{"id":21134,"date":"2022-04-19T22:00:55","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T05:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts_15_1-12-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-04-12T15:56:24","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T22:56:24","slug":"acts_15_13-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts_15_13-29\/","title":{"rendered":"God\u2019s Favourite Way to Deliver a Message"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts\u00a0 15:13-29\u00a0 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage, Acts 15:13-29, is not the easiest passage in Acts to interpret, but there are some powerful lessons for those willing to dig deeper.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 15:13-18 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When they finished, James spoke up: “Brothers, listen to me.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it,
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0that have been known for ages.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 13-18:\u00a0 James, the brother of Jesus and a leader in the church in Jerusalem, continues the discussion about whether Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians should be subject to the law of Moses including Jewish requirements like circumcision.\u00a0 James acknowledges what Peter had just shared in verses 7 to 11, how Peter had personally seen God choosing Gentile Christians and giving them His Holy Spirit as much as He did Jewish Christians.\u00a0 While Peter referred to his own personal experience to support the idea that God had chosen believers from among the Gentiles as well, James refers to Scripture, quoting Amos 9:11-12 and showing that there is Scriptural support for the same idea that God had chosen believers from among the Gentiles.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0When trying to figure out a difficult topic, don\u2019t just refer to personal experience alone, but also refer to Scripture.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0If you want God\u2019s perspective on an issue,<\/strong>\u00a0ask \u201cWhat does the Bible say about this issue?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acts 15:19 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“It is my judgment, therefore, that\u00a0we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 19:\u00a0 Since the Scriptures show that God has chosen for Himself people from among the Gentiles, James, agreeing with Peter, offers the best judgment he can about what the apostles and elders should do in this situation:\u00a0 don\u2019t make it difficult for Gentiles to turn to God.\u00a0 That\u2019s a great principle for us to follow:\u00a0through our actions, words, policies and decisions, let\u2019s not make it difficult for people around us to turn to God by making the Christian faith seem unnecessarily confusing, boring, or legalistic<\/strong>.\u00a0 Since through Jesus Christ God has removed every barrier He could remove so that we could turn to Him,\u00a0may we be in the business of removing every unnecessary barrier that we can remove and that keeps people from God, whether that barrier is cultural, technological or something else.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also, notice that after James quotes Scripture, he says, \u201cIt is my judgment that\u201d.\u00a0 After referring to Scripture, we need to make a judgment.\u00a0 We need to exercise the faculties of our mind in deciding how best the principles we read in Scripture can be applied to our present situation.\u00a0 That is why\u00a0we need to pray often for wisdom to know how to read and apply Scripture so that we can make right judgments.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acts 15:20 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 20:\u00a0 Why does James specifically single out these four things that he thinks the Gentiles should abstain from?\u00a0 Was James\u2019 concern here moral (i.e. trying to lay down moral laws that should apply to all Christians everywhere for all time) or ceremonial (i.e. trying to law down some guidelines for how Jewish Christians and non-Jewish Christians could spend time together considering how many ceremonial and ritualistic customs Jews needed to follow under the Law of Moses)?<\/p>\n

Some believe that James is laying down timeless moral laws that Christians back then and Christians today should follow for all time.\u00a0 While that can be said about abstaining from sexual immorality, which is affirmed repeatedly and elsewhere in the New Testament, the same cannot really be said about abstaining from food offered to idols, the meat of strangled animals and blood, since a strong argument can be made that the New Testament elsewhere gives Christians the freedom to eat these three things.\u00a0 Also, if James is laying down moral laws for the Gentile Christians to follow for all time, why specifically these 4 things and nothing else?\u00a0 \u00a0Third, given James\u2019 seemingly tentative tone, he sounds more like he is giving guidelines for their current situation and less like he is laying down commands to be followed for all time.<\/p>\n

Another view, according to some scholars, is that James is trying to solve the practical problem of how Jewish Christians who followed the ritual requirements found in the law of Moses could practically hang out (fellowship) with Gentile Christians who did not observe the same ritual laws without being ceremonially defiled in the process.\u00a0 So James offers a practical solution: instead of requiring the Gentile Christians to observe all the law of Moses, he suggests that they tell the Gentile Christians to abstain from four things that law-abiding Jews back then were especially sensitive toward.\u00a0 The first is food offered to idols, since Jews who followed the law of Moses did not want to have anything to do with idolatry and would find it difficult to eat with a Gentile Christian who ate food that had been offered to an idol.\u00a0 The second is eating blood, since Jews who followed the law of Moses saw blood as representing life, refused to eat anything with blood still in it and would have difficulty associating with anyone who ate blood.\u00a0 The third is eating the meat of strangled animals, perhaps because such animals were killed in a way that left the blood still in the meat and thus raising the concern about eating blood.\u00a0 The fourth is sexual immorality, likely because Gentile customs and conventions regarding sex were more lenient compared to the standards found in the Law of Moses.\u00a0 So here is James, a leader of the church in Jerusalem who is especially knowledgeable of what Jewish Christians back then were sensitive to, laying down guidelines that would enable Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians to eat at the same table together harmoniously.\u00a0 As John B. Polhill of the New American Commentary says, \u201cThe four requirements suggested by James were thus all basically ritual requirements aimed at making fellowship possible between Jewish and Gentile Christians.\u201d (Polhill, John B.\u00a0New American Commentary \u2013 Volume 26: Acts<\/em>. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1992. WORDsearch<\/em>\u00a0CROSS e-book.)<\/p>\n

To go with James\u2019 suggestion would require both Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians to meet in the middle and compromise their preferences just enough so that they could all get along.\u00a0 It goes to show that\u00a0for two to get along, there needs to be a meeting in the middle, a give and take<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Acts 15:21 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 21:\u00a0 To us this comment might sound a bit obscure.\u00a0 Why mention this here?\u00a0 One interpretation is that James is basically saying, \u201cWhen we tell Gentile Christians that they should abstain from these four things, they will understand and it will make sense to them, because they would have heard these requirements preached on and read out every week in the synagogue.\u00a0 So these requirements will not come as a surprise to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acts 15:22-29 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul–
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 22-29:\u00a0 Consistent with all that Peter, Paul, Barnabas and James were saying, all the apostles and elders decide to send a letter to the Gentile Christians in Antioch to give them the guidelines that James had suggested.\u00a0 Notice that the church didn\u2019t just send a letter, but the church also sent reputable, trustworthy people to attest to that letter.<\/p>\n

Likewise, to reach the world with His message, God didn\u2019t just send a written message in the form of Scripture, but He sent Jesus Christ for us.\u00a0 And now God also sends you and me.\u00a0 We in fact are God\u2019s love letter to a lost world.\u00a0\u00a0When it comes to sending a message to the people He loves, God\u2019s favourite method of transmission is personal delivery: delivery through a person.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holy Spirit, thank You for every powerful lesson we can learn from Your Word today.\u00a0 In figuring out how to think about a difficult topic, may I not rely on personal experience alone but consult Your Word.\u00a0 Please give me wisdom to know how to read and apply Your Word well to daily situations, that when people see me they would see Your message being clearly and powerfully communicated through my life.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage, Acts 15:13-29, is not the easiest passage in Acts to interpret, but there are some powerful lessons for those willing to dig deeper.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 15:13-18 (NIV)
\n13\u00a0\u00a0When they finished, James spoke up: “Brothers, listen to me.
\n14\u00a0\u00a0Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself.
\n15\u00a0\u00a0The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
\n16\u00a0\u00a0“‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it,
\n17\u00a0\u00a0that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’
\n18\u00a0\u00a0that have been known for ages.<\/p>\n

On verses 13-18:\u00a0 James, the brother of Jesus and a leader in the church in Jerusalem, continues the discussion about whether Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians should be subject to the law of Moses including Jewish requirements like circumcision.\u00a0 James acknowledges what Peter had just shared in verses 7 to 11, how Peter had personally seen God choosing Gentile Christians and giving them His Holy Spirit as much as He did Jewish Christians.\u00a0 While Peter referred to his own personal experience to support the idea that God had chosen believers from among the Gentiles as well, James refers to Scripture, quoting Amos 9:11-12 and showing that there is Scriptural support for the same idea that God had chosen believers from among the Gentiles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21134"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21137,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21134\/revisions\/21137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}