Center of Glorious Conflict

July 29

(Acts 15:30-35 NIV) “The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. {31} The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. {32} Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. {33} After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. {35} But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.”

(Acts 11:19-30 NIV) "Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. {20} Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. {21} The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. {22} News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. {23} When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. {24} He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. {25} Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, {26} and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. {27} During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. {28} One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) {29} The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. {30} This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul."

(Galatians 2:11-16 NIV)  "When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. {12} Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. {13} The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. {14} When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? {15} "We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' {16} know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified."

Antioch was both a command center and an oasis for Paul and Barnabas. The church there was a hybrid, made up of both Jews and Gentiles. This was a great strength, but also led to Antioch being at the center of some glorious conflict in church history. They were a generous church, sending monetary aid to Judea in time of great need, and financing Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journeys. Antioch was central in the dispute that led to the Council of Jerusalem, where the church established the gospel’s freedom from Jewish law. Antioch was also the site of a great showdown between Peter and Paul over justification through faith alone, rather than by observing the law. Antioch, where believers were first called Christians, was on the cutting edge of church growth. This one local church changed the course of history. Will history say that about your church? -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day     

Grace and Faith

July 28

(Acts 15:9,11 NIV) “He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith… {11} We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."

(Ephesians 2:4-9 NIV) "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, {5} made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. {6} And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, {7} in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. {8} For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- {9} not by works, so that no one can boast."

The early church made a strategic decision at the Council of Jerusalem. They came to a fork in the road and they took the Jesus way. No longer would they teach that salvation comes through obedience to the Law of Moses. Many were still Jewish by birth, but they had become something else -- they had become disciples of Jesus, the incarnation of God who came to die for the sins of the world. The church declared that salvation comes by grace through faith to all who believe, Jew and Gentile alike. God had purified the hearts of both Jews and Gentiles because of His grace and their faith. This is still the good news. This is what makes the church distinctly Christian. This is what makes it possible for all to be saved. It is by God’s grace, but it takes a decision of faith. Have you made that decision? Will you put your faith in Christ? From now until the day you die, you will not get a better offer. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

Boundaries Not Barriers

July 27         

(Acts 15:19 NIV) “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.” 

(Acts 15:28-29 NIV) “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: {29} You 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.”

(Ephesians 2:11-22 NIV) “Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- {12} remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. {13} But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. {14} For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, {15} by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, {16} and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. {17} He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. {18} For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. {19} Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, {20} built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. {21} In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. {22} And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

James made a grace-filled statement at the end of the Council of Jerusalem. Basically he said, “Let’s keep it simple, and not make it difficult for people to turn to Christ. It shouldn’t be hard to get into the church. Let’s do away with the legalistic burdens. The church should be about inviting people in, not about keeping people out. The church will have some boundaries, but it shouldn’t be about building barriers.” James called for a few basic requirements regarding food sacrificed to idols and sexual immorality, but other than that, the church was open to all sinners saved by God’s amazing grace. Christ’s church should be accessible to all those seeking and celebrating salvation. Some basic boundaries are necessary, but the church should not be in the business of creating barriers. We are called to labor at bringing them in… not work to keep them out. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

Equal Opportunity Savior

July 26

(Acts 15:7 NIV) “Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. {8} God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. {9} He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.”

(Romans 10:1-13 NIV) ““Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. {2} For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. {3} Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. {4} Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. {5} Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them." {6} But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' " (that is, to bring Christ down) {7} "or 'Who will descend into the deep?' " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). {8} But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: {9} That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. {10} For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. {11} As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." {12} For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, {13} for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

Jesus is an equal opportunity Savior. Peter learned this when he preached to the Gentiles and they received the Holy Spirit -- the same Holy Spirit that the Jewish disciples had received. Peter concluded that God makes no distinction between Jew and Gentile when it comes to salvation. Paul the apostle came to this same conclusion. He advocated for Gentiles to be included as full members of the Church, without requiring circumcision. Salvation comes by grace through faith to all who believe. Jesus came to save every lost person. He died for the sins of the whole world. Peter said that God “made no distinction”. Paul said “there is no difference”. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord can be saved. Anyone whose heart had been purified by faith was welcome in the body of Christ. This was the “big tent” policy of the early church. Is this your church’s policy? -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day