Crane Chapel is a very busy church. We have a lot of meetings! We’ve got AWANA Meetings, Trustee Meetings, Church Board of Administrators Meetings, Youth Worker Meetings, WMS Meetings, Planning Meetings, Worship Committee Meetings (the list goes on…). Well, Acts Chapter 15 describes the most important meeting of the Early Church. And the issue at hand is one that affects all of us today -- regardless of which meeting(s) you attend or don’t attend here at Crane Chapel. The future of the entire Church was at stake in Acts 15: Was it to remain a sect of Judaism, or would it allow uncircumcised Gentiles? Remember Christ said: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matt. 28:19) Let's look deeper at the controversy and how the Council of Jerusalem was formed.
“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.' " (Acts15:1) They were saying that circumcision was required for salvation. They probably figured: Christians should obey God and God commanded circumcision. Paul and Barnabas had a very different opinion: "And Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them…”(Acts 15:2). How was the argument to be resolved? In the interest of unity within the Church, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders over the controversy. And like most controversial meetings, it had a name: The Jerusalem Council.
Among the Council was Peter. (Remember good-old outspoken Peter?!) In the first of three speeches at the council, Peter began to scold those who wanted the Gentiles to obey the laws of Moses. His words amounted to one of the strongest defenses of salvation by grace alone contained in all of Scripture: “…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.” (Acts 15:10-11). This verse is the crux of the entire matter! Peter's point is that the “yoke” of Moses’ various laws were a burden that the Jewish people were – frankly -- unable to keep. No matter how hard people worked to keep those rituals, they could never be perfect. They showed that works can never lead to salvation. Salvation is attained in a different way. By grace. Grace alone. We cannot earn it. It must be given to us. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Are you trusting in God’s Gift of Grace or your own “works?”
“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.' " (Acts15:1) They were saying that circumcision was required for salvation. They probably figured: Christians should obey God and God commanded circumcision. Paul and Barnabas had a very different opinion: "And Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them…”(Acts 15:2). How was the argument to be resolved? In the interest of unity within the Church, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders over the controversy. And like most controversial meetings, it had a name: The Jerusalem Council.
Among the Council was Peter. (Remember good-old outspoken Peter?!) In the first of three speeches at the council, Peter began to scold those who wanted the Gentiles to obey the laws of Moses. His words amounted to one of the strongest defenses of salvation by grace alone contained in all of Scripture: “…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.” (Acts 15:10-11). This verse is the crux of the entire matter! Peter's point is that the “yoke” of Moses’ various laws were a burden that the Jewish people were – frankly -- unable to keep. No matter how hard people worked to keep those rituals, they could never be perfect. They showed that works can never lead to salvation. Salvation is attained in a different way. By grace. Grace alone. We cannot earn it. It must be given to us. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Are you trusting in God’s Gift of Grace or your own “works?”
- Pastor Mark
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