Lesson 381

(Lesson 381)(08-30-12) Acts 15:5-11, "But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they."

After the Church members from Antioch had returned to Jerusalem and met with the membership there, some of the Pharisees insisted that the newly added Gentile believers be circumcised before they could be accepted as the children of God. Peter reminded them of his experience with Cornelius and how God had indeed extended salvation and the Holy Ghost to the Gentiles, declared them clean and equal with the Jews.

Peter then asked the Pharisees a very important question. He asked, "Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" One cannot put too much emphasis on the importance of what Peter says here! He has just told us that even the father's of the Hebrew people, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, none of them were able to live above sin! Their failure proved, and was, the necessity for sending Jesus to carry all the sins, of those who would accept him, to the grave and leave them there. Peter knew that making requirements beyond what Jesus had already done would make His supreme sacrifice of no avail. Peter made it very clear that the law had failed, or better put, the Jews had failed the law.
Peter goes further to say, "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they."
He's telling us that no amount of good behavior on our part, is sufficient to achieve salvation, one MUST accept God's gift (Grace) and merely have absolute faith in the fact that Jesus has already lived the sinless life for us. We are no longer required to be perfect. Jesus stands as a permanent barrier that prevents our sins from being seen by the Father. Thanks to the sacrifice made by Jesus, (The complete operation of God), those of us who are saved, appear as perfectly sinless in the sight of God whether we be Jew, Gentile.

We will learn, as these lessons progress, of the struggle the disciples had maintaining the truth of the gospel as the young Church spread. Many of the Jews kept trying to add elements of the law to the gospel, which was sent to fulfill the requirements of the law, and thereby ending its authority.

The failure of many of today's 'isms' is that they, through their tenets, insist that in order to be a child of God, one must take upon oneself the responsibility for maintaining one's own righteousness, which is impossible, just as Peter said. ~