There is no such thing as an ordinary Christian…We all are called out to be different, each to his own calling according to the gifts of the Spirit. After completing the series of the  Shortest Books of The Bible I started looking for other materials to share in a blog. That was my mistake…because it truly is a fact that God has always provided and as usual the path was made known to me. 

The circumstances here are very similar to the chapter we will look at this week. I had accomplished my goal of writing about the shortest books of the Bible but there were more stories to be told and more to be done. So it is in the 15th chapter of Acts…Paul has done a lot to establish the church…The New Way but they have hit a wall that if not removed the Church as we know it today would never be.

The Jewish Factor…The Issue is Circumcision 

While the numbers aren’t factually known it is very much agreed that the early church did have a mixture of Jews and Gentiles, the number of Gentiles growing daily…Remember that a Gentile as defined by the Jews was anyone other than a Jew. Simple and to the point. The Jews felt that in order to be a part of this new way…you should be  circumcised as to the practice of Moses, otherwise you can’t be saved. There was a group that was sent down from Judea to teach this very thing to the brethren. Of course there was an immediate conflict between them and Paul and Barnabas who were teaching exactly the opposite. There was a great dispute and so much opposition to Paul and Barnabas teachings that resulted in an agreement being made…Paul, Barnabas and some others would go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders to get this question settled. When studying Scripture it is a good thing to accord history its due. There was a lot happening in Antioch, the gospel was being preached to Jew and Gentile and they were living together as brethren. But what happens next is a good example that we haven’t learned well from past history, today just like then it takes only a few to mess things up. There were certain Jews that just could not accept this, they were unwilling to concede that they were God’s chosen people. They were quite willing to accept these people into the church…but they must first become Jews. The major argument in the 15th chapter was if the gift of God was for the select few or for all the world? A simple question whose answer would determine whether all the walls would be broken down and the church would move forward with God’s will as its guide. So we move on from here…in laymen’s terms…Paul, Barnabas and all the big guns of the present day early church came together to decide this issue once and for all…It was named The Jerusalem Conference.

Paul and Barnabas stated their case then Peter stood to address those present. Peter reminded them that he had been responsible for the reception of Cornelius into the church some ten years ago. Was he right in welcoming Cornelius and the others at that time. They say “proof is in the pudding” and that being the case Cornelius and those who came with him were granted by God…the Holy Spirit. They settled the question “can we earn the favor of God? There were among those Jews those that said you could only earn God’s favor by “keeping the law.” True peace comes when we realize that the peace of God’s saving grace lies in the understanding that we can never put God in our debt. We will be much happier and at peace when we learn that for a Christian the way to victory in this life is through surrender to Him who is the Creator of all things.

Then James, the leader of the Jerusalem Church, a position made even more powerful because it was not one of a formal office…it was because he was an outstanding individual of high moral standards. He was also the brother of Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 15:7 James had received a special resurrection appearance of Jesus all to himself. James also was a rigorous observer of the Law. Now he stood to declare that the Gentiles should be allowed into the church without anything else standing in their way. The mater was brought to a close as James suggested three things that should be asked of the Gentiles. 

-They must not eat meat that had be offered to idols. 

-They must abstain from fornication

-They must abstain from things strangled and from blood. 

Once the Church had made a decision two things occurred immediately. The terms of the decision were put in a letter which was sent by special messages back to Antioch. The Church sent as representatives Judas and Silas along with Paul and Barnabas. A lesson we might learn here is the messengers were a special acknowledgment of the sincerity of the church in Jerusalem. This news was a major development in the future of the church and the kindness and sincerity in which it was presented added greatly to its worth.The last barrier between Jew and Gentile had fallen and now a unified Church would go forward with the Good News.

Life is Good

jk