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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
“‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’—things known from long ago.
“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers.
Acts 15:12-22
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The debate had been raging on between Paul and Barnabas, and a group of Pharisees regarding requirements for salvation for Gentiles. It wasn’t that the Pharisees were against the Gentiles being saved. It was that they felt the Gentiles had to fulfill works to gain their salvation, specifically allowing themselves to be circumcised. This act was embedded in what was the old covenant between God and His chosen people, the Israelites.
But a new day had dawned bringing with it a new covenant from God, one that opened up salvation to the world through His Son He sent to save it. In the new covenant, all a person needed to do was simply believe and they would not only be spared God’s judgment but have the opportunity to live forever. This was at the heart of the Gospel that Paul, Barnabas, Simon Peter, and other apostles had been preaching.
And so Paul delivered a spirited message, one that made sure everyone was focused where they should be and that was what God wanted in regard to what a person would have to do to be saved. After all, no one had authority over God. Instead, everyone was subordinate to Him and therefore had no right to substitute their own desires ahead of His. This immediately invalidated the suggestion from the Pharisees who were trying to place a yoke on the necks of the Gentile believers when the truth of the matter was that the Gentiles were saved by grace and grace alone, not works, just as the Jews were.
Well, as our scripture passage opens today, we see where Paul and Barnabas continued to testify about their missionary journey, “telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.” Their words only validated what they had been saying, that God had indeed opened up the gates of salvation to the Gentiles and used His servants to let them know about it.
When the apostles finished, we read where James, Jesus’ half brother, took center stage to support Paul and Barnabas. He reminded the Jerusalem audience about Peter’s earlier testimony and how God intervened in his life and ministry to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles which wasn’t something unexpected. Rather, James reminded the Jews gathered that “words of the prophets” (Amos in this case) had foretold of what was now happening. Using Amos’ words, James showed that all mankind even the Gentiles, who bore the Lord’s name, could seek Him.
And so James let the Jewish religious audience know that no one should “make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God” as their opportunity for salvation was something that God had ordained and approved. He confirmed his point through the use of God’s word as spoken through the prophet Amos.
What James does here is critical when making sure people understand the “why” as to what is happening and/or should happen. For a person can say a lot of things but that doesn’t mean the things said are true. This is why we need to turn to the scriptures, the inerrant word of an inerrant God. Through the scriptures, and only through the scriptures, do we find validation and conformation of some truth a person is asserting.
Now, of interest, we do see James set conditions that he did believe the Gentiles should have to meet. He wanted the Gentiles to be told to “abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.”
So why did he do that, especially since Paul had made the point that there should be no requirement for circumcision placed on the Gentiles?
The answer is found in the matter of unity.
You see, for centuries, Jews and Gentiles has been at odds with one another, mostly because of the way the Jews treated their non-Jewish counterparts. Through an extreme attitude of elitism, the Jews made the Gentiles feel as if they were second class citizens and indeed banished them into the outer fringes of Jewish society.
Now, God had issued a new covenant that brought salvation to everyone. In God’s eyes, there was no discrimination or distinction between Jew and Gentile anymore but that didn’t mean there still wasn’t deep rooted animosity existent between the two groups.
So how could unity start to displace and replace division?
James proposed an idea.
For if the Gentiles would move their standards toward the Jews, then the seeds of fellowship could be sown. Yes, a Gentile wouldn’t be circumcised but if they abstained from eating food polluted by idols, turned away from sexual immorality, stopped eating the meat of strangled animals, and abandoned any dealings with blood, then they wouldn’t be engaged in actions that were offensive to their Jewish brothers and sisters, therefore encouraging and not damaging fellowship opportunities. The requirements were intended to build bridges to span the divide that had existed for generations.
And that was that. There was no more debate from the Pharisees and the church in Jerusalem, who were obviously satisfied with the outcome of the proceedings after James used God’s word to confirm the validity of the Gentiles’ right to salvation from God. We read where the Jerusalem church decided to choose “some of their own men” who were “leaders among the believers” (specifically Judas and Silas) to go to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. We’ll look at how the Christian Gospel mission continued from there in tomorrow’s devotion.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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