That the Rest of Mankind May Seek the Lord

Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

March 12, 2021

That the Rest of Mankind May Seek the Lord

The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.

Acts 15:12

Read: Acts 15:12-21       

James had become the accepted leader of the Council. He was the brother of our Lord Jesus. He had not accepted Jesus as the Messiah until Jesus personally appeared to him after the resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:7) He became one of the most devout and respected Apostles.

The Council’s decision-making process is a good model for the church. Everyone had an opportunity to be heard. The result is both a consensus and a bit of a compromise, which indicates there was no one person or group asserting absolute authority. The decision made it clear that God’s standard of morality is still the way of life for the New Community of Believers. The decision also makes it clear that just as the Jews were embarking on a new way of living, so also were the Gentle Christians. All the references to blood in this passage related to the norm in many pagan worship practices, and the Council’s decision makes it clear the new Gentile believers had to turn away from worshipping God in the ways of their former life.

Verse 12, quoted above, makes it clear that the Council was inspired to make their decision on the basis of the fruit the Holy Spirit had been producing in the new Gentile Christians.

My Takeaway: I am thankful for this real-life example of how our church can work together for the common goal of making disciples for Jesus. May we be inspired to follow this example.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2021 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.