Home at last! After the intense missionary journey that finished in Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas must have cherished being back at their home church. It was from Antioch that they had been commissioned by God and his church to spread the gospel to those who had never yet heard it. And their journey over, they settled back into their role of teaching and encouraging the congregation. Acts 14:28 tells us that they stayed there with the believers for a long time.
Until, that is, some other teachers arrived on the scene. These pseudo-emmisaries from Jerusalem have come preaching a message of legalism: only those who are part of the Jewish nation can be saved. That’s basically what the insistence on circumcision is about. To be circumcised was a sign that you were a member of historical Israel. And only God’s chosen people – Israel – could be saved.
What HERESY! The fact of the matter is that God has formed a new Israel in Christ consisting of both Jews and Gentiles. In Jesus is found the nexus of God’s promises to Abraham; he is the promised seed through whom all the nations of the world are blessed.
The whole point of God’s restoring the fallen house of David was that the rest of humanity might seek the Lord! (Acts 15:16-17)
But what strikes me as even more interesting is the reaction of the Antioch church. Paul and Barnabas argue vehemently that salvation is not based on any merit or work, but solely on the grace of God. And the church in Antioch vacillates. What the new-comers are preaching seems plausible to them. And so they send delegates (including Paul and Barnabas) to Jerusalem to consult with the apostles.
Why do they vacillate? Because, I believe, they were human. There’s something about the gospel that strikes as being almost too good to be true. Surely God doesn’t just accept me… surely I have to make him like me? Surely there are hoops to jump through, things for me to do, ways for me to prove my devotion, ways for me to earn my salvation – if only in part. Surely God’s grace isn’t enough?
And yet that’s exactly what the gospel says. God’s grace is enough. As Peter reminds us still in Acts 15:11, salvation isn’t by what we do – it’s by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus. Yes, our lives should be markedly different from the world around us. We should seek to honour God and follow him. I think that that’s why, at least in part, the non-Jewish believers are encouraged to be sexually pure and to not eat blood or strangled animals. They were to be different from the world around them. Not as a way to be saved, but because we are saved.
We don’t have to convert to Judaismto be saved – all of God’s laws and regulations hve been perfectly fulfilled in Christ. All we must do is to trust in our Saviour. And as we follow him, he will guide us by his Spirit more and more into the character of Christ.
Prayer
Father – make me more like you. I’m so sorry for my tendency to think that you couldn’t just love me. I’m sorry for the times I sink into thinking that Jesus’ death and resurrection isn’t enough. I know that it is. I know that he alone is Lord. I know that he is God – your Son. Please – keep me mindful of the fact that salvation is by grace alone. Keep me from being a legalist. But at the same time, please transform me as you renew my mind to make me more like Jesus. May my life and thoughts and words and deeds speak of your love and your grace. Amen.
Home at last! After the intense missionary journey that finished in Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas must have cherished being back at their home church. It was from Antioch that they had been commissioned by God and his church to spread the gospel to those who had never yet heard it. And their journey over, they settled back into their role of teaching and encouraging the congregation. Acts 14:28 tells us that they stayed there with the believers for a long time.
Until, that is, some other teachers arrived on the scene. These pseudo-emmisaries from Jerusalem have come preaching a message of legalism: only those who are part of the Jewish nation can be saved. That’s basically what the insistence on circumcision is about. To be circumcised was a sign that you were a member of historical Israel. And only God’s chosen people – Israel – could be saved.
What HERESY! The fact of the matter is that God has formed a new Israel in Christ consisting of both Jews and Gentiles. In Jesus is found the nexus of God’s promises to Abraham; he is the promised seed through whom all the nations of the world are blessed.
The whole point of God’s restoring the fallen house of David was that the rest of humanity might seek the Lord! (Acts 15:16-17)
But what strikes me as even more interesting is the reaction of the Antioch church. Paul and Barnabas argue vehemently that salvation is not based on any merit or work, but solely on the grace of God. And the church in Antioch vacillates. What the new-comers are preaching seems plausible to them. And so they send delegates (including Paul and Barnabas) to Jerusalem to consult with the apostles.
Why do they vacillate? Because, I believe, they were human. There’s something about the gospel that strikes as being almost too good to be true. Surely God doesn’t just accept me… surely I have to make him like me? Surely there are hoops to jump through, things for me to do, ways for me to prove my devotion, ways for me to earn my salvation – if only in part. Surely God’s grace isn’t enough?
And yet that’s exactly what the gospel says. God’s grace is enough. As Peter reminds us still in Acts 15:11, salvation isn’t by what we do – it’s by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus. Yes, our lives should be markedly different from the world around us. We should seek to honour God and follow him. I think that that’s why, at least in part, the non-Jewish believers are encouraged to be sexually pure and to not eat blood or strangled animals. They were to be different from the world around them. Not as a way to be saved, but because we are saved.
We don’t have to convert to Judaismto be saved – all of God’s laws and regulations hve been perfectly fulfilled in Christ. All we must do is to trust in our Saviour. And as we follow him, he will guide us by his Spirit more and more into the character of Christ.
Prayer
Father – make me more like you. I’m so sorry for my tendency to think that you couldn’t just love me. I’m sorry for the times I sink into thinking that Jesus’ death and resurrection isn’t enough. I know that it is. I know that he alone is Lord. I know that he is God – your Son. Please – keep me mindful of the fact that salvation is by grace alone. Keep me from being a legalist. But at the same time, please transform me as you renew my mind to make me more like Jesus. May my life and thoughts and words and deeds speak of your love and your grace. Amen.
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