“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things.” (Acts 15.28)

New Testament Challenge, Day 22 – Acts 11-16


Today we read of the great conflict that existed between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians that created the first Council of church history. In a nutshell, the Jewish Christians were attempting to force upon the Gentile Christians the burden of obeying the Mosaic Laws, namely circumcision. At issue was the belief by the Jews that believers had to first be Jews before they could be saved as Christians. At some level, in their confusion of God’s will, this made sense since His coming was a fulfillment of Judaism and not some new world religion.

Today’s chapters are “the meat” of the Scriptural reference of the Jewish-Gentile conflicts within the Church. “Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, ‘You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” (Acts 11.1-3) Saint Peter goes on to share the vision he received from God in defense of his keeping company with Gentiles. “What God has cleansed you much not call common.” (Acts 11.9)

This is the message for us as Orthodox Christians in America. So many of us were born into the faith that we too often forget that, like the Jews believe, we shouldn’t expect new believers in Orthodox Christianity to first be Greeks or Russians or Serbs etc. Orthodox Christianity is for everyone in the world who desires to follow Jesus Christ to heaven.

I pray that someday, through the Orthodox Christians Church in America we can share the call of the Jews. “And they glorified God, saying ‘Then God has also granted to the Gentiles [or Americans as in our case] repentance to life.’”

Orthodoxy is the truth faith in Jesus Christ established by His Apostles as the continuation of His saving work. Come and see! You too belong in the Church.