Live by Faith Not the Law [Acts 15]

5But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses."

 6The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter.7After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8"And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;

 9and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.

 10"Now therefore 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? 11"But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are." 12All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

 

Why do we put "God to the test" by putting unbearable yokes on each other?  Isn't it sad when you think about all the laws we add to faith?   This is what some of the Jewish believers were doing to the new Gentile believers.  2000 years later the debate still rages.  People are still saying "you must obey something (wear certain clothes, worship a certain way, ect.)  in order to be a Christian."  Thankfully God, through the apostles and elders, made it clear. "But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are."

Saved by grace, what exactly does that mean?  In Acts 13:38-39 we saw that through this man Jesus, who was raised from the dead, "forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses."

 

Later Paul wrote a letter to the Galatians who were struggling with this problem again. He asked a very important question, "This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?"(Galatians 3:2-3)  Read the rest of that chapter to see how he encouraged them to live by faith and not by law.

 

Lord, we praise You for Your grace.  You have worked in our lives based on Your goodness, not based on ours.  You have offered forgiveness of sins to those who believe in Your Son.  You have supplied Your Spirit living in us, doing Your righteousness through us.


Verna McCrillis, 5/1/2009
Feedback:
Amity Sherlock 11/28/2022 20:20
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