Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" After they answered, He then asked, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter spoke up and said that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus declared that Peter was blessed because flesh and blood had not revealed this to him, but it came from the Father in heaven.
Peter probably wasn't even aware of his source at the time ... but he didn't hear it from another human who was trying to recruit him as a convert or a visitor for the Sunday School class. This wasn't a "one and done" where Peter would be the only person to receive such a revelation. God desires to reveal so much to us by His Spirit who now abides in the hearts of believers in Christ ... and it may be happening much more than we realize. But it all begins with not just having knowledge about Jesus, but knowing Him. It goes beyond a philosophical or intellectual belief.
We're concluding our series on salvation coming to the Gentiles (this is the 10th program). After the endeavor by James and the church leadership in Jerusalem of trying to convince Paul to deny what he was teaching and to participate in an Old Covenant cleansing ceremony in the attempt to make peace with Jews who were zealous for the law ... Paul was nearly killed by the zealots — many of whom believed in Jesus — and ultimately he was arrested. His course was now completely changed for the rest of his earthly days, living in chains. Having been warned twice by the Spirit not to go to Jerusalem, Paul could have avoided all of this, but he wanted to go and was prepared to be bound and even die on this journey.
Ultimately, Paul would end up under "house arrest" for a couple of years in Rome, where he invited leaders of the Jews to come to him — who were unfamiliar with "the sect" of the Jesus movement other than they knew it was spoken against everywhere. Perhaps Paul's former reputation as a Jew devoted to the ministry of the law from his younger days still carried weight among some of the unbelieving Jews ... because Paul gained an audience with them ... sharing and persuading them of Jesus from morning until evening by using the writings from the law and the prophets. Some believed, others did not.
Paul warned those Jews who refused to believe, using words from the prophet Isaiah and then this follow-up regarding their rejection of the Messiah:
Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it! And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him (Acts 28: 28-31).
The scene takes place about a decade or so after it came to light that Gentiles could be saved. In Acts 15, a contentious debate occurred between apostles and other Jewish elders and leaders in the early church at Jerusalem. Should non-Jewish believers in Christ be forced to abide by the Mosaic law ... as these believing Jews thought they were still supposed to follow? Gentiles never had the law. James provided a compromise of sorts. He sided with the team of Peter and Paul - that Gentiles should not be burdened with the law in the same way as Jews - but it often gets skipped over that he made exceptions to the "rule." James listed four things from the law that he felt Gentiles should do going forward.
We'll begin to take a look at these lawful line items, and what it would mean for the Gentiles of that time within their culture as they would be trying to live in harmony with nearby Jewish believers who still embraced Moses. These four things were not merely 4 commandments out of 613 from the law, but were more like categories which would involve much more than what it initially looked like on paper, and would unnecessarily result in a much bigger burden than what would have been initially understood.
After Peter's revelation of Gentiles coming to faith - which coincided with Paul arriving on the scene - non-Jewish people were beginning to believe in Jesus and to receive the Spirit resulting in eternal life. The wildfire began to spread throughout certain regions. But it collided head-on with Jewish believers in positions of high authority who jumped to the wrong conclusion that these believing Gentiles needed to adhere to circumcision and other aspects of the law of Moses in order to be truly saved.
It resulted in "no small dissention" and "much debate," and it was suggested that the Gentile converters gather for a meeting at the church headquarters in Jerusalem, where Paul and Peter (among others) would meet with the apostles, the council and elders to determine if Gentiles who never had the Mosaic law should be required to follow it as those Jewish believers in Jerusalem assumed they were still required to do.
Continuing with the 4th program in our series about Gentiles coming to faith in Christ, after God revealed to Peter that non-Jewish people could be saved and should no longer be considered unclean as they were under the Mosaic law ... the word about this had reached other apostles and Jewish believers. In Acts 11, Peter was "called on the carpet" and accused of doing the unthinkable by not only rubbing shoulders with some of those dirty Gentiles, but also eating grub with them that was prohibited by the law.
Peter would go on to explain his story of the vision he had about Gentiles coming to faith and receiving the Spirit, but it's another example of how even witnesses to the risen Jesus and early believing Jews were still of the mindset that they were to abide by the old law—unaware that outsiders could even be saved. Adding Gentiles to the equation would complicate their message of law and grace ... and even divide many of these believers for many years to come.
Under the Mosaic law of stone tablet commandments, Gentiles (non-Jewish people) were considered unclean outsiders who were to be avoided by (old) covenant people. They fell into the same category as camel casserole, bacon burgers, and lobster for lunch. Therefore, in the first number of years after the ascension of Jesus, believing Jews were sharing the good news with other Jews ... and not the outsiders. Some might ask the question why the apostles would have assumed the law was still in effect when Paul made it clear that it had been abolished and brought to an end. On the other hand, until Peter had his vision (Acts 10) telling him this was now different, why wouldn't they assume the law was still in place? Paul hadn't made the scene yet with his revelations about the gospel because he was too busy having Christians killed.
Let's try to put ourselves in their sandals as we look through these pages. We'll take a look at something Jesus told his disciples when He had sent them out during the time of His earthly ministry. Plus, let's not forget about the "dog woman" who approached Jesus back at that time when the law was still in place (before the cross).
Program #2 in our series shows Peter receiving a vision from God about unclean food prohibited by the Mosaic Law. God told him to eat it, but Peter replied saying he would never eat anything that was considered to be common or unclean. God responded by telling him not to call anything unclean that He declared to be clean. Of course, the next day Peter put two and two together when he realized that there was also something else considered unclean by the standard of the Mosaic law ... it was Gentiles.
By God's direction, Peter would end up going to meet with a group of Gentiles. He pointed out to his host, Cornelius, that it was considered unlawful for a Jewish man like himself to meet with the outsiders of other nations (Gentiles). But when God's Spirit fell upon those (formerly) considered unclean ... Peter's Jewish friends were amazed and astonished at what they saw (they had not witnessed this before). Although it was nearly a decade after the cross, Gentiles were finally receiving God's Spirit and being saved ... all thanks to a new revelation about the law being set aside and taken out of the way.
This is the first in a series of programs about the Gentiles (non-Jewish people) seemingly not having the gospel preached to them for nearly a decade after the cross and resurrection of Jesus. It may surprise some believers and even avid Bible readers that the focus in those early years by the apostles and other Jewish believers was to spread the message of Jesus to their Jewish brethren. This is very interesting since Jesus plainly stated they should go to all nations. Also, the many prophetic scriptures from the Old Testament looked forward to Gentiles coming to salvation.
After Jesus ascended and the Spirit came down upon people ... even Peter's speech in Acts chapter 2 quotes the prophet Joel, looking to a day when God's Spirit would be available to all and that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So how did Gentiles seem to fail to show up on the radar for 7 to 10 years when it came to spreading the message of salvation through Jesus? People can speculate as much as they want, but one thing is certain ... it had to do with the Mosaic law that they thought was still in effect.
One of the greatest helps people will experience when it comes to understanding the gospel of grace is to know the Bible is contextualized into two very different covenants. When one assumes the Bible is “all one book” or everything in it is aimed at them directly, it can lead to confusion and have other negative impacts.
Another easy trap to fall into is the “following” of men or women who have a certain celebrity status due to a nationally known ministry through media, books, etc. This doesn’t have to apply to only well-known people in the ministry, it could occur with anyone who has influence. Of course, there is nothing wrong with enjoying or benefitting from the teaching of the gospel from those who are gifted in communicating truth.
But Paul was discouraging people in Corinth from jumping on bandwagons in his day that had people dividing into different persuasions based upon personality and possibly other unknown preferences. Some wanted to follow Paul, others wanted to identify with the teaching of Apollos or Peter. Paul stated he didn’t die for anybody, and nobody was baptized in his name. Following preachers or people is fleshly; it’s a human weakness which Paul discouraged.
How is it possible that both Paul and James quote the same passage from Genesis 15 – referring to Abraham – and come to different conclusions on how Abraham was declared justified? It might be for the same reason we often see today … in an effort to prove an assumed mindset, one of them attempts to apply the “verse” out of context. We break it down on this week’s program.
And what about those “Judaizers” who came from James to bewitch Gentile believers in Christ with requirements from the law and Jewish ceremonial customs? It caused even Peter to play the hypocrite as he feared the peer pressure, which led to “not being straightforward about the truth of the gospel.” Ultimately, Paul’s message was that justification was purely by grace through faith, apart from works. But this would be a battle he would fight even with those who were considered of high reputation and pillars of the church.
