Acts 15
8“God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to [the gentiles], just as he did to us.” (Acts 15:8)
A dispute in the church prompted a discussion about circumcision and keeping of the law. Some of the believers in the Jerusalem church still held to their Pharisaical legalism and thought gentile believers needed to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. Others contended that grace was sufficient. Peter said, “God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving to the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.” Old ways or new ways. Circumcision and the law or baptism in the Holy Spirit. These were the questions of this conflict.
The church today is faced with different conflicts. These conflicts can be over matters of doctrine, or over the color of the new carpet in the sanctuary. There are conflicts over the best English translation of scripture or the type of worship music during service. The most disturbing conflicts can be over who is capable of securing God’s grace.
At the heart of the conflict facing the church in Jerusalem was the division between Jew and Gentile. That is hard for the modern church to comprehend since many contemporary Christians fail to realize the First Century church was, by and large, Jewish. The exclusionary attitude of some of the Jewish believers of the First Century is present in the Twenty-first Century church only now it is held by the gentiles.
Who do you say is outside the saving power of Christ? Who have you written off as beyond redemption? Who have you put conditions on before they can be included in the membership roles of your church? Paul writes to the church in Galatia, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Perhaps it's time to love and witness to that lost cause who resides deep in your heart.
