Living Conflicted
Acts 21:18-22 NKJV
On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come.
Paul had gone back to Jerusalem and was warmly received by James and the leaders of the church. Paul shared what great things God had done through his ministry to the Gentiles. The church leaders glorified the Lord. But there was a problem.
The problem consisted of the Jews in Jerusalem who had come to believe in Jesus as the Savior, but they were zealous for the Law of Moses. These Jewish believers were living in two worlds. They had come to faith in Christ but were still holding on to their past and the law. The problem was that the law could never make men righteous, or right, before God. Jesus was the end of the law for those who believe. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and for the Greek, according to Romans 1:16. Paul had just detailed out that God was moving mightily among the Gentiles proving that Jesus was the only way to salvation. But the Jewish believers were very upset with Paul for preaching that circumcision was not the answer and keeping the customs of the law was not the means of salvation.
The church leaders in Jerusalem asked Paul to make some concessions so that all the Jewish believers would know that Paul walked orderly and kept the law. Remember, it was Paul who said he was all things to all people that he might save some. Paul had a much better understanding of the righteousness, which is according to faith, not according to the keeping of the law and Jewish customs. Paul went along with their customs, but it was not enough, and the people attacked him in the temple.
Application
We live conflicted when we depend on anything other than the grace of the Lord Jesus for our salvation and our right standing with God. My parents were strict non-drinkers, and growing up, I believed that if you drank alcohol, you were headed for hell. But that is adhering to a custom, not a salvation issue. My parents had friends who were all non-drinkers, but they all dealt with other issues, gossiping, division, and exclusion of people who did not believe exactly as they did. We were asked to leave a particular fellowship because my mother was baptized in the Holy Spirit. That experience did not work with the customs of that church.
The point is that Christ is above all man’s customs and traditions. If you are a believer, we are family. We are not all going to agree on all points of doctrine, but it’s not worth fighting about. This is why the commandment from Jesus is that we love one another. We don’t have to hang out together or do church the same way, but we are still one body in Christ, and we are all still the Church. The Jewish believers in Jerusalem missed out on rejoicing in what God was doing because they could not separate their relationship with Jesus from their customs and traditions. I don’t ever want to miss what God is doing because my tradition is different. I want to live Christ-centered, not conflicted.
Prayer
Thank you, Lord, that salvation is through Jesus alone, not anything that man has contrived. If You are in it, I am for it.