June 15
Acts 10:1-23
Most of the early Christians were ethnically Jewish and they continued to follow the Mosaic laws after coming to faith in Christ. Yet in Acts 10 God clearly helps us to understand that Jesus brought a clear break from the old way of things. Peter received a vision of a sheet falling from heaven filled with a variety of animals. The Mosaic Covenant mandated that animals like pigs, many lizards, carnivorous birds, etc., were unclean and not to be eaten. To obey God in the Old Testament, these commands had to be strictly followed. With the vision, Peter suddenly understood he was under the New Covenant. People can follow Jesus while having the freedom to eat the unclean foods of the Old Testament.
As we continue to work our way through Acts, we will see how radical this understanding was for Jewish Christians. This understanding that God works in different ways at different times, and obedience looks different in different times, is dispensationalism. Though some commands may change, at all times, God calls for obedience. When God speaks, we obey; where he did not speak, we have freedom to allow the Spirit to guide us in wisdom. Peter’s obedience would change the way he lived, what he ate, and with whom he ate. No matter the social, cultural, or historical norms, Peter chose to obey God above everything.
Father God, help me to obey you. Even if this means changing the way I live or what seems comfortable to me, help me to follow wherever you lead. Amen.
When in your life has God challenged you to obey him in a new area? How did this grow your relationship with him?
Most of the early Christians were ethnically Jewish and they continued to follow the Mosaic laws after coming to faith in Christ. Yet in Acts 10 God clearly helps us to understand that Jesus brought a clear break from the old way of things. Peter received a vision of a sheet falling from heaven filled with a variety of animals. The Mosaic Covenant mandated that animals like pigs, many lizards, carnivorous birds, etc., were unclean and not to be eaten. To obey God in the Old Testament, these commands had to be strictly followed. With the vision, Peter suddenly understood he was under the New Covenant. People can follow Jesus while having the freedom to eat the unclean foods of the Old Testament.
As we continue to work our way through Acts, we will see how radical this understanding was for Jewish Christians. This understanding that God works in different ways at different times, and obedience looks different in different times, is dispensationalism. Though some commands may change, at all times, God calls for obedience. When God speaks, we obey; where he did not speak, we have freedom to allow the Spirit to guide us in wisdom. Peter’s obedience would change the way he lived, what he ate, and with whom he ate. No matter the social, cultural, or historical norms, Peter chose to obey God above everything.
Father God, help me to obey you. Even if this means changing the way I live or what seems comfortable to me, help me to follow wherever you lead. Amen.
When in your life has God challenged you to obey him in a new area? How did this grow your relationship with him?
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