Acts 15:6-11
6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 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. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 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? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
Reflection
After much debate, Peter stands up and asks, “Why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10). The law informed God’s followers about how to live a holy life, but it never provided the power to obey it; instead, it only revealed the inability of God’s people to live up to God’s perfect standard.
Peter insists that both Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) are saved only by the grace of the Lord Jesus (v. 11), not by circumcision or any other act of personal obedience. In the Bible, self-help religion is presented as an intolerable burden that only brings discouragement and despair. God favors the weak and burdened, not the spiritually proud. Jesus embraces the meek and the broken —the ones who feel swamped with heavy burdens (Matt. 11:28–30). It is no small thing that he spent so much time with those considered the spiritual losers of his day.
Revelation 3:7-13
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet and they will learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
Reflection
Because Jesus has the key of David (Rev. 3:7), he has set before the church in Philadelphia an open door to God’s kingdom and purposes (v. 8). Like true kingdom citizens, this church has been faithful to the name of Christ and to his Word (vv. 8, 10). Together with the church in Smyrna (2:9), Philadelphia should resist the synagogue of Satan, who will be humbled in the end (3:9). To those who overcome, Jesus promises to make them pillars in the eternal temple, where they will enjoy God’s presence forever (v. 12).
Psalm 143:2
2 Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
God’s standard is nothing short of perfection, which is precisely why we must be saved. Jesus paid for our shortcomings and performed perfectly in our place. Pray that the gospel would replace mentalities and habits in your life that subtly attempt to earn his favor.