Acts 15:6–11

In the Old Testament man was under the Law but NOW that Jesus Christ came and fulfilled the Law the spiritual is within us in the person of Holy Spirit. 

We are no longer under the Law but under Grace. 

We are being transformed daily by Holy Spirit into the image of Jesus, precept by precept. 

Does this excuse sin? No, but when we listen to  Holy Spirit He will convict us, knowing that as believers,  it is our desire to please the  Father   in all we do.

Come Into The Quiet
As we enter into the quiet stillness of this present moment,
we awaken to everything around us,
without and within,
as if for the first time,
seeing with new eyes,
with an open heart,
resting in peace,
flowing with joy,
in the loving radiance
of our Beloved...
Seeing as if from our heart,
with eternal eyes.
Bob Holmes

Acts 15:6–11

6 Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. 7 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, 9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” The New King James Version

Luke (the narrator) stresses that the ruling of the Jerusalem Council will represent the Church’s official verdict on the matter. Peter cites his own experience with the Gentile Cornelius and his vision about clean and pure food, which he has already explained to the church leadership in Jerusalem. Peter reasons that since God is working among both Jews and Gentiles that to demand that the Gentiles become Jews is to doubt what God has declared. This point seems to be based on Peter’s vision about clean and pure food. Peter reminds the audience that no Jew was able to satisfy the law. Faithlife Study Bible

It was from the mouth of Peter that Cornelius and his Gentile friends heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yoke here refers to the law. These are the last words of Peter in the Book of Acts. He leaves us with the eternal truth that we are saved through faith by grace alone. The emphasis in the Book of Acts now moves from Peter to Paul, from the presentation of the gospel message among the Jews to its presentation to the Gentiles. The NKJV Study Bible

We see from the words “purifying their hearts by faith,” and the address of St. Peter, that justification by faith, and sanctification by the Holy Ghost, cannot be separated; and that both are the gift of God. We have great cause to bless God that we have heard the gospel. May we have that faith which the great Searcher of hearts approves, and attests by the seal of the Holy Spirit. Then our hearts and consciences will be purified from the guilt of sin, and we shall be freed from the burdens some try to lay upon the disciples of Christ. Paul and Barnabas showed by plain matters of fact, that God owned the preaching of the pure gospel to the Gentiles without the law of Moses. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Matthew 23:4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Acts 10:28 Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.

Acts 10:47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”