No More Jew or Gentile

Tuesday, October 13th, 2026

4:09 am

Good morning! Today I am in Acts 15:1-21. While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men arrived from Judea and began teaching the gentile believers there that they had to be circumcised or they would not be saved. Paul and Barnabas disagreed, arguing against this. The church there, decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem accompanied by some of the local believers, to talk to the other apostles and elders about this. When they left, they stopped in Phoenicia and Samaria along the way to visit the believers there, and they told them about the Gentiles being converted. When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. But some of the believers that belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted that the Gentile converts be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses. So the apostles and elders met together to resolve the issue. Peter stood and addressed them saying, "You all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so they could hear the Good News and believe." He told them that God knows people's hearts, and He confirmed that He accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to them. God made no distinction between them and the Gentiles, for He cleansed their hearts through faith. Then Peter asked them, "Why then, are they challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither them or their ancestors could bear?" He tells them that they believe that they are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus. Paul and Barnabas then told them about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. When they finished James, Jesus' half brother, told them that Peter had told them about the first time God visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for Himself. And the conversion of the Gentiles is exactly what the prophets had predicted in Amos 9:11-12. He told them that his judgment is that they should not make it difficult for Gentiles who are turning to God. He told them that they should instead write them and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood. These things had been preached in Jewish synagogues, in every city on every Sabbath from many generations.

The apostles and elders met with Paul and Barnabas to discuss the issue of the Gentiles following all the laws of Moses. And they all agreed that it was through faith alone that they were all saved. They were all saved the same way, Jew and Gentile. It was not through obeying the law but through their faith. And they agreed that Jesus did put any other burdens on them to follow. Jesus did not go to the Gentiles and tell them they had to obey the laws of Moses and be just like the Jews. He offered them salvation through faith. They did not have to carry any other burden than that, and we don't either.

Through Jesus Christ we are all the same. It does not matter where we came from or what we have done, He offers us salvation. And if Jesus did that for every one of us, we too should not place heavy burdens and regulations on people to follow making it difficult to come to God. Because just like Peter stated in verse 8, God is the only one that knows people's hearts, and He is the one that cleanses us and makes each of us right with Him. He cleanses our hearts through our faith in Him. It is through Faith alone that we are saved, and it is not for us to judge anyone or make it hard on anyone to come to Him. Just like the apostles did, we are to go out and share the Good News with everyone, no matter who they are. If you believe in Jesus Christ, you are His child. And you are saved through Him. All you need is faith in Him. That is the Good News for everyone.