“Unless…”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, July 27, 2023
Acts 15:1-11 (Forward, p. 90) CEV p. 1152
People are great at thinking that if one particular product or activity is good, then more of the same or additional things, will be even better. But adding ammonia or vinegar to bleach can be more than simply being unwise and unneeded but can also be dangerous and even deadly. And adding an unauthorized, not from the manufacturer, part to your vehicle can likewise not be a very smart idea.
Surprisingly, this same sort of thing happens faith wise. The apostles Peter and Paul are both quite firm, and clear, in saying that we are saved by faith alone, and not by any additional thing. Peter, in today’s account, is most emphatic about this, and for good reason. People had come from Judaea to Antioch, proclaiming that unless people were circumcised and followed all the laws of Moses, they could not be saved.
Peter counters this by relating his own experience with Cornelius, the Roman centurion, and his family. God, in His sovereign discretion and wisdom, had bestowed the Holy Spirit upon them, thus signalling His acceptance of them—and, their salvation—without them having conformed or measured up in any way. In other words, it was simply a gift, an act of grace, on God’s part. And so, in one sense, adding anything as ‘necessary’ for salvation was both unwise and unnecessary, and undoing the nature of God’s salvation as a gift.
Sadly, and unfortunately, Christians have often erred on this count over the centuries. They have suggested that baptism is necessary for salvation, or certain behaviours or beliefs or dress. They are saying, as those people from Judaea said, ‘unless…unless you do this or that, you cannot be saved.’ Now, none of this is saying that we cannot have certain of these things as a kind of ‘follow-up’ to faith, or as a demonstration of that faith, not at all, but simply that our salvation does not hinge on any of these.
This is a good reminder that God loves, accepts, and values us simply as we are, without having to measure up or earn that love, which is incredibly good news. Amen