Sun 9:30a Class; 10:30a Worship; 11:35a Communion
Bible Bites
Holy Boundaries
“What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” (Acts 11:9)
When Peter was told to consider Gentiles holy and worthy of the gospel, Peter’s initial reaction was to recoil – as a Jew, he had nothing to do with the pagan nations. Peter was used to a stricter separation between Jew and Gentile than what God was commanding.
There is a struggle we face in following God. There are times He is stricter than we are, but there are also times He is more lenient. We must learn to bend to Him in both circumstances. When God asks us to hate sin and leave no room for it in our lives, we cry, “The rules are too strict!”. When He tells us to show forgiveness or tolerance for the differences among individuals, we cry for justice instead of compassion.
But it is just as important that we not bind rules which go beyond Scripture as it is that we not loose things clearly taught by God. We must neither add nor subtract from the Word of God (see Rev 22:18-19). It’s a tough balance… but one that we must seek to strike if we wish to follow Him and not ourselves.
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites
