September 2
Bible Reading: Acts 15:1-5
Acts 15:1, “But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
What must a person do to be saved? That was the question faced by the council of Jerusalem? The apostles had witnessed Gentiles responding by faith to the gospel. The fact that they subsequently received the Spirit bore witness to their genuine salvation. But some Jews (aka “Judaizers”) argued that the Gentiles could not be saved without undergoing circumcision first. Their response is not altogether surprising. The first Christians, Jesus himself, and the old-covenant people were all Jewish. The Jews had always required Gentiles to be circumcised in order to be accepted into the Jewish community.
Warren Wiersbe summarized the matter this way: “What were these legalists actually doing and why were they so dangerous? They were attempting to mix law and grace and to pour the new wine into the ancient brittle wineskins (Luke 5:36-39). They were stitching up the rent veil (Luke 23:45) and blocking the new and living way to God that Jesus had opened when He died on the cross (Hebrews 10:19-25). They were rebuilding the wall between Jews and Gentiles that Jesus had torn down on the cross (Ephesians 2:14-16). They were putting the heavy Jewish yoke on Gentile shoulders (Acts 15:10; Galatians 5:1) and asking the church to move out of the sunlight into the shadows (Colossians 2:16-17; Hebrews 10:1). They were saying, ‘A Gentile must first become a Jew before he can become a Christian! It is not sufficient for them simply to trust Jesus Christ. They must also obey Moses!”
The Jerusalem Council affirmed the truth that salvation is through faith alone by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). “Sola fide,” a Latin phrase meaning “faith alone,” is one of the five “solas” of the Reformation. A central tenant of Biblical Christianity that sets it apart from all other religions, is that salvation is through faith alone. Just as with the thief on the cross or the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:30-31), “the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a parson receives” (second verse of “To God be the Glory”), Almost 2000 years ago, the Jerusalem Council affirmed the truth that all that is required for salvation is to believe in Jesus. For that truth-affirming decision, we’ve all got good reason to be incredibly thankful.
Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone!
HAPPY DAY
O happy day that fixed my choice
On Thee, my Savior and my God!
Well may this glowing heart rejoice,
And tell its raptures all abroad.
Refrain:
Happy day, happy day,
When Jesus washed my sins away!
He taught me how to watch and pray,
And live rejoicing every day;
Happy day, happy day,
When Jesus washed my sins away!
O happy bond, that seals my vows
To Him who merits all my love!
Let cheerful anthems fill His house,
While to that sacred shrine I move. [Refrain]
‘Tis done, the great transaction’s done;
I am my Lord’s and He is mine;
He drew me and I followed on,
Rejoiced to own the call divine. [Refrain]
Now rest, my long-divided heart,
Fixed on this blissful center, rest;
Here have I found a nobler part,
Here heavenly pleasures fill my breast. [Refrain]
LookingtoJesus 