Rules, what rules?

Acts 15:1-11

¹ While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question. ³ The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them—much to everyone’s joy—that the Gentiles, too, were being converted.

⁴ When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them. ⁵ But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”

⁶ So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue. ⁷ At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. ⁸ God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. ⁹ He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. ¹⁰ So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? ¹¹ We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”

We have had Easter recently. It was great to think on the grace and forgiveness of our God. This passage paints another picture of grace that helps us experience his love and pass that onto others.

The comments by Peter are amazing – full of amazing grace. The Message version puts it like this

And God, who can’t be fooled by any pretense on our part but always knows a person’s thoughts, gave them the Holy Spirit exactly as he gave him to us. He treated the outsiders exactly as he treated us, beginning at the very center of who they were and working from that center outward, cleaning up their lives as they trusted and believed him.

We are those outsiders. Jesus came to save us as well as God’s anointed people – the jews. He wanted us to be part of his family. He wanted to help us live lives full of grace and love. Peter also says

Don’t we believe that we are saved because the Master Jesus amazingly and out of sheer generosity moved to save us just as he did those from beyond our nation?

Amazingly and out of sheer generosity – that is how he thinks of us, that is what enabled him to die on the cross for each of us. When you are confident that God loves you, then you don’t need rules to live by – rules to earn his acceptance. You can have peace that you are accepted by him 100% and always. Once you have that you can love others with the same love.

Thank you, Lord, for your love and grace. Thank you that you made a way for us to be part of your family. Help us to walk in that love every day and bring it to all those around us. Amen

Written by Therese Manning