The King and the Beggar
Acts 15:10-11 So now, why are you putting a heavy burden around the necks of the non-Jewish followers of Jesus? Are you trying to make God angry? We and our fathers were not able to carry that burden. No, we believe that we and these people will be saved the same way—by the grace of the Lord Jesus.
You and I, indeed everyone who’s ever lived on planet Earth (bar one), has stuffed up. We’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all fallen short. Not a one of us has ever kept all the rules – from road rules to simple kindness and common decency. There’s a cheery thought.
Now, please don’t take this the wrong way but I’m one of the most driven, conscientious, and hard-working people you’ll ever meet. That said, the mistakes I’ve made, the people I’ve hurt … if I were to write them all down, they’d make for the longest book ever published in human history.
It doesn’t matter how smart, diligent or hard-working we are, or what culture we grew up in, we’ve all made a mountain of mistakes. One response to that is to try harder, to do better, to keep the rules.
Here’s the Apostle Peter speaking before the Jerusalem Council, addressing the issue of whether Gentiles had to follow Jewish laws to be saved.
Acts 15:10-11So now, why are you putting a heavy burden around the necks of the non-Jewish followers of Jesus? Are you trying to make God angry? We and our fathers were not able to carry that burden. No, we believe that we and these people will be saved the same way—by the grace of the Lord Jesus.
In other words, he’s saying ‘if we Jews weren’t able to obey the law of Moses, why in the blazes would we lay that burden on others?’ The answer – the only answer – is God’s grace and forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus.
As Charles Spurgeon put it: “Sin is the great equaliser. It puts the king and the beggar on the same level ground before God. All have sinned. All need grace.”
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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