ACTS 15:1-35
A controversy broke out in the early church with some Christians saying that every new (male) believer had to be circumcised, thinking of passages such as Genesis 17: 11,13-14, "You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between you and me. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant." Other Christians in the church pointed out that the Scriptures said that God would make the Gentiles his people also, and Peter, Paul and Barnabas mentioned that this had al-ready happened through their experiences. (15:1-31)
- How did they resolve their conflict? (15:2-31) How does conflict get resolved in our church?
- The early Christians were disagreeing on how to interpret the Scriptures they had. Any time there has been a lack of a good way to interpret the Bible, it has caused conflict between Christians. Do you have a good way of interpreting the Bible? What is it?
- Considering that circumcision is no longer an important question for us, how much do you think Christians argue today over things that are not really important? That are?
- Peter correctly pointed out in the midst of this conflict what is necessary to be saved. What was, and still is, that? (15:9-11) Is this true of you?
- Judas Barsabbas and Silas are introduced to us in this chapter. What words are used to de-scribe them, and what did they do? (15:22-33)