LENT: Mar 25 - Acts 15:8-9

Peter said … “And God,

who knows the human heart,

testified to [the Gentiles] by

giving them the Holy Spirit,

just as he did to us; and

in cleansing their hearts by faith

he has made no distinction between

them and us [who are Jews].”

Acts 15:8-9

 

Once the world was divided into two groups – Jews and Gentiles.

 

According to the Old Covenant, God chose the Jews to be his witnesses. Sometimes they succeeded. Often they failed. The Gentiles were 98% of the rest of the world. They’d didn’t know the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (and Jesus), and were, therefore, outside the Covenant.

 

After Christ’s resurrection (Easter) and the coming of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost), the New Covenant, established by Jesus, began to expand in size and scope. Following Jesus’ command, his disciples began to be his “witnesses [starting] in Jerusalem, [expanding to] all Judea and Samaria, and [eventually reaching] to the ends of the earth."

 

But as the Gospel message extended to the Gentiles, the sensibilities of the first believers (who were originally all Jews) was severely challenged. They’d kind of been taught to be suspicious of (if not out-right hate) the heathen Gentiles. Therefore, while maybe they’d be willing to accept a few Gentile believes, these Gentiles had better to convert to doing things “the Jewish-Way” (including submitting to Kosher laws and circumcision).

 

In today’s verse, those early animosities are beginning to dissolve. The Jewish believers are discovering that the measuring stick for faith is no longer doing things “the Jewish-Way.” Indeed, it’s not the old covenant that guides us any more, it’s 1) Jesus’-Way, 2) the New Covenant Way, according to the Gospel, and 3) the Holy Spirit Way, according to the clear movement and activity of the Holy Spirit.

 

Indeed, it’s the presence of the Holy Spirit – given to Gentiles as well as Jews – that Peter says “cleans[es] hearts” and marks a Christian.

 

And that leads to our question for today … What’s the evidence for the Holy Spirit in your life?

 

Now, that’s not designed to be a guilt-producing question … rather, if you’re seeing less than you’d like, it’s an encouragement to start investigating the Holy Spirit more fully!

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who wants ALL

that God offers