Today we are reading Acts 15. In this chapter we read about the First Jerusalem Council which dealt with the question “How should we incorporate Gentile converts into the Christian church?” The council deliberated and different leaders spoke up. Here is the statement they agreed on.
“Since 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, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that 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.”” Acts 15:24-25, 27-29 ESV It is very impressive that the leaders representing diverse opinions were able by the Holy Spirit to come to a unified agreement. This issue concerning the Gentiles did not go away though. Still, it was very important that the leadership was united. What area of your life do you need unity? Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you overcome your differences. Pastor Tim