Post by Woody Williams on Sept 22, 2024 6:39:58 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
----------
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
----------
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