Days 275 & 276: Acts 15-18:18

Acts 15 tells of the first real doctrinal debate among the early Christian leaders. The debate seemed to center around people other than Jews who were coming to faith in Christ. There were those who thought that the only way that someone who wasn't a Jew could receive the grace of the Messiah was if they first became a Jew...and followed the OT Law like the Pharisees. In other words, they didn't think grace was enough. Here's how it went down:

     Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
     The apostles and elders met to consider this question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” (Acts 15:5-11)

I believe this is still an issue for many of us...myself included. Not necessarily that they should become a Jew, specifically, but that there are some people who are somehow not worthy of the grace of Christ. We certainly would never say it like that but we do have lines that we draw that are very hard for us to cross. The thing that is coming through loud and clear as I read through the book of Acts is that the gospel is available to everyone. There are no racial, economic, gender, or religious barriers. Just look at the people who are coming to Christ:

In Philippi:

One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. (Acts 16:14-15)

And:

At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household. (Acts 16:33-34)

In Thessalonica:

Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.   (Acts 17:4)

In Berea:

As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. (Acts 17:12)

In Athens:

Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others. (Acts 17:34)

In Corinth:

Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized. (Acts 18:8)

And in every single one of these places the there was trouble. The preachers and believers were harassed, run out of town, imprisoned and stoned.

Why do we like our barriers so much?