Acts 15:4-11
When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.
But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.
And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,
and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?
But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts15:4-11&version=ESV
When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.
But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.
And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,
and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?
But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts15:4-11&version=ESV
circumcision was part of the OT ceremonial law. I believe it referred to the cutting off of sin, with the necessary shedding of blood[to pay for sin] and the reproductive organ referred to those believers who would be progenitors of other believers that would come forth like Abraham brought forth many other believers.
ReplyDeleteThe ceremonial laws don't carry over, normally, to the NT.
Mar 2:27 "Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." Sabbath meaning the great rest. Christ reaffirms the moral principle that the Sabbath is made for man, one day a week of physical restoration and spiritual renewal. Experience shows that peopleb are happiest, most moral, most prosperous and healthiest when Sabbath is devoutly observed. @larrygrowe
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