Acts 21:17-21

God is not found in the letter of the law but in the redeeming love and mercy He provided in Jesus Christ. It is not by works but by faith that we are saved and through that faith our works show we are alive in Him. There is to be tolerance for the rituals and doctrines of different churches especially of the oldest of the Christian churches who to this day practice some of the ancient Jewish based doctrines. There is evidence that Paul also kept his heritage and its’ laws, himself knowing that salvation comes by faith alone, honoring the traditions of the old covenant in the love of the new, that he might become all things to all men that he may save a few.


The evidence of how God changed the lives of Gentiles was presented to the Christians in Jerusalem. The strongest evidence was the Gentile believers themselves who had accompanied Paul to Jerusalem. At this time, Paul may have also given the money he had been collecting from the Gentile Christians. The love the Gentiles expressed to their suffering Jewish brethren was a mark of their genuine conversion.


Reports were circulating that Paul had been urging Jews to abandon Mosaic traditions. However, Paul never derided his Jewish heritage nor demanded that Jewish Christians renounce the Law of Moses. He only made it clear to everyone that the law could not function as a means of salvation. There is evidence that Paul was continuing to keep the Law when he stood before Felix in 24:11, 12. The fact that he was coming to Jerusalem to worship was evidence of this. What Paul did resist was any attempt to force Gentiles to become Jews. Salvation was through faith alone. Relying on adherence to the Jewish law was repudiation of the gospel message that salvation proceeds from faith in Christ and that alone.


Acts 21:17-21

17 And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; 21 but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.