Acts 15:2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
What strikes me about today’s reading is that it begins and ends with disagreement and dispute, just as so often happens with Christians and churches today. The conclusion drawn at the time, which still holds true today, is that believers are “under no obligation to the rituals…except the sensitivity which love demands.” So simple. So true. So easy to forget.
Acts 15:5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
“We are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, not by any conformity to the law,” and yet, so often we tear each other down. Jesus said, “Love one another,” and yet we add stipulations. “I can’t love you because you don’t vote like me, believe like me, love like me.” Jesus, Help us.
Acts 15:8-9 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
Lord, You tell us to love one another as You have loved us. And You love us fiercely and unconditionally. Forgive us for putting limits and conditions on the way we love one another. Help us to love each other as You love us, regardless of the personal sacrifice involved in such love. You are worth it, Lord. Amen.
Acts 15:11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
Have a blessed day.