“Acts 15:1-12”

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

“Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue. Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.’ The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.’ All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.”

---End of Scripture verses---

We have here a clear case of converts resisting the apostolic authority of both Paul and Peter. Both of these inspired ambassadors knew by revelation of the Holy Spirit that Gentiles didn’t need to be circumcised to be saved. But many of the Jewish converts were so adamant about this error that it was decided that the apostles and church leaders should convene in Jerusalem to settle the matter once and for all. If you believe the apostle Paul described the events of the Acts 15 Jerusalem Council in Galatians 2:1-10, as I believe, then this meeting was actually appointed by divine revelation (Galatians 2:2). God Himself arranged this gathering of inspired men and leaders of influence to remove all doubt, and to establish the truth once and for all that circumcision is not a requirement for salvation.

But even more than that, some of the Pharisee converts insisted that, “it is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses” (verse 5). It was also concluded at the Jerusalem Conference that honoring any or all of the Law of Moses is not a requirement for salvation as well. Peter, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit said, “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” (verse 10) The Law of Moses was a cumbersome burden that has been once for all time removed by “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:2). Anyone who claims that Christians must observe the Law of Moses in order to be pleasing to God must dismiss what is clearly stated by the inspired writers of the New Testament.

Some religious groups even go so far as to teach that the Jews and the Gentiles have two different sets of laws governing them under the umbrella of the New Testament. This couldn’t be any farther from the truth. Peter went on to say in verse 11, “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” All people are saved in exactly the same way under God’s covenant with mankind through Jesus. We are all saved by obedient faith. There is no longer any distinction between Jews and Gentiles in the eyes of God (verse 9). We are all the same and we are all held to the same standard of authority. Jewish converts are not required to observe the Law of Moses in order to be saved in Christ Jesus, even though we read that many of them continued to observe parts of that law in keeping with the customs of their people and culture. They were allowed to keep much of the law for reasons of conscience and custom, but not bind those things upon others for salvation (Romans 14:5-6; 1 Corinthians 9:18-23).

Please read Acts 15:13-21 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

-Louie Taylor 

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