“But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
- Acts 15:11
For anyone, new or mature in faith might and should be able to tell you that we are saved by grace. God initiates grace and we then are to have faith. Saved by grace and saved by faith are common phrases we will use to talk about salvation. However, the problem with this commonality is that we can lose the depth of meaning it is supposed to have for us to be saved by grace. To even have faith can be a little weird to explain because in one sense we can know what that means but hardly explain it without repeating those same words.
As always, there is some important context to help us understand this verse that can be easily ripped out of the chapter! After all, it's mostly common Christian knowledge that we are saved by the grace of Jesus!
The Problem:
There’s a big problem in this chapter. Not in its writing but the story itself is dealing with a major internal church problem! As Christianity is catching on with both Jews and Gentiles, causing both to repent and turn to the God of Israel, they are starting to conflict over what that means!
The Gentiles, or Greeks, Romans, and so on. Pretty much anyone not of pure Jewish descent would be considered a Gentile. These people grew up in a Roman/Greek household, most likely worshipping those gods or another set of gods. Their jobs could be anything and their personal lives were clouded in immorality that was simply part of their culture. Some were stoics but others were epicureans and lived for their passions. Yet, upon hearing the Good News, they turn to God and desire to follow Jesus, much like Cornelius did earlier in Acts. Their challenge though is with the Jews…
The Jews, who see themselves as God’s chosen people and abiders of the law of Moses, saw little need to changes their lives but continue in obedience to God. The problem is, they struggle to see their sin and according to the law of Moses, anyone who decides to follow God should be circumcised and abide by the whole law of Moses. The reason that is so important is that circumcision and obedience were the marks of one who belonged to the family of God, one who was invited by God to be a chosen and saved person.
The problem is not necessarily an issue of race but rather who is in God’s family and what will distinguish the family of God from other groups. The Jewish Pharisee’s believed it was circumcision and the law.
It's only in this context and debate that we hear from Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and James about the work of the Spirit is done among the Gentiles. How God has selected and chosen them into the family. How they have been graciously invited into God’s people.
Inviting Grace:
The grace that saves is available for all and effective for all. Both Jews, who couldn’t keep the law themselves, and the Gentiles, who the law wasn’t for. This grace is an invitation to the greatest thanksgiving that there will ever be! The wedding feast of all time. The worship festival that will never end. That is the kind of grace at work in this situation.
It’s beautiful that we do not get to determine who this grace reaches, but all we have to do is preach the Gospel and God will take care of the invitations. If it were up to Peter, Cornelius and his family might not have even heard the Gospel, but because of the Holy Spirit, the message goes out and without discrimination of persons but is freely offered and effective for all to join the family of God.
We are saved by the Grace of the Lord. We are saved by faith in the Lord. Grace is the invitation; faith is our RSVP.
Ground Rules:
Any family still has things that make it distinct. Christianity is today is facing a lot of divisions that make one Christian group different from another to the point some groups reflect the world, and others make themselves the enemies of the world, while others focus on other things entirely. It’s pretty ridiculous but we all feel temptations to compromise in either grace or truth any day of the week. But we must maintain grace and truth the best we can. The grace that invites is preserved by truth.
According to the text, these were the ground rules for Gentiles joining the family of God, and they did not have to be circumcised or keep the whole law of Moses. They simply had to abstain from anything sacrificed to idols, stay away from blood, anything strangled, and sexual immorality. Which doesn’t seem too hard until you remember they were surrounded by other temples, sacrificial altars, and prostitution of all kinds.
We today are tempted to toss aside other important truths as well. Such as the authority of Scripture, we can neglect prayer and communion with the Holy Spirit, and be tempted to focus on temporary issues more than salvation issues.
We must learn to center ourselves: our hearts, minds, passions, and more on Christ and allow Christ to guide who we are and how we do our jobs and lives. We can easily become distracted, but Christ can be our guiding light through anything.
Final Blessing:
Christ because of His birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension, and reign has given us the grace to turn from rebellious and sinful ways and follow Him. We are invited to join the family of God, and shape our livelihood out of God’s grace and righteousness. We cannot be holy apart from God but must ever deeper abide in grace.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breathe, and every heartbeat of your journey.
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