MAY 23 READING…ACTS 15
Is one required to be circumcised in order to be saved? This is not a question we really have to wrestle with in our time, not like they did in the first century church. Remember that the church was almost entirely Jewish when it began. When the Gentiles started coming to faith in Jesus, some Jews wanted them to keep the Old Testament laws and enter into the covenant of circumcision. In the Old Testament the Lord told Abraham to be circumcised, along with all those males who descended from him as a sign of the covenant the Lord made with the Hebrew nation. In the New Testament we also have a sign of the covenant we have entered into with the Lord Jesus Christ, baptism. Neither circumcision nor baptism are required for salvation…salvation comes by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We do not baptize lost people to get them saved…we baptize people because they are saved. Salvation is a free gift of God to all who believe…baptism is the outward sign or testimony that Jesus is our Savior. The Apostles, including Peter and Paul, stood strong that the Gentiles only needed to trust in Jesus in order to be saved…they were not required to keep the Old Testament laws and requirements that even the Jews could not keep. The council at Jerusalem met and came into an agreement that the Gentiles did not need to become Jewish in order to become a Christian. This was a huge step, because it declared that Jesus was not only the Messiah for the Jew, but also for the Gentiles.
Please share your thoughts.
TOMORROW’S READING…ACTS 16
Comentarios