The early Church’s unanimous resolution against legalism

READ: Ezra 9,10; Psalms 22; Acts 15:22-41

SCRIPTURE: Acts 15: 8 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:
29 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.

OBSERVATION:  Christian life is a life of joy, liberty, and peace. In which we enjoy the fellowship of Christ and saints. But legalism tries to enslave us to a set of rules and separates us from Christ. Legalism focuses on the flesh, not on grace. In the early Church, apart from causing disputes and debates, legalism disturbed the new Christians and troubled their mind (v.24). However, the early Church was firm against imposing legalism with many “do’s and don’ts.”  The Church council suggested four simple obligations for the new believers. It is significant that they “all” who participated in the Church council “agreed” with the decision they took. When they took a resolution against legalism, they gave authority to God, not on who had the majority. That is why they were able to write that their decision “seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” The legalists urged that the new believers should follow Judaism to receive the salvation of God. Their emphasis was on works and the law of Moses. On the other hand, the early Church agreed that it is the grace of God that saves us.

Now the question is whether those four commands of the apostles are appropriate for us who live in the 21st century. Concerning idolatry and sexual immoralities, we would accept without any questions. We know what happened after the Israelites ate the foods offered to idols (Num.25:1-3). In many cultures, eating foods offered to idols is mixed with many rituals. We need to be cautious (1 Cor.10:23-33). We may wonder whether we should follow the dietary laws prescribed in the law of Moses. Abstaining from blood and the meat of the strangled animals is related to the command God gave to Noah (Gen.9:4). Later the law of Moses forbade it based on, “For the life of a creature is in the blood” (Lev.17:11). Let us remember that these four commands were meant to bring unity in the Church and harmony among the gentiles and Jewish Christians. One of the early church fathers, St. Augustine, offers a helpful suggestion to deal with controversies, debates, and disputes in the Church: “In essentials, unity; In non-essentials; liberty; In all things, love.”

APPLICATION: When I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior, he liberates me from the curse of the law. My salvation comes from the Lord. I am saved by his grace, not by my works.  I am called to follow Jesus Christ and his loving example, not a list of do’s and don’t’s. His love guides me to do the right things and avoid wrong things in line with the revealed word of God.

PRAYER: My God, thank you for your love that saved me. Lord Jesus, help me to remain in your love every day. Holy Spirit, strengthen me to reject and stand against the acts of the flesh. Salvation comes from the Lord. Amen.

- Arputharaj Samuel
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Day - 204