Members Only
Acts 15:1-35
We’re just 11 days away from the first day of school in Hamilton County! I know our students are SO excited as they can’t wait to get back to waking up early every morning, completing summer reading assignments, homework, classwork, quizzes, tests, exams. Of course what that means is this time of year is when a lot of people go shopping for back to school clothes. Of course kids always want to have the latest fashions, right?
Now way back when I was in Junior High school, I started noticing a new fashion trend. A lot of my classmates were wearing this jacket with snapped tabs on the shoulder, ½ collar. There was a little label on the top of the front pocket. Members Only. These things were HUGE back in the 80’s. Everybody who was anybody wore a Members Only jacket. So Christmas was right around the corner and I begged my mom for a members only jacket. That’s the one thing I wanted. Christmas morning comes, I start opening my gifts, and as I open one of the boxes I see this gray jacket, with the signature shoulder tabs and half collar. When I look at the front pocket, instead of the tag saying, “Members Only” it said, “Club Member.”
She bought me a knock-off. My mom said, “Is that the one you wanted?” I said, “Well, the tag says Club Member, not Members Only.” Yeah, but I got the gray one, just like you asked for. “But the tag mom, it says ‘Club Member’ not ‘Members Only.’” “I know, but it’s the style of the jacket you wanted, right?” “But the tag…”
I don’t know that I ever wore that jacket because it didn’t have the right label. As I think back on that episode I realize how pathetic I was. Isn’t it sad how as kids we put so much emphasis & importance on a particular label? Of course there are a lot of adults who do that too.
The same thing can happen in the church. We can put so much emphasis and importance on the tag, on the label that people have. This is not a new phenomenon, this was the case in the early church as well.
As we come to chapter 15 in our ongoing series through the book of Acts we arrive at a very critical event in the life and theological formation of the early church. Chapter 15 is not just the center of the book structurally as there are 28 chapters, but it is the center of the book thematically and theologically. What happens in this chapter really serves as something like a pivot-point upon which the focus and outreach of the early church turns.
Turn in your Bible to Acts 15. You'll notice the heading over chapter 15 is probably, “The Jerusalem Council.” This is a watershed moment in the history of the church. And it's not an exaggeration to say that the church, indeed the world, was never the same after this council took place.
The reason this council is so significant is because this council answers two of the most important questions regarding the kingdom of God. Today we're going to attempt to cover 35 verses and in so doing we'll discover the answer to these vitally important questions. The first question answered by the Jerusalem council is this...
I. How Do I GAIN ACCESS To Grace?
We try to gain access to many things. Perhaps it's trying to gain access to a locked vehicle and the keys are dangling from the steering column. Some of you attempted to gain access to a particular school or college and there were hurdles you had to cross in order to gain admittance such as GPA or ACT scores. Some of us have tried to gain access into particular jobs or careers only to learn that the field we were pursuing is very competitive. Some of you who are single are attempting to gain access to married life. Some who are married may be thinking about gaining access to the single life - let's talk later. Some students when you go back to school will attempt to get into the right crowd, get into the right circle of people.
Well how do you get into the most important, longest lasting organization that has ever existed. How do you get into the kingdom of God? Or the way I've posed the question here, how do I gain access to grace?
If you spend your whole life trying to gain access to the right crowd, gain access to the right school; get into the right career, gain access to the right company, get into the right relationship and that's all you think about, you will have missed the only thing that really matters for all eternity. How do I gain access to grace?
Let's read the first 21 verses to discover the answer to that question. This account begins at the church in Antioch: 1But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 3So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. 4When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
6The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.7And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
12And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me.14Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, 16“‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it,
17that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things 18known from of old.’
19Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
This really is the fundamental question that is seeking to be answered here: "How Do I Gain Access To Grace?" In two weeks (DV) we'll see the Philippian jailer ask the question this way: "What must I do to be saved?"
This is a vital question to be asked and answered because the answer to that question will shape the next 2,000 years of orthodox Christian doctrine. Well, let's consider three things from the text as we seek to find an answer to this question from this church council. First notice:
A. The PROBLEM addressed
In verses 1-5 we have the problem addressed. As we saw last week, Paul and Barnabas have returned from their first missionary journey and have come back to the sending church, the church in Antioch. They're in Antioch and some men come from Judea and start to teach among the church in Antioch. They come to this predominately Gentile church and telling them, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
No doubt word had traveled to the Jerusalem church that there was a great harvest among the Gentiles. And so some men come to Antioch, teaching that you have to be circumcised in order to be saved. Now this idea is rooted in the fact that within Judaism Gentiles were allowed to be proselytes to the Jewish faith. You could worship the Jewish God. But to be fully incorporated, the men had to be circumcised. That was the badge of citizenship, that was the label that got you into the "Members Only" club.
Circumcision was symbolic; circumcision was a sign of the whole Mosaic Law; are you keeping the dietary laws, are you keeping the Sabbath; are you observing the holy days. Circumcision was just a sign for all of that. This was not what the Law was designed to do, but the Jews had morphed it into a twisted salvation by works. This is the way they understood it.
Paul and Barnabas were not happy with the fact that these teachers from Judea had come to Antioch teaching these things. Luke says they had "no small dissension and debate with them." In other words, they let 'em have it. This is one of the peculiarities of Luke's way have writing. He writes things like, "No little disturbance, no small storm, no small dissension." Try talking this way to your kids, "I have no little frustration with you!"
Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension which means they had a huge dissension and great debate. Why? Because some doctrinal matters matter. If Paul and Barnabas had come across these teachers who said, "You've got to be circumcised" and they said, "Well, we might not be in total agreement with that, but we've just got to love each other; can't we all just get along? We've got to agree to disagree." If they would not have confronted it as error, they would not have been faithful on a matter that gets at the very heart of the gospel. This matters because it's at the very heart of salvation; it questions the sufficiency of the work of Christ. Was Jesus' death enough to save, or do I need to add to it.? They had no small debate.
Because of this debate we have the Jerusalem council. Paul and Barnabas and a few others were sent to Jerusalem to try and sort this thing out. The reason the council in Jerusalem is so necessary is because the mission among the Gentiles has been so successful. You have all these people coming into the church that don't have the same background, don't have the same habits, don't have the same culture, don't have the same frame of reference that the predominately Jewish church had - what do we do?
This is the same kind of thing that even happens today when there is a great gospel success among a people and then you try to assimilate them.
Ill: I pray I live to see the day when there is a great conversion to Christ in the Muslim world, when large numbers of Muslims come to faith in Jesus. I pray that I will get to see it. Just like a couple of generations ago, people would never have believed what is happening in Communist China - a great wave of conversion to Christ is happening in China. I pray we will see the same thing in the Muslim world. Imagine what happens when perhaps thousands or millions of Muslims come to faith in Christ.
What about the way they dress, what about their holidays, can they still celebrate Ramadan? What if they want to still pray 5 times a day, but now pray to Jesus. Do we say, "Everything's got to go"? It's not that simple. It takes a lot of wisdom. This is the kind of dynamic that's going on here.
Similar question here: how do you deal with all of the Gentiles that are coming into the kingdom? V. 4 says Paul and Barnabas got to Jerusalem and they shared with them all that God had done among the Gentiles. But verse 5, some believing Pharisees rose up and said that all the Gentiles must be circumcised AND they must be ORDERED to keep the law of Moses.
This is the problem that must be addressed. What do we do about the Gentiles? Do they have to become Jews in order to become Christian? How do they gain access to the grace of God; what must they do to be saved?
Now before we get to the solution to the problem addressed, I want to take a 90 second detour to point out this next thing...
B. The POLITY expressed
go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question
Polity has to do with governance, how the church is governed, how a church is led. Now I know you all came to church this morning hoping I was going to talk about church government - it's such an inspiring topic. This is not the primary point of the text, but as I've mentioned before, when studying the Bible one of things we look for when interpreting a text is repeated words or phrases. And one phrase that is repeated 5 times in this passage is the phrase "apostles and elders." Verse 2, 4, 6, 22, 23 all include that phrase. Now why include the term "elders" in with the apostles?
This is a transitional phase in church life. The office of apostle as expressed here was a temporary office. We know that one of the qualifications for being an apostle was to have seen the resurrected Christ. After the first century there was no one left alive who had witnessed the resurrected Christ. So the primary office of church authority and leadership was transitioning to the office of elder. We saw last week that when Paul circled back through the towns in Galatia where he saw many converts, he appointed elders among them to lead those churches.
At this very early stage of the church we see the elders are coming alongside the apostles and are taking the primary role of leadership and decision making. So this huge theological question is being posed not just to the apostles, but also to the elders. That's the polity expressed.
C. The PROOF confessed
The problem addressed by this council - that Gentiles must become Jews in order to become Christians - is concluded with a final decision. Luke records that there are four men who give specific testimony, confessing the proof that circumcision is not required for salvation among the Gentiles. The first person Luke records speaking is Peter. This is the last time we will see Peter in the book of Acts - the rest of the book focuses on Paul.
As Peter stands up he begins to recount his own history. He says, “You remember God chose me to be a unique instrument to be the person to take the gospel to the Gentiles." He’s talking about God calling him to take the gospel to Cornelius and his household. That call began with Peter being very hungry, on the rooftop of a house and he has a vision. The vision is of this sheet descending from heaven with all kinds of animals on the sheet that are unclean according to Mosaic law. God says, “Rise Peter, kill and eat.” Three times this vision happens. It seems Peter is a bit hard-headed. Things happen in threes with him, three times he denies the Lord, three times Jesus asks him, “Do you love me – feed my sheep.” And three times he has a vision from God that God is using to convince him to take the gospel to those whom the Jews considered unclean – the Gentiles.
For Peter, the proof of this was that the Holy Spirit fell on Gentiles just like He had fallen upon the Jewish believers gathered in the upper room on Pentecost. And notice what he says in verse 9: and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. What was the basis upon which God cleansed their hearts? It was by faith! God accepted them as they were, by faith, even though they had not been circumcised.
Peter’s saying, “I had to learn this truth the hard way. I learned it with Cornelius.” Peter has a history with this stuff.
In verse 10 Peter uses very strong language. He asks, "Why are you putting God to the test." This is Old Testament language that the Judaizers would have been very familiar with. OT prophets would use this kind of language to point out the people’s rebellion, stubbornness and disobedience. “Why are you tempting God to judge us.”
Then he says, you’re placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? You’re saying they have to keep the Law of Moses to be saved? How’s that working out for you? And Peter concludes his argument in verse 11: 11But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
Then Peter sits down, and rising up to speak are Barnabas and Paul. Talk about an all-star lineup. We don’t have much of their speech but we know they talked about the signs and wonders that were done among the Gentiles on their missionary journey. And the obvious point is that these signs and wonders were done apart from them going through circumcision. They didn’t have the “Members Only” label, but still God worked in them.
No doubt they told about the miracles and marvelous conversions.
Next to speak in verse 13 is James. Now there are a lot of Jameses in the Bible, so sometimes it’s difficult to keep them straight. James, the son of Zebedee, the brother of John was killed. This James is the half-brother of Jesus. He was not one of the apostles, but he was the leading elder at the church in Jerusalem. He appears to be the moderator, the one presiding over this council. In his speech he offers the final judgment on the matter.
He says, “We’ve heard from Simeon.” That’s Peter. We’ve heard from Paul. Two very strong witnesses. But James concludes the matter by pointing to the Scripture. He points out that what Peter and Paul have just testified to is in fact in accordance with the OT Scripture. James says, “The prophets (plural) are in agreement with this testimony.” He only quotes from the prophet, Amos. But the point is that all the prophets are in agreement together that this ingathering of the Gentiles iss the fulfillment of what Israel’s promised Messiah was to bring – salvation to all men. And not salvation by keeping the law, but salvation by grace through faith.
The point that Peter, Paul, Barnabas and James are all making is you don’t have to become something in order to be saved. The answer to the question, “How do I gain access to grace?” Is answered in the simplest of terms – by faith. By believing the gospel; by trusting in Jesus. That’s it.
Now, some application for us on this first point:
The first point of application I’d make is this: You don't have to be Jewish in order to be a Christian. There’s a tendency with some in the Christian world to think, “Well, if I could get a little Hebrew in me, or make a pilgrimage to Holy Land, then I’d really be getting somewhere. If I could pray with a Jewish prayer shawl. If I do the Passover Seder meal.”
Those things can be helpful or informative, but don't think, "If I could be a little more Jewish in some ways, I’d be the real deal.” We certainly must pray for our Jewish neighbors and respect them. But listen clearly – the conclusion of the Jerusalem council here in Acts 15 means that in Christ, there's no special merit in being Jewish, there's no special demerit in being a Gentile. God makes no distinction, there is neither Jew nor Greek.
2nd point of application: you don't have to become an American in order to be a Christian. Converts to Christ in other countries will act differently, worship differently than we do. This is where short term mission trips to other nations can be so beneficial. There are things in every culture that must be set aside in order to follower Christ. In missions, we don’t impose American church preferences upon new converts. The call to Christ is the call to carry the cross, not to carry the flag.
3rd. You do need to be saved. The Gentiles and the Jews need to be saved, they need to be redeemed. We have all these euphemisms: That person is a seeker, that person is unchurched, that person is dechurched, that person is re-churched, that person is refried bean churched. There's only two categories of people in the world: saved/lost, regenerate or unregenerate. Doing your best is not enough. Keeping a list of do’s and don’ts won’t cut it.
You need the grace of God to be saved. There's nothing you can do to save yourself. It's all of grace. And this grace is only accessed by faith. It's not just faith in faith, and it's certainly not believing in yourself. It's not even faith in general things about God. It is faith with a specific and explicit content. You are trusting in Jesus Christ alone.
That’s the first major question that’s answered in this Jerusalem Council: How do I GAIN ACCESS To Grace. Here’s the second big question that’s answered by the Jerusalem Council:
II. How Do I GIVE EVIDENCE Of Grace?
You may have been a little confused by the end of James’ speech. He seems to be affirming salvation is solely by grace through faith. He concludes the matter by saying, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God. Don't trouble them with circumcision or any Mosaic Law requirements. But then it seems in the very next breath he puts requirements on them, requirements that seem to be rooted in the OT Mosaic Law. He says they should send a letter to the Gentiles instructing them to refrain from doing four things: abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.
What James says should be communicated to the believing Gentiles is really the answer to the second question: How Do I Give Evidence Of Grace? Let’s read the rest of the passage and then we’ll notice 2 things from the text that instruct us on how to give evidence to the grace of God in our lives:
22Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.
They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
30So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 35But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
So the council writes a letter that includes the recommendation of James that they abstain from those four things: what has been polluted by idols, from blood, things strangled, and sexual immorality. The Gentile Christians in Antioch received that letter with great rejoicing. I think the men particularly may have been rejoicing since the found out they didn't have to be circumcised! But as a whole they felt encouraged by it. What are we to make of this? Again, this answers for us the question, “How Do I Give Evidence Of Grace?” We know we gain access to grace by faith alone in Christ alone. But is that it? Is that the end? No, we are then called to give evidence of grace in the way we live our lives. How do we do that? Two things we can glean from this text. First, we give evidence of grace by...
A. Living HOLY to God
…abstain from the things polluted by idols
How are we to understand those four things that were in the letter? Why, after all of this talk of grace; after all of this talk that salvation is not through what you do, or the law of Moses that you keep, why do they say, "You can't do these four things."? It's a call to holy living; it's a call to personal holiness.
Now some of us would call that legalism. It's not legalism, but people like to throw that word around, "They're a bunch of legalists." Let me tell you what legalism is and then we'll see why this is not legalism. Legalism is salvation by law-keeping. Legalism is believing you are saved by your works, that you gain God's approval by what you do. We can not come to God on our own merit, only by the merits of Christ.
But in our day we kind of like to throw that label on basically, anybody who takes Christian obedience more seriously than I do:
You don't watch every single movie that Hollywood puts out? Legalist.
You don't use all the cool swear words I use? Legalist.
You've chosen to only listen to God-honoring music? Legalist.
You don't laugh at off-color humor? Legalist.
You think you should worship with the church family EVERY Sunday?
We kind of put a big L on their forehead - Loser/Legalist.
But that's not legalism. That's called living HOLY to God. When you come to faith in Christ, when you surrender to him as Lord, there are some things you leave behind. This is not about what you must DO to gain access to grace, but what you should do to give evidence of grace. It's not legalism, it's holiness. Our obedience to God should never be understood as the ROOT of our Salvation, but the FRUIT of our salvation.
But specifically here, with this particular letter, how are we to understand the four things the council instructed the Gentile believers to abstain from?
1. Things polluted by idols. - Ok, I can understand that. Even though later Paul says in Romans 14 that the person who abstains from eating meat that's been sacrificed to idols shouldn't pass judgment on the believer who does eat meat sacrificed to idols. Some gray area here.
2. Sexually immorality. - Yeah, that's a no-brainer. Sexually immorality is universally condemned in the Bible.
3. Things strangled. I don't even know how the animals I eat are killed. Don't they ring chickens' necks? Is that strangling?
4. From blood. But I like my steaks medium rare. Does this mean the decree from the apostles themselves is I have to order all my steaks well-done, until it tastes like a piece of charcoal?
Some of these things seem important, but others, they don't seem that important to us. Are we missing something here? It's best to understand these four things not individually, but as a whole. These four things are associated with the worship and the feasts in pagan temples; they're associated with idolatry.
The first of the four restrictions I think is the overarching principle. Don't associate with things polluted by idols. That certainly refers to food, but it's even broader than that. Whatever is associated with things that are used in idolatrous worship. That includes sexual immorality; that includes the animal sacrifices that are strangled, and the blood used in the pagan worship. Here's something to keep in mind:
Throughout the Roman empire there were these pagan temples. We saw last week in Lystra there was a temple to Zeus. Every city was known in large part by the particular pagan god that was worshiped there. So you had temples to Artemus, and Aphrodite, and all these pagan temples in all these Gentile cities. Many of these pagan worship centers had temple prostitutes and rampant sexual immorality was part of the pagan worship. There were animal sacrifices and pagan practices with the blood that were part of that idolatry. And the instruction here was for them to disassociate themselves completely from that former way of living. Because there was a large in-gathering of Gentiles into the church, this major segment of the population, this is the instruction for them on what holy living looks like.
Let me illustrate it this way. Let's suppose that there was a major revival on fraternity row at UTC. Let's say dozens, no, hundreds of frat boys heard the gospel and were converted, and were now entering the church. And we wrote them a letter that included the following instruction: we instruct you to abstain from drunken parties, from ping-pong tables with red solo cups and ping-pong balls. Now, is there anything wrong with ping-pong tables? Red solo cups? Ping-pong balls? No, of course not. But together, in the context of a fraternity, those things mean beer-pong. Beer-pong is a game that the rules really aren't that important because the goal is to get as drunk as you can.
So the point is this, you gain access to grace by faith alone. But you give evidence of grace by living holy to God; holiness is the goal here. But not only do you give evidence of grace by living holy to God, but secondly, by...
B. Giving HONOR to others
Look again at verse 21 and see the further explanation James gives: 21For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
Almost all the cities that Paul and Barnabas went to on their missionary journey not only had pagan temples, but they had Jewish synagogues. And those synagogues, James says, have existed there from ancient generations. Now in those same cities you have churches that have been established. And there are people who are coming from pagan temples into the church, and people coming from Jewish synagogues into the church. Two completely different backgrounds.
Now those coming from Jewish synagogues would have certain dietary laws, certain restrictions that they have followed their whole lives. Many of these Jews would have maintained these same customs as Christians. James' point is, honor those among you who come from this background or tradition. That's what it means to give evidence of the grace of God in your lives. To honor others who are in covenant community with you, who because of their conscience, or personal preference, don't have the liberty to do the things you have the freedom to do.
Illustration: When I was in seminary, about 15 years ago, I was attending Temple Baptist Seminary here in Chattanooga. At that time, the university TTU was a completely separate institution from the Seminary - different president, different board of trustees, different professors. But once a year, one of the seminary students chosen by the seminary faculty to preach at the university chapel. This was a big deal, it was an honor. One year the faculty chose me to deliver the sermon. Now at this time, the university only used the KJV. University Students and professors alike were required to use KJV in all their classes. But at the seminary, the translation of choice was the NASB.
Knowing this difference, I went to the seminary president and asked him if I should preach from the KJV or the NASB at the university. He answered my question with a question. Don't you love that? "What do you think would honor the leadership at the university the most?" Well, I obviously knew the answer to that. But I chose to preach out of the NASB anyway because I had the freedom to do that. JK. I preached out of the KJV. Why? Because part of giving evidence of grace is living holy to God but also giving honor to others who are around you. Paul put it this way in Romans 14:
Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. Romans 14:20
Put whatever you like in place of food in that verse: for the sake of... Bible translation; for the sake of... movie choices; for the sake of...music style; don't destroy the work of God in people's lives over personal preferences.
Grace is risky. Why? Because grace can be abused; grace can be taken advantage of. Giving our kids the keys to the car is always a risk. But because we love them, we do it. That's grace. It is only by grace that we can enter the kingdom of God; and it is only by grace that we can live obediently in the kingdom of God, with holy lives that honors our brothers and sisters in Christ. And that leads to my last thought this morning...
Last Thought: It is the grace of God that SAVES us and SUSTAINS us as we live on mission for Him.
