Acts 15 -- Don't Close The Doors!

My commentary begins this chapter with the true statement:  "The progress of the gospel has often been hindered by people with closed minds who stand in front of open doors and block the way for others."

"Paul and his associates faced this same challenge at the Jerusalem conference about 20 years after Pentecost.  Courageously, they defended both the truth of the gospel and the missionary outreach of the church."

Legalistic Jewish teachers were causing disputes by coming to Gentile churches and insisting that the weight of the Jewish law (which the Jews had never been able to keep themselves) be thrust on the backs of Gentiles if they were to be saved.  "They were stitching up the rent veil and blocking the new and living way to God that Jesus had opened when He died on the cross," my commentary said.

In defense, Peter reviewed the past, reminding them that God had told Peter to preach to the Gentiles, that He'd given the Holy Spirit to them to bear witness that they truly were born again, that He'd erased the difference between Jews and gentiles, and that the yoke of the law had been taken away by Jesus Christ.  "The law cannot purify the sinner's heart, impart the gift of the Holy Spirit, or give eternal life.  What the law could not do, God did through His own Son."

The church leaders in Jerusalem, directed by the Holy Spirit, led the church to make a twofold decision.  They concluded that Jews and Gentiles are all sinners before God and can be saved only by faith in Jesus Christ.

Two commands were also given to Gentiles -- to avoid idolatry and immorality (sins that were especially prevalent among the Gentiles); and two concessions -- that they would willingly abstain from eating blood and meat from animals that had died by strangulation.  "The early church did a great deal of eating together and practicing of hospitality.  If the Gentile believers ate food that the Jewish believers considered unclean, this would cause a division in the church.  The prohibition against eating blood was actually given by God before the time of the law (Gen. 9:4) ... It was a living compromise that did not in any way affect the truth of the gospel."

For us today, my commentary added, "As we deal with our differences, we must ask, 'How will our decisions affect the united witness of the church to the lost?' ... Unity is not uniformity -- it's based on love and not law.  There is a great need in the church for diversity in unity, for that is the only way the body can mature and do its work in the world."

Father, continue to grow unity in our church and repair the unity we once had.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford