracle was worked by means of the name of Jesus. Twice it is mentioned. "His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong." It will be well for us to look back to see what name it was which Peter had used in working this miracle of healing. Turn to the 6th verse. "Then Peter said. . .In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." He did not omit either of our Lord's names, nor did he flinch from telling the Jews that it was the same Jesus whom they had despised and called the Nazarene, or the Man of Nazareth. It is always well to adapt our speech to those who are about us. You remember how Cobbett said that he used the English language. "I speak," he said, "not only so that men can understand me if they will, but so that they cannot misunderstand me if they try to do so." And I believe that it is a very wise way of speaking when you wish to convince men concerning an important Truth of God which you desire to convey to their very heart. Peter here seems to say, "They shall not think that I am speaking of another Jesus, or of another Christ—it shall be, 'Jesus Christ.' Neither shall they imagine that there may be another anointed Jesus, but it shall be, 'Jesus Christ of Nazareth.'" And, afterwards, when he had used that name and the miracle had been worked, he went on still further to secure his purpose by making the most definite charges against his hearers, repeating them in detail, that they might know for sure that the Christ who had healed the lame man was the same Christ whom they had, with wicked hands, crucified and slain.

And his name - The “name” of Jesus is here put for Jesus himself, and it is the same as saying “and he,” etc. In this way the word name is often used by the Hebrews, especially when speaking of God, Act 1:15; Act 4:12; Eph 1:21; Rev 3:4. It does not mean that there was any efficacy in the mere name of Jesus that would heal the man, but that it was done by his authority and power. Through faith in his name - By means of faith in him; that is, by the faith which Peter and John had in Jesus. It does not refer to any faith that the man had himself, for there is no evidence that he believed in him. But it was by means of the faith which the apostles exercised in him that the miracle was performed, and was thus a fulfillment of the declaration in Mat 17:20, “If ye have faith ...ye shall to this mountain, remove hence,” etc. This truth Peter repeats two or three times in the verse to impress it more distinctly on the minds of his hearers. Whom ye see and know - There could therefore, be no mistake. He was well known to them. There was no doubt about the truth of the miracle Act 4:16, and the only inquiry was in what way it had been done. This Peter affirms to have been accomplished only by the power of the Lord Jesus. Perfect soundness - ὁλοκληρίαν holoklērian. This word is not used elsewhere in the New Testament. It denotes “integrity of parts, freedom from any defect”; and it here means that the cure was perfect and entire, or that he was completely restored to the use of his limbs. In the presence of you all - You are all witnesses of it, and can judge for yourselves. This shows how confident the apostles were that a real miracle had been performed. They were willing that it should be examined; and this is conclusive proof that there was no attempt at imposture. […]