Faith That Makes Us One

A lot of people today walk into churches wondering:

“Would I be welcome here?”

“If they knew my past… my struggles… my doubts… would I still belong?”

Sadly, sometimes the Church has made it harder than it should be to answer confidently, “Yes, you belong.”

This isn’t a new problem. In Acts 15, the early church faced this very question. As the gospel began reaching Gentiles—outsiders, foreigners, people without the traditional signs of belonging—the church had to wrestle with a crucial issue:

What really makes someone fully part of God’s people?

Is it faith in Jesus alone, or is it faith plus something else—tradition, ritual, heritage?

Their decision changed history, and it still shapes us today.

So as we explore Acts 15 together, let's ask ourselves honestly:

How do we define who truly belongs?

What does it really mean to be God's people?

And are we still listening to the Holy Spirit the way the early church did?

Because if the Spirit is still leading us—and He is—then we must be certain our community is still being shaped by a faith that makes us one.

ACTS 15 While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers (this): “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them—much to everyone’s joy—that the Gentiles, too, were being converted.

4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them.5 But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”

6 So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue. 7 At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. 8 God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. 10 So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?11 We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”

12 Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

13 When they had finished, James stood and said, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself.15 And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. As it is written:

16 ‘Afterward I will return

and restore the fallen house[d] of David.

I will rebuild its ruins

and restore it,

17 so that the rest of humanity might seek the Lord,

including the Gentiles—

all those I have called to be mine.

The Lord has spoken—

18 he who made these things known so long ago.

“This is the Word of the Lord.”

“Thanks be to God.”

I. The Crisis: Faith + Tradition? (Acts 15:1–2)

The moment Acts 15 opens, we can feel the tension in the room. Some believers—well-meaning, sincere Jewish Christians—come to Antioch and make a bold statement: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” Just like that, the early Church is thrown into crisis.

Now, to understand this moment, we have to remember what circumcision meant. It wasn’t just a ritual. It was a sacred identity marker that stretched all the way back to Abraham in Genesis 17. For generations, circumcision defined who belonged to the covenant family of God. It was what set the Jewish people apart in the world. To many, it wasn’t just tradition—it was obedience, it was security, it was their story.

So when Gentiles started coming to faith in Jesus, the question wasn’t just theological—it was deeply personal. “Can someone really belong to the people of God if they don’t look like us, act like us, follow the marks we’ve always trusted?”That’s the heart of the debate. And it quickly became a flashpoint.