Articles

What Was Decided?
Some people believe that the early Church’s decision in Acts 15 freed Christians from the need to obey the laws revealed in the Old Testament. But is this the case?
The New Testament shows that the earliest gentile converts quickly became familiar with those Scriptures.
To understand what was really decided there, we need to look at and understand the historical, cultural and scriptural background.

From the beginning of gentile conversions, “certain men . . . from Judea” insisted that “unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1). Notice that they viewed circumcision as a matter of salvation. It was a huge issue to them!

So Paul took the matter before Church leadership to be officially resolved (Acts 15:2). “But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses'” (Acts 15:5). By the “law of Moses” they meant the imperatives of the Sinai Covenant, which would have included perhaps some of its rituals and ceremonies—and definitely circumcision.

At the Church conference in Jerusalem, both Peter and Paul addressed the assembled elders. The matter of circumcision, Peter noted, had already been settled by God Himself (Acts 15:7-9). Peter’s testimony gave proof that God gave the Holy Spirit to gentiles who were not circumcised (Acts 10:44-48). As a result, they could only conclude that God does not require the circumcision of male gentile converts.

Paul and Barnabas then spoke, describing how God had performed miracles through them in calling gentiles into the Church (Acts 15:12).

Four restrictions on new gentile converts
James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ, then issued a concluding statement: “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” (Acts 15:19-20, NIV).

Some people seize on these words to argue that nothing more was required of early Christians—that they (and we) need not keep other laws found in the Old Testament.

But does this view really make sense? James said nothing about murder, stealing, lying, taking God’s name in vain or a host of other sins. By this rationale, should we conclude that Christians are now free to do these evil things? Of course not! So why, then, did James list only these four restrictions—”to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood”?

The link connecting each of these requirements is idolatry. Specifically, each was directly associated with the pagan forms of worship common in the areas from which God was calling gentiles into the Church. Each also violated specific biblical commands (Exodus 20:2-6; Leviticus 20:10-20; Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 7:26-27).

It is evident, however, that the apostles also had another reason for singling out these links to idolatry. They wanted to make sure that new non-Jewish converts would have immediate access to learning the teachings of God’s Word—the Holy Scriptures (Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:15).

Notice the reason James expressed for listing those particular prohibitions: “For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath” (Acts 15:21, NIV). The purpose for this somewhat puzzling concluding statement now becomes clear: The apostles wanted to ensure that every new gentile convert would be able to avail himself of that instruction as the words of Moses were “read . . . every Sabbath.”

Access to the Scriptures
In that day no one had their own copies of the Bible. Scrolls were handwritten and enormously expensive. Only the very wealthy could afford any kind of personal library. The only places where one could hear the Bible regularly read was at the Jerusalem temple or in the Jewish synagogues that existed in larger cities of the Roman Empire.

By renouncing any associations with idolatry and choosing to worship only the true God of the Scriptures, these new gentile converts could attend the Jewish synagogue. There they would be able to learn the basic teachings of the Holy Scriptures every Sabbath. In areas where Christian congregations were not yet established, the synagogue was the only organized training center where the Scriptures could be learned.

Paul plainly confirms the importance of new converts being instructed from the Scriptures. In his letter to Timothy—a young minister who helped him serve these gentile converts—Paul makes the point that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable . . . for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

He even reminded the gentile converts in Rome that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). At that time, the only “Scripture” and “word of God” they knew was what we today call the Old Testament. The New Testament didn’t yet exist.

Paul clearly expected his gentile converts to put effort into both hearing and learning the inspired Word of God. Yet when the Church first began accepting gentile converts, it did not yet have the capacity to instruct non-Jewish believers in the Scriptures in every city—especially in those cities having no Christian congregations.

But the Jews welcomed uncircumcised gentiles into the synagogue to learn God’s truth—providing they made a commitment to serve only the true and living God of the Bible.

The New Testament shows that the earliest gentile converts quickly became familiar with those Scriptures. Because the Scriptures used by the Jews and Christians were exactly the same, the apostles were comfortable having new gentile believers join the Jews and Jewish Christians who attended synagogue services each Sabbath.

The Bible itself records that many gentiles first heard Paul’s preaching in the synagogue where they were attending alongside the Jews (Acts 17:1-4; Acts 17:10-12; Acts 17:16-17). Both the synagogue and the Holy Scriptures were central to Paul’s work in converting Jews and gentiles alike.

Both Paul and his converts regarded the Holy Scriptures—as taught by the Jews in the synagogues—as the foundation of their beliefs. Thus he did not always have to explain every detail of the way of life these new converts were to learn. When he was in a city for only a short time, Paul could concentrate his efforts on explaining the role and mission of Jesus Christ and then move on to another city.

He knew that gentile converts could continue receiving basic instruction in the Scriptures and God’s way of life by attending the regular synagogue services. And the fact that, in his letters to gentile congregations, he quoted extensively from the same Scriptures used by the Jews provides clear evidence that all gentile converts had access to that instruction regardless of where they lived.

One of my “rituals” each morning is to just look outside and appreciate the plants, foliage and wildlife in the area. As they emerge from winter dormancy and sluggishness, it’s refreshing to see energy and life “coming back” into nature.

Wherever you live, whether you are coming into the spring season or autumn, we learn from each season of the year and how nature responds to it.

God created such a magnificent earth for us to dwell on and to take care of. It is rich in variety of every imaginable thing. Think of the various species of animals that abound in your area, even in city dwellings. Squirrels inhabit the trees, rabbits nibble in the garden—and we observe cattle, birds of all types, long-haired and short-haired cats, and dogs of all shapes, sizes, colors and types of coat.

Just look at the types, shapes and textures of trees, leaves and even grass—some to cover lawns, and some as ornamental, taller grasses. There are fruit trees, flowering trees, palm trees with their distinctive leaves and straight trunks, oaks, elms and so on. And so many types of flowers, all of different shapes, sizes and smells.

God’s imagination and creativity is beyond our physical ability to fathom. We can just be grateful to be part of His creation and to have the senses to appreciate it and praise Him.

The color of God’s creation
As you look at the world around us, it is vibrant, beautiful and so inspiring when it is full of COLOR—the natural colors with which God adorned it. In the northern hemisphere we are coming into that season of color. South of the equator, you are nearing the end of that time when the autumn and winter seasons will emerge.

It is no secret that at times in our lives we may feel discouraged, despondent or even depressed. Some suffer from these emotions more than others. During those times our world seems dark, dull, overcast. We find little to nothing that excites us, pleases us or makes us want to live. The color in our life is gone.

Years ago we had the opportunity to visit the Czech Republic and Austria after observing the Feast in Germany. Austria is a beautiful country with mountains and landscapes that are literally “postcards” unto themselves. And the cities we visited—Salzburg, Vienna and others—had buildings and landscapes that were bright, adorned with color. They matched the environment and the whole area just made you feel glad to be alive.

By contrast, in the Czech Republic and its capital, Prague, while the natural surroundings were beautiful, the old Communist buildings that marked its history were dull, colorless and unimaginative. I remember it made me think that the result of this evil government was an environment that would hold people back, dull their senses and make their lives dark and despairing. There was nothing in their surroundings that would bring them to life, energize them, or make them feel good.

Dark, dingy surroundings and lack of color can sap our energy to do anything—even spiritual things.

By contrast, we find COLOR all over the Bible and God’s environment. We have green grass, blue skies, brown tree trunks, every type of green (dark, regular, light) and other colored leaves; red, yellow, orange, blue, purple, white and other flowers; a golden sun, an amber moon and bright, sparkling stars at night.

From time to time we stop and take notice of the sign God gave to man that He would never again flood the entire earth: a multi-colored rainbow—a sight to behold with its red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet bands of color.

When He instructed Moses on the details of building His temple, you find elements of creation—palm trees and pomegranates as part of the design. Curtains were blue. Ivory and other colors are mentioned as well as the types of wood to use, each in their variety of textures and colors. The priestly garments were colorful and decorated.

Even God’s throne is marked with color. The Bible gives us glimpses of the amber, bronze, the color of fire and its vibrancy, lightning and its brightness—and the colors of the rainbow are associated with it (Ezekiel 1, for example).

When the New Jerusalem descends from heaven, notice the construction of the walls as described in Revelation 21:16-21. All those precious stones, all glimmering, and all with their distinct color. God loves color, and He created us to love color and not darkness, dullness or dinginess.

Put God’s color in your life
Is your life colorless, dark, dingy with no excitement physically or spiritually?

Follow God’s example. Get outside and see and appreciate God’s creation. Build light and color into your life. And learn to enjoy and appreciate the color and the variety of all of His creation, including your fellow brethren and the Bible—His very Word—that He has preserved and given us. That and prayer will ignite your zeal and put spiritual color and energy into your life.

Don’t neglect God’s command to come into His presence, when you can, at His appointed times. Those times and your brethren build color into your life.

Don’t neglect study of the Bible and prayer. If your study has become dull and colorless, consider joining or listening to some of the online Bible studies that go verse by verse through books of the Bible. Some have said they want to go “deeper” into study. Through the miracle of modern technology, those resources are available to you wherever you live in the world. You just need to seek them out and if properly received and prioritized, they will add color to your spiritual life, thought, meditation, prayer and appreciation of God and the calling He has given you. Revel and come to life in God’s presence and with His family, of which you are a very important part.

Rick Shabi