TO CIRCUMCISE OR NOT CIRCUMCISE THAT IS THE QUESTION
Acts 15:13-19 NKJV
And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:
‘After this I will return
And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down;
I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will set it up;
So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name,
Says the Lord who does all these things.’
“Known to God from eternity are all His works. Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God,
The early church was divided. Men were coming from Judea and telling the new Gentile converts that unless they became circumcised according to the law of Moses, they could not be saved. That’s a hard sell. And wrong. Paul and Barnabas engaged these teachers in no small dissension and dispute. Paul and Barnabas had faced tougher challenges and were certainly not backing down with these Jewish teachers. Finally, it was determined that Paul and Barnabas would go to Jerusalem and speak with the apostles and elders of the church.
It was the group of Pharisees that came to faith in Christ but were unwilling to abandon circumcision and the law of Moses, which was causing the biggest ruckus. As the council came together, there was a big dispute until Peter spoke. Obviously, Peter had major influence in the early church, and he spoke in favor of salvation by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that applied to both Jew and Gentile. Paul and Barnabas spoke of how God had used them to reach non-Jewish people. The crowd became quiet, which had to be a minor miracle in itself, and then James spoke, which brings us to our verses for today.
James used Peter as the example of God reaching out to the Gentiles. But he then said something that we should pay attention to. James referenced Peter but then said, …with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written.” James acknowledged the supernatural experience of Peter but backed it up with the Scriptures agreeing with what had taken place. He was quoting from the prophet Amos, chapter nine, verses eleven and twelve. It was not only Peter’s vision and experience that made it right to reach the Gentiles, the Scriptures spoke of that hundreds of years before. The Scriptures were the basis for the early church accepting the Gentile converts. The result of the council was an open arm embrace of the Gentiles with a minimum of requirements. They were instructed to stay away from sexual immorality, idols, things strangled, and blood. Later in Paul’s writings, we see different instructions, but the stay away from sexual immorality remained consistent. If you like your steak rare, it’s not a problem. The early church was growing and learning as they went.
APPLICATION
I am very grateful that the council made the right decision and eliminated the condition of circumcision as necessary for salvation. But the principles the council followed should still apply to us today. Examine experiences and validate with the Scriptures. As a church, we did away with walking the aisle to receive salvation because we could not validate that with scriptures. On a personal level, we should all be examining our thoughts and beliefs and making sure they are lining up with God’s Word, His truth. Quick example, you may think you don’t have much value. Your experiences in life may align with that belief, but God’s Word says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10 NLT When our experience does not align with God’s truth, we have a choice. The wisest thing to do is do what the Jerusalem council did: go with God’s truth.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, for Your truth that supersedes all my experience and tradition. I exalt Your truth above all I can see or feel.