Acts 3:6
“Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Peter and John encounter a man lame from birth at the temple gate. Begging for money, he receives instead a command to walk in the name of Jesus.
What Does Acts 3:6 Mean?
Acts 3:6 captures a moment of unexpected gift -- Peter has no money to give a begging lame man, but offers him something far greater: healing in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Peter and John were on their way to the temple at the hour of prayer when a man lame from birth, carried daily to the gate called Beautiful, asked them for alms. He expected coins. What he received changed his life.
Peter's honesty is striking: "Silver and gold have I none." He had no wealth to offer, no resources of his own. But he did not turn away empty-handed. "Such as I have give I thee" -- and what he had was access to the power of Christ. The healing comes not by Peter's strength but "in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth." In the biblical world, a name represented the authority and person behind it; to act in someone's name was to act by their authority. Peter makes clear that the power belongs entirely to Jesus, the same Jesus who had been crucified in that very city. The command "rise up and walk" is bold and specific. Peter does not pray a tentative prayer; he speaks with confidence in the authority he invokes. The verse models a faith that gives what it truly has -- not material wealth, but the name and power of the risen Christ.
In the Original Language
The phrase "in the name" (Greek onoma) signifies acting by the authority and power of the person named, here Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Cross References
“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.”
- Acts 4:10
“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
- John 14:13
“And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know:”
- Acts 3:16
Application
We may feel we have little to offer, yet what we truly possess in Christ is of greater worth than silver or gold; faith gives boldly out of what God has placed in our hands.