Skip to main content

Acts 15:8-11: You're Welcome!

The Lord is blessing the evangelistic efforts of the apostles beyond expectation. Everyone is pleased as more people are joining their congregation. They are all glad to see Gentiles and everyone else saved. Some Christian Pharisees, however, have a problem with these new Gentile believers. What is their difficulty?

The new converts aren’t acting like the old converts. Until now the only people the Christian evangelists were approaching were Jews. The Christian Pharisees in Acts here understand that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and that salvation only comes through the Messiah (cf. Ro 1:16-17); so now that these Gentiles are saved, those already in the Church expect that they will also become Jews.

If you are saved, they reason, you will want to become a Jew and do all the things that Jews do; once you are a Christian, they reason, to make your salvation sure you must also become a Jew and many Gentile Christians to this point have been Jewish proselytes.

This viewpoint was not unusual. It is however not accurate: some non-Jews like Cornelius received the gifts of repentance (11:18; cf. also15:12) and of the Holy Spirit (10:45) without first becoming Jews. Thus Peter says, Acts 15:8-11: “God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for He purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

So then some saved people were not accepting others whom God has saved into their number. What about us today? Are we more accepting? If a new or non-believer shows up in our place of worship, does she feel welcome? What if she is a different colour or from a different culture? What if she smokes? What if she dresses differently? What if she is disheveled, dirty or smelly? Are new and non-believers welcome into our churches? What can we do to welcome people whole-heartedly into the family of God?
 More blogs daily at
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beware: Christian Junk Food

THIS IS AN INTERESTING ARTICLE WE STUMBLED ACROSS BY ANNE GRAHAM LOTZ Why the average believer is starving for something more. By Anne Graham Lotz I love junk food—McDonald's french fries, Auntie Anne's pretzels, and almost any kind of pizza! If I'm not careful, though, I will gain unwanted pounds while getting zero nutrition. Many Christians seem to eat spiritually the way I am tempted to eat physically. They fill up on "junk food"—Christian books, CDs, TV programs, seminars, and all sorts of church activities—none of these are bad, really, but they lead to a sickly spiritual state if consumed apart from the true Bread of Life. We need the real nutritional "food" that will be served one day at the Wedding Supper referred to in Revelation 19:9, food that we can partake of right now as we dig into God's Living Word. For the past 17 years, as I have crisscrossed America, speaking at various conferences and churches, I have become convinced of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Timothy 1:12: Learn to Suffer

2 Timothy 1:12: That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. Today’s thought on 2 Timothy 1:12 is entitled ‘Learn to Suffer’. ‘Learn to Suffer’ is motto of a Scottish Clan. Anyone know which clan? Clan Duncan. The Clan motto is ‘Learn to Suffer.’ Did you know that 2 of the early kings of Scotland were Duncans: One was Duncan I and do you know who was the other? Duncan II. Duncan I obtained the throne through murder and Duncan II lost it the same way. The Duncans would learn to suffer. The Duncans historically weren’t so good at choosing the winning side in important battles. They supported the victorious Robert the Bruce in his wars and received benefits from that. But later they supported Charles I, who was defeated, murdered and his country conquered by Cromwell’s Puritans. In supporting the losing side in this war, the Duncans would learn to suff...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thoughts on a Trip to Ontario Part 5: Conclusion: Be Prepared (2 Timothy 4:2)

2 Timothy 4:2: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.   We went to Ontario couple of days before the Celebration of Life. We spent our first two nights in a community called Woodstock because it was within driving distance of Stratford. You know what Stratford is famous for? It’s Shakespeare Festival! That is quite interesting. Do you know the history of the festival? Stratford Ontario, as we know, is named after Stratford, UK. And Stratford UK has a strong connection with William Shakespeare. So the Tom Patterson a few years after returning from World War II started the festival to help revive his home town. It is really worked and the town and the festival are still going and bigger than ever.   Now, we were one week early to actually catch the festival itself but we did get to see one play: Romeo and Juliet . This was especially good because Sarah-Grace was with us and sh...
Post a Comment
Read more