Acts 15:6-9

Acts 15:6-9 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. This is an important chapter in the book of Acts. There was a growing number of new converts outside of Israel who were not Jewish. And some of the born-again Jews were concerned that these new converts did not follow the Jewish traditions. They thought that these new converts should keep the Jewish religious laws even though they were not Jews themselves. The apostles, James (the brother of Jesus) and John were the leaders of the Jewish church in Jerusalem and Peter and Paul came to speak up for the new gentile converts. When Peter spoke, his point was that the gentiles had received the Holy Spirit just like the believing Jews had, except that the gentiles hadn’t kept the Law of Moses (the Old Testament). Evidently God accepted the gentiles just like they were without doing all of the Jewish works things. Paul went on to say that if they required the new gentile converts to follow all of the Jewish laws after they were already saved, they would be adding something that you must do to salvation. And salvation is not by what we do, it is Who we are trusting in. Paul said that salvation was by God’s grace and not by man’s works. All of the people in Jerusalem agreed to this and the matter was settled. Jewish Christians continued to follow the Jewish traditions because they were Jews, but the gentile converts did not have to obey the Jewish Old Testament laws because they were not Jews. Both were Christian brothers and sisters and were free to follow Jesus Christ! I am glad that my salvation is not because of the laws that I keep; I am glad that my salvation de[pends on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross! He did it all . . . for me and for you!