Daily Bread Acts 15
Daily Bread Acts 15
The Council at Jerusalem
1 While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them—much to everyone’s joy—that the Gentiles, too, were being converted.
4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them. 5 But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”
6 So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue. 7 At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. 8 God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. 10 So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? 11 We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”
12 Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
Observation:
The church seems to be going along pretty smoothly with the Great Commission driving its agenda, and then in Acts 15, we see the first Church argument. As Paul and Barnabas described the great harvest of Gentile believers, just as has been prophesied in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 45 and Amos 9, there arises a disagreement among the brothers. It seems that the Pharisees didn’t think it was good enough for these Gentiles to come to faith and be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit, all of which Paul and Barnabas had described in detail. No, these legalists wanted the Gentiles to be circumcised all over again according to the Law of Moses. They wanted to revert back to the Old Covenant. These men were even upsetting the new believers by laying a new law upon them.
Fortunately wisdom prevailed and the apostles’ and elders agreed to send a letter back to the church at Antioch with Paul and Barnabas and a few local disciples. The letter basically says not to worry about this false teaching, but to only abstain from three behaviors that were a significant stumbling block to the Jewish believers. The three were: eating meat that had been offered to idols in the marketplace, consuming blood or meat from strangled animals, and abstain from sexual immorality. These of course were all Old Testament prohibitions too, but the difference was they weren’t salvation issues, but lifestyle issues. In order to maintain community the apostles were asking the Gentile believers to not participate in activities that would cause their Jewish brothers and sisters to fall to temptation.
Application:
There are two great applications from this text. One, we have to be careful about after receiving grace, returning to the law, or legalistic requirements that one must adhere to in order to be saved. Ie. In order to become a Christian, one must go through this ritual or say this specific prayer, or be good enough. The power of the message is that God’s grace is undeserved and unmerited and we can do nothing to deserve it. It is only as we understand the true nature of God’s grace that we set free to truly love and serve Him. If we are under the false teaching that it is something we have done to become loved by God, we will forever be in bondage to legalism, trying to measure up to a standard that has only been met by one person, God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
Secondly, in our freedom, we are called to serve one another in love. If in my freedom I exercise or exhibit some behavior that causes another believer to stumble based on their previous experience, I should abstain from it. Although I am not sinning with my own conscience, I am causing a brother or sister who Christ died for to stumble and possibly give in to a behavior that is sin for them.
A great example of this is being around a recovering alcoholic. Especially early on in their recovery, it will be important for an alcoholic to avoid slippery situations, or situations that would tempt them to drink. Another believer may be okay with having a glass of wine or beer and it is not sin for them. But when they are with the brother or sister for whom this is a strong temptation, they might choose to abstain in order to not cause their friend not to stumble and lose his sobriety. This principle is tremendously helpful as we learn how to use our Christian freedom to serve others, not just indulge for selfish reasons.
Prayer: Thank you Jesus for setting us free from having to do anything to merit your love and grace. Help us to use this new freedom to serve you and others, putting their interests above our own and thus fulfilling the law of love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
The Council at Jerusalem
1 While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them—much to everyone’s joy—that the Gentiles, too, were being converted.
4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them. 5 But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”
6 So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue. 7 At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. 8 God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. 10 So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? 11 We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”
12 Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
Observation:
The church seems to be going along pretty smoothly with the Great Commission driving its agenda, and then in Acts 15, we see the first Church argument. As Paul and Barnabas described the great harvest of Gentile believers, just as has been prophesied in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 45 and Amos 9, there arises a disagreement among the brothers. It seems that the Pharisees didn’t think it was good enough for these Gentiles to come to faith and be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit, all of which Paul and Barnabas had described in detail. No, these legalists wanted the Gentiles to be circumcised all over again according to the Law of Moses. They wanted to revert back to the Old Covenant. These men were even upsetting the new believers by laying a new law upon them.
Fortunately wisdom prevailed and the apostles’ and elders agreed to send a letter back to the church at Antioch with Paul and Barnabas and a few local disciples. The letter basically says not to worry about this false teaching, but to only abstain from three behaviors that were a significant stumbling block to the Jewish believers. The three were: eating meat that had been offered to idols in the marketplace, consuming blood or meat from strangled animals, and abstain from sexual immorality. These of course were all Old Testament prohibitions too, but the difference was they weren’t salvation issues, but lifestyle issues. In order to maintain community the apostles were asking the Gentile believers to not participate in activities that would cause their Jewish brothers and sisters to fall to temptation.
Application:
There are two great applications from this text. One, we have to be careful about after receiving grace, returning to the law, or legalistic requirements that one must adhere to in order to be saved. Ie. In order to become a Christian, one must go through this ritual or say this specific prayer, or be good enough. The power of the message is that God’s grace is undeserved and unmerited and we can do nothing to deserve it. It is only as we understand the true nature of God’s grace that we set free to truly love and serve Him. If we are under the false teaching that it is something we have done to become loved by God, we will forever be in bondage to legalism, trying to measure up to a standard that has only been met by one person, God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
Secondly, in our freedom, we are called to serve one another in love. If in my freedom I exercise or exhibit some behavior that causes another believer to stumble based on their previous experience, I should abstain from it. Although I am not sinning with my own conscience, I am causing a brother or sister who Christ died for to stumble and possibly give in to a behavior that is sin for them.
A great example of this is being around a recovering alcoholic. Especially early on in their recovery, it will be important for an alcoholic to avoid slippery situations, or situations that would tempt them to drink. Another believer may be okay with having a glass of wine or beer and it is not sin for them. But when they are with the brother or sister for whom this is a strong temptation, they might choose to abstain in order to not cause their friend not to stumble and lose his sobriety. This principle is tremendously helpful as we learn how to use our Christian freedom to serve others, not just indulge for selfish reasons.
Prayer: Thank you Jesus for setting us free from having to do anything to merit your love and grace. Help us to use this new freedom to serve you and others, putting their interests above our own and thus fulfilling the law of love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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