One In Jesus

Hmm … There are just so many applications. Let’s start with —

Grace

Peter said,

(Act 15:11 ESV)  ¹¹ “But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

We don’t really believe that, do we? Just a two weeks ago, I spoke to someone who’d been a member of our congregation for over 50 years, and he told me that he’d never felt saved until this year. Continue reading →

Chapter 15 — the Council in Jerusalem

I’ve skipped Paul’s First Missionary Journey. He and Barnabas were sent by the congregation in Antioch to preach the gospel in Asia Minor. And as a result, they had many converts from among both the Jews and the Gentiles.

They returned to Antioch to report their results, only to find themselves confronted with a new, less easily convinced circumcision party. Continue reading →

Chapter 11 — Peter defends his actions

(Act 11:1-3 ESV) Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.  ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying,  ³ “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

Notice that immediately the church forms a circumcision party! God acted powerfully, was transforming the world through this Spirit, and a party arose in church to oppose God’s mission — immediately. This is just so much like, you know, church. Continue reading →

(Act 10:19-22 ESV)  ¹⁹ And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.  ²⁰ Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.”  ²¹ And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?”  ²² And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.”

God was making the meaning of the vision abudantly clear. God approves the unclean — and the first approved unclean person is Cornelius — a Roman centurion. Continue reading →

I’ve been asked to teach a combined class in support of the Galatians series of lessons, based on Acts 10, 11, and 15, that is, the chapters in which the apostles wrestle with how the Gentiles might become Christians.

We covered some of that material in the Introduction, and we’ll cover more when we get into chapter 2, in which Paul discusses his dealings with the apostles in Jerusalem. But what the original materials don’t cover is the conversion of Cornelius. Continue reading →