A turning point in God’s big story …

The point of the first major controversy in the church:
Do non-Jews have to obey the law of

to be

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?

When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them. But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.” (Acts 15:4-5 NLT)

• The law of Moses refers generally to the

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, the first five books of the Old Testament (Old Covenant), and specifically to the

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moral, civil, and ceremonial laws which constitute the stipulations of Israel’s covenant with God.

•

was the quintessential expression of a man’s participation in the old covenant

• To be saved means finding

for our sin and being set free from its power to enslave us, the healing of our broken relationships with God, others, and our inner selves, and the

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of our souls to complete wholeness in this life and the life to come

This controversy forced the apostles to get clarity around two points:

• Every person is saved exactly the same way—by believing in the

grace of Christ (The Good News/The Gospel)

“Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 15:7-11 NLT)

• Spiritual leaders/believers should not make it

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for people to turn to Christ

James stood and said, “Brothers, listen to me. Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself. And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted… “And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. (Acts 15:13-15,19 NLT)

• A caveat: spiritual leaders/believers should not make it difficult for Gentile and Jewish believers to

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coexist

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 15:20-21 NLT)

The Difficult Way of the Judaizers
Behave

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Believe The Good News
Belong

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The Way of Jesus and the Apostles
Belong By Grace (The Good News)
Believe The Good News
Behave The Way of Jesus

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35 NIV)

For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love… You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:5-6,13-14 NIV)

The tragedy is that today many believers are making it difficult for people to turn to Christ

How are they making it difficult?
• By insisting that someone has to check all the

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boxes before they can become a Christian

• By insisting that someone has to become a

before they can become a Christian

• By insisting that someone has to check their

at the door before they can become a Christian

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV)

• By

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someone outside the faith because they aren’t living like someone inside the faith

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? (Romans 2:4 NLT)

• By claiming to be inside the faith but living like someone outside the faith

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”—Brennan Manning

So how should we as a church respond?

Be vigilant in making sure the Preston Trail way is the …

The Way of Jesus and the Apostles
Belong By Grace (The Good News)
Believe The Good News
Behave The Way of Jesus

Additional Notes: