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September 8 - Acts 15 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here and it is the 8th of September.
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  It's a Monday. It's the start of a new week.
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  Great to have your company. I hope you're going well.
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  Thank you for inviting me in so that you and I can continue
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  reading through this. Incredible journey through the
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  book of Acts, and today we come to a fascinating chapter as the
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  very first council of the church kind of gets together with all
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  the bigwigs, all of the apostles and the church leaders, and they
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  think through what does church look like if it's including
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  Gentiles? How do we do this?
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  What do we let go of as Jews and what do we hold onto?
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  What is what is the essence of this new faith that Jesus has
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  brought us? So it's a fantastic wrestle with
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  these big questions and a fascinating outcome too.
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  So let us dive in and read it together.
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  As we read together Acts chapter 15, while Paul and Barnabas were
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  at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to
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  teach the believers. Unless you were circumcised, as
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  required by the Law of Moses, you cannot be saved.
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  Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently.
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  Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to
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  Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the
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  apostles and elders about this question.
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  The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped
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  along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers.
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  They told them, much to everyone's joy, that the
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  Gentiles too were being converted.
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  When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed
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  by the whole church, including the apostles and elders.
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  They reported everything God had done through them.
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  But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the
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  Pharisees stood up and insisted the Gentile converts must be
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  circumcised and required to follow the Law of Moses.
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  So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue.
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  At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and
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  addressed them as follows. Brothers, you all know that God
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  chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the
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  Gentiles so that they could hear the good news and believe.
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  God knows people's hearts, and He confirmed that He accepts
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  Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us.
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  He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed
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  their hearts through faith. So why are you now challenging
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  God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that
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  neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?
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  We believe that we are all saved the same way by the undeserved
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  grace of the Lord Jesus. Everyone listened quietly as
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  Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God
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  had done through them among the Gentiles.
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  When they'd finished, James stood and said, Brothers, listen
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  to me. Peter has told you about the
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  time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a
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  people for himself. And this conversion of Gentiles
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  is exactly what the prophets predicted as it is written.
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  Afterward, I will return and restore the fallen House of
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  David. I will rebuild its ruins and
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  restore it so that the rest of humanity might seek the Lord,
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  including the Gentiles, all those I've called to be mine.
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  The Lord has spoken, He who made these things known so long ago.
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  And so my judgement is that we should not make it difficult for
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  the Gentiles who are turning to God.
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  Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating
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  food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating
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  the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood.
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  For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish
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  synagogues in every city, on every Sabbath for many
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  generations. Then the apostles and elders,
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  together with the whole church in Jerusalem, chose delegates
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  and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to
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  report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the
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  church leaders, Judas, also called Barsabbas and Silas.
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  This is the letter they took with them.
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  This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in
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  Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile
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  believers in Antioch, Syria and Sicilia.
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  Greetings. We understand that some men from
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  here have troubled you and upset you with their teaching, but we
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  did not send them. So we decided, having come to
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  complete agreement, to send you official representatives, along
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  with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their
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  lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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  We are sending Judas and Silas to confirm what we have decided
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  concerning your question, for it seemed good to the Holy Spirit
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  and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few
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  requirements. You must abstain from eating
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  food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of
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  strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.
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  If you do this, you will do well.
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  Farewell. The messengers went at once to
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  Antioch, where they called the general meeting of the believers
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  and delivered the letter. And there was great joy
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  throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging
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  message. Then Judas and Silas, both being
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  prophets, spoke at length to the believers, encouraging and
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  strengthening their faith. They stayed for a while, and
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  then the believers sent them back to the church in Jerusalem
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  with the blessing of peace. Paul and Barnabas stayed in
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  Antioch. They and many others taught and
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  preached the word of the Lord there.
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  After some time, Paul said to Barnabas, Let's go back and
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  visit each city where we previously preached the word of
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  the Lord and see how the new believers are doing.
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  Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark, but Paul
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  disagreed strongly. Since John Mark had deserted
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  them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their
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  work, their disagreement was so sharp that they separated.
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  Barnabas, took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus.
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  Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted
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  him to the Lord's gracious care. Then he travelled throughout
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  Syria and Sicilia, strengthening the churches there.
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  Jesus, thank you that your Kingdom is a Kingdom of
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  inclusion and a Kingdom of freedom, not a Kingdom of
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  burden. And we hear these wrestles as
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  these early believers try to work out what to do with all the
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  rules that had that had been a part of their life for so long.
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  My Lord Jesus, I wonder what rules we hold on to.
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  I wonder what restrictions we have had imposed on us or
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  imposed upon ourselves. My Lord, I pray that you would
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  shine a bright light on them so that we can let them go and we
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  can focus instead on you and your ways and your Kingdom and
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  your priorities. And Lord, we see these
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  priorities at the early church. Ask those Gentile believers to
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  follow, not because that's what was needed to make them holy in
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  your sight, but that's what was needed so that they could live
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  in fellowship with the Jewish brothers and sisters who
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  believed in you. So, Lord, I pray that you shape
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  our heart for community, that we can do all we can to bring peace
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  and inclusion and unity in our context here in our communities,
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  in our churches, so that together we can glorify you as
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  our one and only priority. We love you and we glorify you
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  here and now. And we pray all of this in your
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  holy name, Jesus, Amen.