Acts 15:1-12 The conflicts that the early church faced are not unique, and understanding them gives us clarity today to make good and right decisions.
Conflicts Galore Part 1.
Acts 15
Long Creek Baptist Church
Sunday, September 4, 2022
Introduction
Apparently, believers in the first century had a lot of issues to overcome:
First there were their own personal hurdles to conquer: pride, jealousy, shame, guilt which lead to their own encounter with the risen Lord, ending in freedom from sin, confidence in eternal life, a new life with Jesus as the Lord. This new life was filled with exciting adventures and challenges.
In Chapter 14 we encounter a new hurdle to overcome: the enemy without. Those who harden their hearts against this new movement and act both violently and unjustly against it. The mob experiences we see here are only the tip of the iceberg. More will follow. Becoming a believer in the face of evil, injustice, and persecution requires a strength that only Jesus can provide. They quickly learned to respond with only the spiritual weapons of prayer and faith they had been granted. How amazing this is for new believers to stand up to such a challenge! It says a lot about the power Jesus gives to those who follow him.
But now, the new church faces a newer challenge: conflict among believers!
Read Text
The first conflict is a theological conflict.
Describe the events. Do we have to become Jews in order to be saved? (Culture, mind set, world view?)
Why is this so significant? Because we become what we believe. Either we are the recipients of God’s grace and mercy, or we are working to either prove our worth to God, ourselves and others (pride) or we are working to earn God’s favor – I’m good, so you did right by saving me, or I work to overcome my faults for that I am accepted by God and he will continue to love me.
But keeping laws is not the same as receiving a gift! Laws only show up my inability to keep them. Either I work at becoming perfect, and fail, give up or just see how far short I come to God’s perfection and run away from anything that causes me to have to pretend to be what I am not. A sense of failure can be devastating – am I still accepted, valuable, or loved by God if I don’t keep the standard of living that he demands by his rules?
Or, do I rejoice in the gift that I do not deserve? Does my relationship with Jesus focus on his unconditional love that makes me want to respond to him? Can I rely on him when I mess up? When I am in trouble? The changes I go through are because of the love he has for me, not because of the rules he sets in my life. Life is about doing it together, not proving I can do it on my own. Growing together gives me insight into the ways of God, and being mentored into how God determines life to be lived and shared.
“For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Titus 3:3-7
“He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,”
2 Timothy 1:9 NIV