Devotionals for July 10, 2023
Our TNLC Family Day will be on July 30th where we will be celebrating water baptisms & baby dedications together. Mark your calendar!
READ
Acts 11:1-3; 17-18
1 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him
3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
17 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”
18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even
1 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him
3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
17 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”
18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even
REFLECT
Who is the Cornelius of our day? This is an important question because it can lead to some confusion. Is the message of this text that *everyone should be viewed as clean before God?* That would be inaccurate. But this passage is indicating that certain qualities of a person do not make the gospel less available to them. In this example, it was national identity. Gentiles were considered unclean, not because of anything they did, but simply because they were Gentiles. The Old Testament laws against intermarrying were not given based on the Jews being better people but on God’s plan of preserving the Jewish identity toward His redemptive plan. His ultimate plan was (as we see here) the salvation of the world.
So, as Christians, we should not look to anyone in the world as being less worthy of hearing and receiving the gospel of grace. This is the message. A person’s nationality, gender, race, political affiliation, and family history does not exclude them from entering the family of God. There is something which is considered unclean, however, and we must not miss that part. Sin is wholly opposed to God and His good news. We must also be weary of calling clean what God has called unclean (something which the church sometimes does in attempting to apply this passage). But even those whose lives are controlled by their sinfulness have the good news available to them. To withhold the gospel from anyone, even sinners, is to fail to be the witness God has called the church to be.
So, as Christians, we should not look to anyone in the world as being less worthy of hearing and receiving the gospel of grace. This is the message. A person’s nationality, gender, race, political affiliation, and family history does not exclude them from entering the family of God. There is something which is considered unclean, however, and we must not miss that part. Sin is wholly opposed to God and His good news. We must also be weary of calling clean what God has called unclean (something which the church sometimes does in attempting to apply this passage). But even those whose lives are controlled by their sinfulness have the good news available to them. To withhold the gospel from anyone, even sinners, is to fail to be the witness God has called the church to be.
APPLY
Q: What specifically does the text say God has granted to the Gentiles?
Q: Who do you tend to consider less worthy of the gospel? Who do you struggle to view redemptively?
Q: What does witnessing based on the truth of this passage practically look like?
Q: Who do you tend to consider less worthy of the gospel? Who do you struggle to view redemptively?
Q: What does witnessing based on the truth of this passage practically look like?
SING
PRAY
"Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy."
Thank you, Lord, for allowing us the grace of freedom in Christ from the burden of the law. Help us to live holy lives, exemplified by our love for you and for others. Amen.
Thank you, Lord, for allowing us the grace of freedom in Christ from the burden of the law. Help us to live holy lives, exemplified by our love for you and for others. Amen.