When I started following Jesus nearly thirty years, becoming a Christian seemed like I needed to believe in Jesus and stop listening to rock music. A generation prior to me was told to believe in Jesus and stop being a hippy. The Gentile Christians of the first century church were told that they needed to place their faith in Jesus and be circumcised as well. I believe that my generation and the previous had it easy compared to this. Please understand that man has the propensity to add to and confuse what it means to follow Jesus and live in relationship with God. Plain and simple people are always trying to say "have faith in Jesus and..." This is not how God works.
The laws and commands of God have always been a point of great debate and when God expanded the Gospel into the Gentile world, the first century church had a lot of learning and changing to do. The book of Acts details this, explaining the struggles of understanding how God was working outside of their traditions and expectations. God was reminding His people that a relationship with Him always was and always will be based upon faith.
In Acts chapter ten Peter was given a vision that confused him yet led him to move in the same direction of the Holy Spirit. Then God converted an entire Roman household. Not just any Roman household, but the household of a Roman solder named Cornelius. Needless to say Roman solders where not the favorites of men like Peter. This was one of many stories that Luke records in the next several chapters of Acts leading up to what is called the Jerusalem Counsel.
That which led up to this was a group of what I think were well intended followers of Jesus. Luke explains at the beginning of Acts chapter fifteen that some Jewish believers were teaching Gentile believers that following the law was a prerequisite to following Jesus. This did not go over very well and Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to speak with the Apostles and Elders concerning this matter. This was a great time of discovery and revelation based upon what was evident as God worked in the lives of many. Much of what we do and don't do today is based up what took place as recorded in Acts chapter fifteen.
Those that led the discussion were Paul, Barnabas, Peter and James. The first three on this list gave reports of how God had poured His Spirit into the hearts of Gentiles as they placed their faith in Jesus. This outpouring of God's Spirit into the hearts of the Gentiles was linked back to the outpouring of God's Spirit into the primarily Jewish gathering in Acts chapter two. The idea here is that if God had poured out His Spirit into the hearts of those without the law just as He had done to those with the law, then there must be no difference.
James, who may very well have been the leader of the Jerusalem church listened to the reports and tied them together with what was taught by the prophet Amos. James reminded the gathering that Amos prophesied that God's promise of restoration included the Gentiles. This was an often overlooked concept that is found at the inception of God's promise to His people and reiterated several times throughout the Jewish Scriptures. Even though this is the case, it was now impossible to ignore.
With all this in mind, I believe that this passage of Scripture calls us to remove the barriers that keep them from following Jesus simply of the bases of faith. Please don't get me wrong faith is more that giving mental assent to what Jesus did two thousand years ago. In fact Jesus said that if we believe in Him and love Him that we would do what He says. The question is what exactly has Jesus told us to do? Also obedience follows conversion but does not lead to it.
May we as the church follow God as He works in the lives of people as did Paul, Barnabas, Peter and James. This may not look exactly the way we have always dreamed but I guarantee that it will be messy, confusing and often very very frustrating. We will question what is happening while wondering if it is from God. May we, like James measure what is going on with what we have been told in Scripture. James led his group in rediscovering what the Scriptures taught and what changed was the heart of the people, not their interpretation of Scripture.
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