Grace By Faith
ACTS 15: 1-35 (June 23)
"You can't earn your way into heaven." I have heard that said so many times over the years.
Yet, we sometimes get our minds set on our "works"...those things we "do" for God that we think will make him proud of us and earn us a special place.
God loves us. He is proud when we serve him well. But that isn't our "ticket to ride". Salvation ... that ticket to the sweetest of places ... comes ONLY through our faith in Christ. It is not bought with our money or our labor, nor can it be won in a contest of "who does the most for Jesus."
There is but one way to heaven and that is by faith. And this was a great topic of argument and conversation in today's Scripture reading.
Paul and Barnabas are back in Antioch of Syria, enjoying being "home" for a while, when some men from Judea showed up. They were teaching the believers that you can't be saved unless you are circumcised. They said this because this went along with the law of Moses.
This was basically an attack on the gospel of the grace of God, which teaches that Christ finished the work necessary for salvation when he died on the cross. All a sinner needs to do is receive him by faith, and he (she) will be saved.
There is no prerequisite for circumcision. So, Paul and Barnabas argued greatly with them, and it became such a situation that the church decided to send the two apostles to Jerusalem to talk to the other apostles and elders about the situation. They wanted to get clarity.
Along the way to Jerusalem, the two spent some time meeting with believers, telling them that the Gentiles were being converted, which made everyone happy to hear.
I find it interesting that most people were filled with joy at hearing the Gentiles had the same opportunity to discover faith as they did. Why should they not be? Why should we not be excited to know that God offers us all the same chance at salvation?
But there are always those "few" in every situation. The "party poopers" who want to argue and have it their own way. So, when this happens to you, just rest in the knowledge that you are not alone, and this has been happening since the days of the apostles.
The whole church of Jerusalem welcomed them, and the two men gave them a play-by-play of all they had been doing to further the Good News. Then James stood up and reminded them of a prediction by the prophets that spoke of the Gentiles being converted.
The judgement was made that Paul and Barnabas were correct in saying no circumcision was needed. The apostles and elders chose some men (Judas and Silas) to accompany Barnabas and Paul back to Syria with a letter stating that this was so. And when they got back to Antioch, they called a meeting of believers and delivered the letter.
Everyone was joyful to hear the message, and then they listened to Judas and Silas as they offered some words to encourage and strengthen their faith.
In all the encouragement we see in this Scripture...the agreement amongst the elders and apostles, the joy of the people, the words from Judas and Silas ... we also see the enemy at work, quietly behind the scenes.
He is always there to bring discord, to work in someone to bring about arguments and dysfunction. He works in the minds of the skeptical and the weak to come against even those who are the strongest in their faith.
That was true then and it is true now. No matter how great our faith, we must always be watchful for the presence of the enemy. We must always be on guard against his wicked ways. He will use whoever he can, whenever he can.
He works through discouragement, disappointment, doubt, fear, anger, confusion, jealousy, regret, sorrow, and so much more. That is why it is CRUCIAL that we stay filled with the things of God through reading, praying, worshipping, and gathering. So that when that enemy comes against us, we have the strength in our spirit to fight and the strength of numbers (found in fellowship) to help us win the battle.