It’s Church but Not as We Know It
Acts 15:1-19
Acts 15:1-19
After the conversion of Cornelius and his household, whom were all Gentiles (non-Jews), the followers of Jesus were thrown into a bit of a crisis. Up to this point all the followers of Jesus had been Jews who simply continued practicing Judaism. The only change was that the believers accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah.
Now the church was faced with this question: Should the Gentiles be required to convert to Judaism as well as believe in Christ? That was the subject of a meeting that was held in Jerusalem. The leaders of the church came and debated how they were going to handle the entrance of Gentiles into the church. Some argued that the Gentiles should become Jews and be required to live by the law of Moses. Peter, Paul and Barnabas argued that the Gentiles should only be required to have faith in Jesus. They said that faith in Jesus Christ was the only thing that was required to be saved.
The argument of Peter, Paul and Barnabas won the day and the church transformed from a sect of Judaism to a new faith. This meant that the church changed radically. The church officially made a break with its Jewish roots.
This week we are going to explore how the church today needs to make some radical breaks with the past and become something new so that the message of Jesus can be received by all. We are going to consider that the church will continue to exist but not as we have known it.
