{"id":1761,"date":"2019-08-20T09:23:47","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T17:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1761"},"modified":"2019-08-20T10:20:19","modified_gmt":"2019-08-20T18:20:19","slug":"1761","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1761","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Acts 15:1-4 Hold Fast To The One Truth Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 15:1-4\u00a0<\/b>\u2013<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup><\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/sup><\/b>Certain people\u00a0came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers:\u00a0\u201cUnless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses,\u00a0you cannot be saved.\u201d\u00a02\u00a0This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem\u00a0to see the apostles and elders\u00a0about this question.3\u00a0The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia\u00a0and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted.\u00a0This news made all the believers very glad.\u00a04\u00a0When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cCertain people\u00a0came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers:\u00a0\u201cUnless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses,\u00a0you cannot be saved.<\/i>\u201d \u00a0V5<\/b>\u00a0seems to imply that that these people (KJV \u201cmen\u201d) were Pharisees that had become Christians.\u00a0 They came to Syrian Antioch and began to preach doctrine opposed to the foundation of Christian belief that we are saved by faith and not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 2:16<\/b>).\u00a0 These men were teaching what some cults would like us now to believe, that the work of Jesus Christ is strong to save, but weak, limited, or non-existent to train us not to sin and to keep us from sin after the initial point of salvation.\u00a0 The devil has, since the advent of Christianity consistently and repeatedly tried to undermine the Truth that we are saved only by faith and not by what we do.\u00a0 So persistent is this lie in the world that it has crept into the church and it even attempts to invade our minds to sully the pure Truth of the Gospel.\u00a0 This \u201cJesus plus\u201d is always wrong, is never from God, is always evil.\u00a0 The devil does not care what you believe so long as it is not the pure, unadulterated, no additions Gospel.\u00a0 If one wants to believe in any religion other than the pure message of the Gospel, the devil delights is that.\u00a0 If one wants to believe that cockroaches are gods, the devil is happy. Anything will do, as long as it is not the pure Gospel of Christ.\u00a0 When these people came and preached, their \u201cBe saved by Jesus and\u2026\u201d garbage, it was potentially ruinous to the faith of the young believers.\u00a0 Believing the \u201cJesus plus\u201d message, or believing in cockroach worship, have the same value.<\/p>\n

Jerusalem believers (the Apostles and disciples there) was where the early church looked to for leadership.\u00a0 So that these people were from Jerusalem would have carried weight.\u00a0 Beware people who display their lineage, or the church they come from, or even their degrees, if they do not preach the pure Word of God only, but want to put their opinions into it.\u00a0 Stand fast in the Word of God that He has given us for instruction and guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 Of course it did.\u00a0 Paul wrote to the Galatians \u201cCertain people\u00a0came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers:\u00a0\u201cUnless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses,\u00a0you cannot be saved.<\/i>\u201d (Galatians 1:9<\/b>).\u00a0 Paul knew the danger of a grace plus works doctrine.\u00a0 He also wrote \u201cYou foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.\u00a02<\/a>\u00a0I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?\u00a03<\/a>\u00a0Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?\u00a0\u00a04<\/a>\u00a0Have you experienced\u00a0so much in vain\u2014if it really was in vain?\u00a05<\/a>\u00a0So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?\u00a06<\/a>\u00a0So also Abraham \u201cbelieved God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 (Galatians 3:1-6<\/b>)\u00a0 Family, faith plus works is a lie from the enemy an anathema to our faith.\u00a0 Paul asked the Galatians in\u00a0V4<\/b>\u00a0\u201cHave you experienced so much in vain\u2026<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 Let\u2019s say it and know clearly, any belief other than that one is saved only through faith in the person and work of Jesus, is a lie from the devil.\u00a0 All roads do not lead to Heaven.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course Paul and Barnabas came into \u201csharp dispute and debate with them.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 This was, and is now, a matter of spiritual life and death.<\/p>\n

Family and Friends, let us not be deceived by the error that is preached of ecumenical desires for all religions to unite is a good thing.\u00a0 What is a good thing is that Believers continue to hold to the truth of the Word.\u00a0 (John 14:6, Acts 4:12<\/b>) Truth is that only through Jesus are we saved from the road that leads to destruction.\u00a0 Oh we want peace for us and all, but we must continue to proclaim that true and lasting peace is only, yes only, found in Jesus.\u00a0 We want the world to have pure love and pure joy and that is only found in Jesus.\u00a0 To acquiesce to anything that detracts from our \u201cOnly Jesus\u201d message is to also become part of their deception, indeed, to feed it.\u00a0 To not tell the truth in order to not displease makes oneself their satisfier and thereby we think what we do is better than the Word of God.\u00a0 We make ourselves gods who have words that are sometimes better than God\u2019s Word, us supposedly knowing a better thing to tell people than what our God has given us to give them.\u00a0 \u00a0We all were once headed to hell and now that we are off of it our solitary message is \u201cIf you declare\u00a0with your mouth, \u201cJesus is Lord,\u201d\u00a0and believe\u00a0in your heart that God raised him from the dead,\u00a0you will be saved.\u00a010\u00a0For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.<\/i>\u201d (Romans 10:9-10<\/b>)\u00a0 Though the world hates the message, though they curse and defame us for holding fast to God\u2019s Word, that we must do.\u00a0 God\u2019s Word teaches us Truth, the philosophies and religions of the world, are all lies.\u00a0 We don\u2019t apologize for saying that.\u00a0 We trust God over all the lies of the devil.\u00a0 Also, let us not be haughty, but humble, and love the world as God does.\u00a0 In that we display that we belong to Him.\u00a0 Be loving, humble and gracious after all, we all were likewise once lost.\u00a0 But now, thanks to God\u2019s eternal love for us, we have been saved through faith in Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Thank you Jesus!\u00a0 Praise God!\u00a0 Always and forever praise God!<\/p>\n

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Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acts 15:1-4\u00a0\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Certain people\u00a0came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers:\u00a0\u201cUnless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses,\u00a0you cannot be saved.\u201d\u00a02\u00a0This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem\u00a0to see the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[82,1841,1969,100,94,17,10],"class_list":["post-1761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-ephesians","tag-galatians","tag-john","tag-micah","tag-psalm","tag-romans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1761"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1764,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761\/revisions\/1764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}