Grace Made Visible

The Church Fought for it

Galatians 6:1-3, Galatians 2:11-14, Acts 15

Love one another… John 15:17

Accept each other … Romans 15:7

Forgive one another… Matthew 6:15

Share each other’s burdens,

and in this way obey the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

Galatians 6

V6a, 2,  “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path.” “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”   

Key: Keep one another on THE RIGHT PATH

Galatians 2

V11, 13, “When Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong.” “As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.”

Key: Be careful not to LEAD OTHERS ASTRAY

What was at Stake?

1. Theologically DANGEROUS (SALVATION)
2. Community FRAGMENTATION (FELLOWSHIP)

Acts 15

V19, “And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.”

Key: Do all you can to OPEN THE WAY for others

 Acts 15 is the LINCHPIN of the book of Acts

 So What? What does it have to do with us?

 We are:

CALLED OUT

(Acts 15:16-18, “… so that the rest of humanity might seek the Lord…”)

CALLED TOGETHER

(Acts 15:19, “…we should not make it difficult…”)

CALLED APART

(Acts 15:20, 29, “…abstain from sexual immorality…)

 Final Thought: Because we are the CALLED OUT we must do ALL we can so every man woman and child might be CALLED OUT to Christ.