Say What?

“And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead, we should write 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. For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations.” [Acts 15.19-21]

James' conclusion to the question about Gentile believers is interesting. However, a genuine student of the Bible must take off his or her religious glasses to see what is being said here...

There were difficult times for Christianity. The struggle to convert from Judaism to Christianity was real and it had many considerations. The Jews were practically genetically infused with the law of Moses, but the Gentiles were not. For "all" to view salvation in Christ the same (although required) was no easy task. I believe with all my heart that is what we are seeing in James' dialog in the verses above. 

Again, if one puts off religious glasses, it is clear that James, even though he agreed with "faith in Christ alone," could not help himself to declare Mosaic law as taught in Jewish synagogues every week. Does this make James wrong? In a word, yes. Say what??? However, the New Testament wasn't written for us to declare who is right and who is wrong. Particularly this portion of the New Testament is clearly giving posterity a view into the aforementioned struggles of the early church.

If this kind of thinking makes us uncomfortable, it should. It should make us just as mindful of the law and grace as it did James, Paul, Peter, and all the rest of the early church. Every believer needs to resolve this issue in his or her mind! It is simply not enough, as James did, to declare "this is the way we've always done it!"

It could be argued that the modern Church was done a crippling disservice in keeping Mosaic Law as part of the Bible. However, if all we had was the New Testament, we would have absolutely no background by which to comprehend the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament writers and players. 

The Bible is an amazing book. Regardless of all the arguments about its origins, the most amazing thing about the Bible is that it effectively conveys the love of God for all the world and His plan to redeem mankind from its own disobedience. To miss this point, is to miss the entire point of the Bible, more specifically understood as God's Story.

Faith in Christ alone will take us all the rest of our lives to fully appreciate. It is indeed a journey, and it is a journey worth persisting upon. God help us pursue the truth by which we are set free!

Father, thank You for all the narrative we are privileged to see in the New Testament early church. Help us to understand that we have every potential to follow Your Spirit as did Paul, James, John, Peter, and every other early believer. May we not grow weary in seeking Your Kingdom first.