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The Jerusalem Council - The Book of Acts · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. Wherefore my sentence is that we trouble
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  Speaker 1: not them which from among the Gentiles are turned to God.
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  Speaker 1: Acts 15.19 As I am being transformed into your likeness, Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: I consciously make the choice to let go of past
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  Speaker 1: rules and outdated mindsets that stand in opposition to the
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  Speaker 1: new way of being. I am freely able to live.
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  Speaker 1: By the work of Jesus, I am now saved by
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  Speaker 1: grace through faith. Keeping traditions that hold me bound to
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  Speaker 1: the past can no longer serve in my new life. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: like the multitude of counsel in Acts 15, guide me,
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit, and reveal to me what needs to stay
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  Speaker 1: in my life and what needs to go. Reveal to
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  Speaker 1: me in your holy word the ways I'm called to
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  Speaker 1: live so I may experience the life in abundance that
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  Speaker 1: you died to give me, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for making prayer a priority in your day.
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  Speaker 1: To learn more about the Bible, stay tuned for today's story.
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  Speaker 1: Brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: The Jerusalem Council In our last story, Paul was nearly
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  Speaker 2: stoned to death by Jewish Christians who sought to control
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  Speaker 2: Gentiles by the law. They were dangerous and controlling. Yet
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  Speaker 2: Paul did not let the stones stop him. Now we
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  Speaker 2: see a move of God's Spirit as He guides the
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  Speaker 2: apostles and leaders to address the problems ahead. If Gentiles
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  Speaker 2: are to be brought into the family of God, they
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  Speaker 2: are going to need to learn to let go. Inspired
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  Speaker 2: by the book of Acts.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible
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  Speaker 3: in a Year podcast. But before we begin, I want
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  Speaker 3: to let you know about a unique e-book that's yours
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  Speaker 3: to download absolutely free today. It's called Breaking Free from Stress.
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  Speaker 3: And my prayer is that it will help you conquer
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  Speaker 3: the daily tasks and pressures and burdens that bring stress
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  Speaker 3: in your life. Download your free copy of Breaking Free
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  Speaker 3: from Stress today by visiting jackgram.org slash stress. That's jackgram.org
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  Speaker 3: slash stress. In yesterday's episode, we heard about the persecution
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  Speaker 3: brought upon Paul and Barnabas by those who wished to
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  Speaker 3: silence the message of Jesus. Twice they had escaped those
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  Speaker 3: who wished them harm, but finally in Lystra, Paul was
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  Speaker 3: seized by angry men who stoned him and carried him
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  Speaker 3: outside the city, leaving him for dead But the disciples
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  Speaker 3: came to his aid and Paul rose up to continue
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  Speaker 3: preaching and teaching and many more came to Christ as
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  Speaker 3: a result. Today we'll hear how Christ-following Jews attempt to
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  Speaker 3: add to the gospel, trying to make Gentile believers follow
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  Speaker 3: Jewish religious traditions such as circumcision. We'll see Paul and
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  Speaker 3: Barnabas journey to Jerusalem and convene a council of the
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  Speaker 3: apostles and elders of the church to stand against these
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  Speaker 3: doctrines that threaten to rob the gospel of its power.
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  Speaker 3: Let's listen now to today's reading from the book of Acts.
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  Speaker 2: The toxic doctrine of the church in Antioch was spreading.
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  Speaker 2: Jews who had become Christian considered themselves more complete and
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  Speaker 2: holy followers of God. They lorded their heritage over the Gentiles.
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  Speaker 2: Many of them even taught that a Gentile could not
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  Speaker 2: become a follower of Jesus unless he was circumcised. This
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  Speaker 2: was in direct opposition to what Jesus had spent years
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  Speaker 2: battling against. He died so that nobody would be judged
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  Speaker 2: on the law, but on the righteousness given to them
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  Speaker 2: through his sacrifice. So Paul and Barnabas called for the
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  Speaker 2: apostles and pastors of the church together to discuss these teachings.
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  Speaker 2: Since the early church was mostly made up of Jews,
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  Speaker 2: it was hard for them to comprehend a faith in
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  Speaker 2: Jesus without embracing the Jewish culture. So they prayed and
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  Speaker 2: bore their heads before God and one another. They argued
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  Speaker 2: and debated the law of Moses and the law of
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  Speaker 2: liberty established by Christ. Then, in the midst of the
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  Speaker 2: arguments and debates, Peter stood up before the room. Everyone
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  Speaker 2: paused as Peter paced the room. He stood with authority.
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  Speaker 2: He was no longer the scared fisherman. He was a
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  Speaker 2: man of quiet strength, a man who knew Jesus deeply.
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  Speaker 2: My brothers, Peter said, I have been a witness to
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  Speaker 2: what God has done to the Gentiles. God has met
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  Speaker 2: them and given them his Spirit. He has made no
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  Speaker 2: distinguishing between us and them. He gives the same Spirit
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  Speaker 2: to both, and we are to not call unclean what
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  Speaker 2: God has cleansed. Do we not still believe that we
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  Speaker 2: are saved by grace? Should we not believe the same
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  Speaker 2: is true for them? The room fell silent, and Peter
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  Speaker 2: sat down. Then Barnabas and Paul recounted the violence of
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  Speaker 2: the Jewish Christians in Antioch. After this, all looked to James,
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  Speaker 2: the brother of Jesus. He stood to his feet. There
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  Speaker 2: was silence, and James looked deep in thought. My judgment
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  Speaker 2: is this. We should not bind the Gentiles to laws
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  Speaker 2: that bring them no closer to Jesus. We should write
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  Speaker 2: to them to encourage them, to guide them, to restore them.
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  Speaker 2: But we should also inform them on the things from
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  Speaker 2: the law they ought to keep. For such is our
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  Speaker 2: burden as leaders— All were in agreement. So they forged
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  Speaker 2: a letter of encouragement to the Gentile believers, and thus
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  Speaker 2: the first major conflict within the church was solved by
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  Speaker 2: a multitude of voices.
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  Speaker 3: In today's scripture, we find Paul and Barnabas at odds
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  Speaker 3: with some Jewish Christians who came from Judea and began
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  Speaker 3: to teach that Gentiles must first be circumcised in order
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  Speaker 3: to be saved. Paul and Barnabas saw this for the
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  Speaker 3: false teaching that it was, a burden on the Gentiles
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  Speaker 3: that Jesus never meant for them to bear, and they
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  Speaker 3: debated them with passion. It was no small matter, and
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  Speaker 3: a rift was beginning to form in the church. So
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  Speaker 3: Paul and Barnabas wisely traveled to Jerusalem to meet with
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  Speaker 3: Peter and the other apostles along with elders in the church.
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  Speaker 3: These were people who had lived alongside Jesus and heard
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  Speaker 3: him preach. If anyone could rule on this matter, it
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  Speaker 3: would be them. As it turned out, this was not
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  Speaker 3: simply a question on the fringes. There were many Jews
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  Speaker 3: in Jerusalem who believed the same things, that Gentiles had
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  Speaker 3: to follow Jewish laws and customs and become circumcised. Of course,
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  Speaker 3: it was a deeper issue than circumcision. This was a
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  Speaker 3: fundamental misunderstanding of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
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  Speaker 3: and the freedom that he gives to all who follow him.
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  Speaker 3: After a great deal of debate and discussion, Peter stood
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  Speaker 3: and spoke with confidence. I can imagine that as he
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  Speaker 3: addressed the gathering, he was recalling the day on the
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  Speaker 3: roof when the vision of unclean animals came to him
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  Speaker 3: and he heard God tell him to rise, kill, and eat.
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  Speaker 3: How after he protested, God told him that he was
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  Speaker 3: not to call anything unclean that God had made clean.
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  Speaker 3: And how just after he awoke from his vision, men
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  Speaker 3: came to bring him to a centurion named Cornelius, a
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  Speaker 3: Gentile who came to faith in Christ. Peter had led
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  Speaker 3: this man and his whole family to faith in the Lord.
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  Speaker 3: and there had been no need for circumcision. Salvation came
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  Speaker 3: through faith in Christ alone, by God's grace alone, to
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  Speaker 3: these Gentiles who heard the word of God and the
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  Speaker 3: message of salvation. And the same Holy Spirit had been
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  Speaker 3: given to them as was given to Peter and other
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  Speaker 3: believing Jews. To Peter, the matter was settled. God made
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  Speaker 3: no distinction and had called all nations and all people
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  Speaker 3: to himself. So in Acts 15, 10 and 11, he concludes,
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  Speaker 3: Now therefore, why are you putting God to the test
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  Speaker 3: by placing a yoke on the back of the disciples
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  Speaker 3: that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?
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  Speaker 3: But we believe that we will be saved through the
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  Speaker 3: grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, just as they will.
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  Speaker 3: Paul and Barnabas then began to tell those gathered what
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  Speaker 3: the Lord had been doing among the Gentiles who were
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  Speaker 3: coming to faith in the Lord. Finally, James, Jesus' own brother,
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  Speaker 3: stood and testified to that what Peter, Paul, and Barnabas
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  Speaker 3: were saying did not contradict Old Testament prophecy, but rather
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  Speaker 3: supported it. This is so important that we remember this
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  Speaker 3: today as well. Yes, God uses experiences to shape and
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  Speaker 3: inform us in our walk, but our experiences do not
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  Speaker 3: trump God's revealed Word. God's Word is our final authority
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  Speaker 3: for faith and practice. And as James concluded, God did
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  Speaker 3: not intend for Gentiles to become Jews. So rather than
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  Speaker 3: burden them with religious requirements of the law, they should
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  Speaker 3: instead exhort them to abstain from things like sexual immorality
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  Speaker 3: and other practices that would violate God's moral law, ultimately
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  Speaker 3: hindering their fellowship with God and other believers. This Jerusalem
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  Speaker 3: council then drafted a letter to send out to believers,
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  Speaker 3: resolving the matter and encouraging them to have unity in
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  Speaker 3: the faith. This was the first major disagreement in the church,
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  Speaker 3: resolved through wise counsel, discernment, understanding of God's Word, and prayer.
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  Speaker 3: It would not, however, be the last division in the church,
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  Speaker 3: and as we'll discover in our next episode, Paul would
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  Speaker 3: remind believers again that righteousness and freedom come not from
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  Speaker 3: good works but through faith in Jesus Christ by God's grace.
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  Speaker 3: We'll learn more about that the next time. Let's pray.
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  Speaker 3: Dear God, we thank you for the gospel, that your
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  Speaker 3: grace is available to all, that this is not a
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  Speaker 3: religious experience, but a life-changing transformation by the power of
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  Speaker 3: the Lord Jesus Christ. May we always judge our experiences