the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. and 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. and God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. now, 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? but we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” [acts 15:6-11]
cleansed by faith
i am regularly drawn back to the simplicity of the gospel.
it is easy to overcomplicate what Jesus taught and what it means, but we find our freedom not in a complex faith, but in returning time and time again to sit at his feet and learn from him.
Jesus taught us that if He sets us free, then we are free indeed (John 8:36). He teaches that his burden is light (Matthew 11:30). Jesus does not give us more rules to follow and more obstacles to God that we will never meet. He offers us a freedom beyond our striving, found only when we rest in Him.
this is why peter is standing so strongly on his conviction that the gospel does not require extra rules, futile attempts at “doing better”, or a heavy burden. peter accurately points out that no one has been able to keep up with the law of moses.
not even moses.
and that is because we were never designed to. the law was given to show us what God desires, and point us towards the only One who could ever live up to it – Jesus.
we are clean only because we are cleansed by our faith in Him, not by our deeds. as we fall short time and time again, we must return to rest in the grace of the One who never fell short, and who never ever will.
~ jason soroski