Have You Ever Been Guilty Of This?

​Acts 15:19 - "Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,…"  NASU 

• Hindering People Trying To Come To Jesus 

The Gentiles wanted Jesus to be their Savior also, but there were some Jewish believers who were trying to make the pathway to Jesus Christ a little harder for the Gentiles.
 
Acts 15:1-2 - Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue.
 
Acts 15:5 - But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses."  NASU
 
Did you notice what that verse said? Some PHARISEES who had BELIEVED. WOW!
 
The group that was antagonistic towards Jesus and His ministry now has some believers.
 
BUT they were teaching in order for the Gentiles to become followers of Jesus Christ they must first become converts to Judaism.
 
This would mean every Gentile male would have to be circumcised. Oh yeah, that is going to be really painful. Then they must observe all 600 plus laws of the Old Testament.
 
Paul and Barnabas were trying to teach the Pharisees this isn't correct. The Gentiles don't have to become Jewish. They will be accepted by Jesus without circumcision and without obeying all of the Jewish laws.
 
So both groups travel to Jerusalem to meet with the Apostles and see who is right. 

• Here Is What Peter Says 

Acts 15:6-11 - The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. "And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. "Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?"But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are."  NASU
 
Peter says the Gentiles don't have to become Jewish to be SAVED. Peter says God made no distinction between Jews and Gentiles. The cleansing of their (Gentiles) hearts would come by FAITH.
 
What would their "faith" have been in? Their faith would have been in the fact Jesus Christ resurrected after His death. 
 
Our faith is to be in this same fact, Jesus Christ rose from the grave, He has exited the tomb and He is now reigning from Heaven. 

• Here Is What James Says 

Ac 15:13-14, 19-20 - James answered, saying, "Brethren, listen to me. 14 "Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name…. 19 "Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.  NASU
 
Don't trouble people who are turning to God. 

• Here Is What Gary Says 

Heavenly Father, please forgive me of all the times I troubled people who were trying to be Saved by believing in Jesus Christ and His Resurrection. Please forgive me of adding laws which only hindered Your perfect plan of salvation. Please accept my request for forgiveness. In Jesus Name. Amen.
 
I also pray for you my readers to help people come to faith in Jesus Christ and not add any laws to God's Perfect Plan.
 
Think On This:
 
God Still Speaks To Those Who Take Time To Listen.

Stay Pumped, 

Gary A. Serago
 
Minister of God's Word

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