Post by Woody Williams on Aug 18, 2005 5:52:29 GMT -5
Text for the Day -- Acts 15:1-4, 12-14, 19-21
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Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.
When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, "It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses."
After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?"
Devotional
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This chapter in Acts describes the first council of the Christian Church - the Jerusalem Council. It was held to discus a critical question. Should non-Jewish persons who want to become Christians have to submit to Jewish laws, namely circumcision? Paul had been
converting gentiles and did not require that they first become Jews.
Certain Jewish Christians were making circumcision a requirement of salvation. Paul's arguments won out as he upheld this basic Christian affirmation - we believe that we are saved by grace through faith.
There is only one class of Christian, children of God saved by grace.
Prayer
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Keep me strong in faith that trusts your grace, O Lord. Amen
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Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.
When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, "It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses."
After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?"
Devotional
----------
This chapter in Acts describes the first council of the Christian Church - the Jerusalem Council. It was held to discus a critical question. Should non-Jewish persons who want to become Christians have to submit to Jewish laws, namely circumcision? Paul had been
converting gentiles and did not require that they first become Jews.
Certain Jewish Christians were making circumcision a requirement of salvation. Paul's arguments won out as he upheld this basic Christian affirmation - we believe that we are saved by grace through faith.
There is only one class of Christian, children of God saved by grace.
Prayer
-------------
Keep me strong in faith that trusts your grace, O Lord. Amen