The Pharisees often get a bad rap in the Gospels, but at their core, they were traditionalists. They were the people who were trying to remind the Jewish people who they were and how God had made them the chosen people. That's why they could often be found pointing back to the law of Moses to guide them, because it was a sign of this amazing covenant that God had with them.
Enter Paul. A self-described Pharisee of Pharisee, who had come from this place of wanting to uphold all of the traditions. But now God has placed this call upon his life to throw open wide the gates of the Kingdom to the gentiles and say that they, too, are part of the family of God because of this new covenant - the covenant of Jesus's blood.
We still have both groups of people in our faith today. Those that want to uphold the traditions and those that want to live boldly, even if it looks a little different from the past. And the truth is both groups are needed to help each other grow and to be complete in the body of Christ. The real question of Acts 15 isn't who is right and who is wrong - it's how can we live together for the sake of the Gospel - an invitation that is still just as vital 2,000 years later.
No comments:
Post a Comment