I am reading through the book of Acts. Acts 15 is a chapter about fighting the legalistic tendencies of people whose faith grew up in a culture of legalism rather than in a culture of the grace of Jesus.
This is a truncated version of the account.
Acts 15:1-2, 5, 8-11
While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question. But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”
Peter said, "God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”
That last line totally grabs me and gets my attention: We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.
I love James and what he said.
Acts 15:19 “And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
Acts 15:19, 28-29 “And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements: You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.”
Rather than tie up heavy loads on the backs of people who didn't grow up with our religious trappings; we need to grant people the permission to get to know Jesus in their own way, teaching them only scripture and not tradition, allowing the Holy Spirit to teach them what is okay and not okay. He will.
And He will do a better job than we will.
Lord, help me. Help me to let You be God. Help me to stop trying to manufacture change in people and demand bob-inanity in this world.
Amen
