No Strings Attached
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Think what it would have been like in the eyes of Paul
being part of the chosen people of God
Live in his shoes as we relive the steps of his rigorous education, and the joyous participation of Israel’s customs
Feel the arms of his parents as he is circumcised on the eight day
catch the awe and wonder as he sat the the feet of the Elder Pharisees studying the Scripture
identify with the pride he felt when he became a son of the law at his bar mitzvah
Become one with him as he grew to full manhood and earned the reverend status of Pharisee
and consider how he must have burst with satisfaction as he put on the dignified robes of a leader of Israel
stay on in the mind and heart of a Pharisee as his neat world of rules and regulations, rites and rituals, is challenged by the life and message of the people who claim that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah
Relive the turbulent war within as he traces the scriptures and is increasingly convinced that the followers of the Way are right, and then confront the hostility and anger imbued within him by his fellow Pharisees about the Christians
What in the world Does this Squabble about circumcision Have to Do With Our World Today?
What in the world Does this Squabble about circumcision Have to Do With Our World Today?
Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”
This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad.
When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
In the Jews mind, anyone wanting to become a Christian had to become a Jew First
Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”
The apostles and elders met to consider this question.
After much discussion, 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.
God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.
He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?
No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
Cornelius was accepted because he was a Jewish proselyte
The message about exclusivism has great meaning for him and the church today
Do you ever hold back your approval until people become what you want
Can you think of any instance where the church was more culturally conditioned than Christ centered
What secondary things do we require of require of new Christians to satisfy our standards which may not be essential to Christ or for them
The point is that unqualified love is not easy for any of us - either to give or receive
The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
When they finished, James spoke up: “Brothers, listen to me.
Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself.
The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
“ ‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it,
that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’
that have been known for ages.
“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.
For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers.
With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.
We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said.
So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul—
men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing.
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:
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. Farewell.
The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter.
The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message.
Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.
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.
But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.
Qualified love is a means of control, a motive for people response, and a method of retaliation
We have our own convictions about life which we hold dearly as we do Christ
The Judaizers had Moses, the law, and circumcision.
We have patterns, practices, and prejudice
We have difficulty experiencing what the judaizers refused to learn
The gospel is a sharp sword that cuts through the ticket of qualified love
It is good news which proclaims that God loves us as we are and enables us to become what he intends us to be
CHRIST IS GOD’S LOVE WITH NO STRINGS!
He cam to His people when they did not deserve his love
He gave Himself away to people who misunderstood him and misused him
He died for sins people refused to confess
In a world of “on if”, bartered affection, he called a new breed of”love regardless” people and sent them into the world to express his indefatigable love for all people
WE will miss the impact of that unless the account of the church’s dispute over circumcision puts us squarely in the Pharisee’s party to contemplate what we require of people before we accept them
We may have more requirements than the Lord does
His love has no strings
The Church had moved from Standards to Sensitivity
The realization that our own brand of Christian experience or Christian organization can become more important than to us than Christ makes us a big more tender in our judgments of the Judaizers in the Pharisee’s party
Our customs may become more crucial that the truth they were established to maintain
Whether it is speaking in tongues, clarity of doctrine, traditions of the reformation, historically developed liturgical practices, We all run the danger of listening to our own language or putting people thru the paces of our heritage before we accept them as brothers and sisters with unqualified love
How about dress, tattoos, Hair, Occupation, history, education, race, codes of ethics, and standards of living
We give ourselves and our acceptance of “if and when” we have received what we want and people do what we want them to do
