Old Testament Scriptures seemed to make circumcision a condition of having God’s favor. Judaizers fol lowed Paul around the Roman world preaching out of contention. They were the legalizers. The arguments got so strong that the council was called. (See also Gal 2.) The first church council sought to give the liberty of the Gospel and the authori ty of the Scriptures. Paul had been preaching that we’re saved by grace, through faith, plus nothing. The dis cussions got pretty heated on this subject. In Acts 15:3 we hear how the conversion of the Gentiles had taken place. In verse 5, the sect of Pharisees insisted one had to keep the law of Moses to be saved. Do you know, if Paul hadn’t won the vote, Christianity, humanly speaking, could have died in Palestine? It would have simply been a mere sect of Judaism. Paul laid it on the line. Peter and James help in the presen tation of truth. Link up with this the 11th chapter of Romans. Here Paul in effect says that God had to set aside Israel in order to preserve the liberty of the Gospel. Man is saved by the grace of Christ, with out. the requirements of the cere monial law. When Peter finished speaking (v.
12), all the multitudes kept silence. They listened to Barnabas and Paul who reiterated what wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles. Then James spoke up. He was the head of the Jerusalem church which had been rather narrow in its out look. This is why the center for the great missionary journeys of Paul moved to Antioch. He couldn’t oper ate out of Jerusalem. James strikes the final blow. He reminds them how God visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name. This was, after all, a fulfillment of proph ecy. James quoted the Scriptures to authenticate his statements. It was difficult for some of his listeners to take. Nothing was said in Scripture about the Jewish ceremonial law being necessary for salvation. James then goes on to point out that God still has a special plan for his an cient covenant people. The temple of David will again be built. In proph ecy James promises that this Mes siah is going to sit on the throne of His father David. So Acts 15 attacks error and sets forth this glorious truth that we’re saved by grace through faith, apart from works. I trust you’ve experienced that grace in your life, and that you have put all your trust in Christ.
An important facility on Biola’s 75-acre campus is the dininghall.
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