Daily Bread 2010 - Acts 15
Daily Bread 2010
Acts 15
The Council at Jerusalem
1Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. 4When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
5Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses."
6The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
Acts 15 is a crucial turning point for the early church. Up to this point they had been able to maintain the purity in preaching the Gospel of God grace, not by works. But there will always be those (and our enemy as well) who will try to distort the pure grace God has given us in Jesus Christ. The beauty of the Gospel we preach is that there is nothing you can do to earn it. But there are always those who like to be in control, will always fight not attaching qualifiers to the Gospel.
In this case, the leaders of the Pharisees, who didn’t get the grace part, tried require the Gentiles to be circumcised. Circumcision was an Old Testament ritual that set apart Jewish boys for God’s purposes. It anticipated the grace of God that that would be sent in the person of Jesus, who would circumcise our hearts as we accepted His free gift. Although circumcision had its role in the Jewish faith, it was being superseded by the new covenant that God had promised would come through Jewish people, specifically the lineage of King David.
The new sign of a believer would not be an outward marking/sign, but the inward gift of the Holy Spirit, which would be a sign that one had come to true faith. The Holy Spirit would call, sanctify and enlighten the believers as they accepted the grace of God in Christ. The Holy Spirit would be the one that “cut” (the same word for what happened in circumcision) people’s heart so that they would repent and come to faith. And most importantly this gift was available to all who would seek and receive it in the power of the Holy Spirit.
A question we might ask ourselves today is: Do we put any burdens on people’s back, or do we offer the free gift of God’s grace unconditionally to all who come in our midst? Do we have prejudice against certain types of people, or people groups that in effect impose a new law on them, or do we see the Good News as for all people regardless of lifestyle, background, ethnicity? The minute we start deciding who is “in”, or “out”, is the moment we have made the same mistakes as these Pharisees!
Jesus help us to remember that you are called us not because of our background, or because of who were but because of who you are and your free gift of grace in Christ Jesus! Amen.
Acts 15
The Council at Jerusalem
1Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. 4When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
5Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses."
6The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
Acts 15 is a crucial turning point for the early church. Up to this point they had been able to maintain the purity in preaching the Gospel of God grace, not by works. But there will always be those (and our enemy as well) who will try to distort the pure grace God has given us in Jesus Christ. The beauty of the Gospel we preach is that there is nothing you can do to earn it. But there are always those who like to be in control, will always fight not attaching qualifiers to the Gospel.
In this case, the leaders of the Pharisees, who didn’t get the grace part, tried require the Gentiles to be circumcised. Circumcision was an Old Testament ritual that set apart Jewish boys for God’s purposes. It anticipated the grace of God that that would be sent in the person of Jesus, who would circumcise our hearts as we accepted His free gift. Although circumcision had its role in the Jewish faith, it was being superseded by the new covenant that God had promised would come through Jewish people, specifically the lineage of King David.
The new sign of a believer would not be an outward marking/sign, but the inward gift of the Holy Spirit, which would be a sign that one had come to true faith. The Holy Spirit would call, sanctify and enlighten the believers as they accepted the grace of God in Christ. The Holy Spirit would be the one that “cut” (the same word for what happened in circumcision) people’s heart so that they would repent and come to faith. And most importantly this gift was available to all who would seek and receive it in the power of the Holy Spirit.
A question we might ask ourselves today is: Do we put any burdens on people’s back, or do we offer the free gift of God’s grace unconditionally to all who come in our midst? Do we have prejudice against certain types of people, or people groups that in effect impose a new law on them, or do we see the Good News as for all people regardless of lifestyle, background, ethnicity? The minute we start deciding who is “in”, or “out”, is the moment we have made the same mistakes as these Pharisees!
Jesus help us to remember that you are called us not because of our background, or because of who were but because of who you are and your free gift of grace in Christ Jesus! Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment