"And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. 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."
Today's quote relates how during Paul's ministry, prominent Jews had come to the area where Paul and Barnabas were preaching asserting that in order to be saved, the Gentiles would be required to undergo circumcision and abide by all the Law of Moses.
Paul and Barnabas immediately set out to clarify that these men were wrong and that neither the Law of Moses, nor circumcision had any part in the eternal salvation by grace through faith as it was offered by, and through, Jesus Himself.
When Paul and Barnabas rose up in defense of the Gentiles who had already been saved, they decided to go to Jerusalem in order to clear up the matter with the Apostles and church elders once and for all.
As we will learn from future lessons, that was not entirely accomplished since the Jews still tried to place unnecessary requirements upon the Gentile Church members. Some of which were even supported by Peter later causing dissention between he and Paul and some of which are still insisted upon by some "Christians" today.
The erroneous contention that one must live above sin after being saved comes form what those Jews forced into the doctrine that was being preached in some of the early Churches and is still preached in some today.
This lesson is very, very important because it explains how so many parts of ancient Jewish tradition, and the Law of Moses, got wrongly forced into what was being taught then and, in some "Churches", now.
After Paul had told the elders in the Church at Jerusalem about all the Gentile souls that had already been saved and the wonderful work that had been done, Peter stood in his defense and told how God had shown him in a vision that the requirements of the Law should no longer be applied and that the Gentiles too were created by His hand and were co-equals with the Jews and not to be considered unclean.
Peter reaffirmed that eternal salvation comes ONLY by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that the Holy Ghost was sent to "seal" those saved souls until the day of redemption.~
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