Lesson 2789

(Lesson 2789)(08-13-19) Acts 21:18-26
    “And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication. Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.”

   As I posted yesterday, today we will try to establish what happened between Paul and the disciples at Jerusalem, and work toward establishing what impact that encounter had on the doctrine of the early church.
    After Paul had told them about the wondrous work that he and the other evangelists had accomplished among the Gentiles throughout the Eastern Mediterranean region, James said to Paul, “Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.”
    In that statement, James was clearly celebrating the fact that many of the Jerusalem Jews had joined with the church, and how they had also continued in all the customs of the Law. By that statement, James was also clearly rebuking Paul for not forcing both Jews and Gentiles to obey the Law as a part of their salvation *process.
    The interaction that transpired at that time, during Paul’s stay in Jerusalem, clearly demonstrates that the influence that James and the Jews had on the early church had already begun to muddy up the pure gospel of Jesus by incorporating the Law of Moses as a requirement for God’s amazing eternal salvation.
    The purpose of this close scrutiny of this lesson will become clearer as we dig further into it.~