After reading Acts chapters 15 and 16 the other day, I was reminded
that these are two of many powerful chapters in the Scriptures about salvation
as well as about what is not required of us as believers. First, we see clearly
from 15:9,11 and 16:30-31that salvation comes by faith alone, not by any work
or act that one can do. Christ alone did it all for us. All that one has to do
is to accept that truth. Cut and dried. Plain and simple.
Then second, as a believer, what a relief it is knowing that
we do not have to keep the law of Moses, which Paul calls “a yoke upon the neck
of the disciples” (15:10), a “trouble” (15:19) and a “burden” (15:28) to those
Gentiles who “are turned to God”. This “yoke”, “trouble” and “burden” consists
of commands of “Touch not; taste not; handle not” (Colossians 2:21); of observing
“an holyday or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days” and “days, and times, and months, and years” (feasts,
festivals and other observances) (Colossians 2:16 and Galatians 4:10). It’s
interesting to note that in Galatians 4:9, Paul calls these things “the weak
and beggarly elements” that many “desire…to be in bondage” to. While many
believe that doing these things will earn them favor with God, the sole rewards
are “the satisfying of the flesh” and a mere outward shewing of the “neglecting
of the body” (Colossians 2:23).
What a reminder it is as well from these chapters that not
only is the word of God “able to save your souls” (James 1:22) but that it “is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
What a loving and caring God indeed.
What a loving and caring God indeed.
