Passage of the Day - January 24, 2011

Acts 21:15-26

 ¹⁵After these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem.

 ¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of Cyprus, a disciple of long standing with whom we were to lodge.

 ¹⁷After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.

 ¹⁸And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

 ¹⁹After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

 ²⁰And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law;

 ²¹and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.

 ²²"What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

 ²³"Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow;

 ²⁴take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.

 ²⁵"But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication."

 ²⁶Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

One of the purposes of the Law was to set Israel apart from the rest of the world.  It was Israel that circumcised their sons.  It was Israel that had strict dietary laws.  It was Israel that had strict sexual laws.  It was Israel that had strict worship laws.  It was Israel that was God’s chosen people.  We, as followers of Christ, have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and are thus set apart from the rest of the world.  It is Christ’s Church that serves the orphans and the widows.  It is Christ’s Church that serves the world.  It is Christ’s Church that that brings glory to God and Christ through their characteristics shining in them through the Holy Spirit – faith, hope, and love.  Although adherence to the Law is good, the Law is not what sets us apart from the world; Christ is.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)