Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  2024  Day 49

February 18;        Acts 15:1;         104/260;        ‘Know the Word’

Acts 15:1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."

There has always been and always will be those who teach doctrine that is not in line with the Word of God.  The Bible says nothing about the necessity of being circumcised as part of what you must do to be saved.  Paul and Barnabas vigorously disputed with them and the decision was made to go to Jerusalem to talk about this.  After much dispute Peter declared that Jew and gentile are saved the same way, by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.  What is so critical about this verse is that it proves the necessity for every believer to know the Word of God.  God’s Word was written for us to know our Creator, learn the incredible things that He has done for us and also learn how our Lord desires us to conduct our lives.  If we know the Word of God, the devil, and those he has deceived, will not be able to teach erroneous doctrine that can hurt us or get us ‘off track’ from the ways of the Lord.  This is very serious and is the reason we emphasize reading and knowing the Word of God.  The Lord Jesus told us to continue spending time in the Word.  John 8:31-32 teaches that if we do, we will be the disciples of Jesus and we will know the truth and the truth that we know will make us free.  Those whose job is to identify counterfeit money are not taught what counterfeit money looks like.  They are taught what genuine currency looks like and then they will know when they see money that is counterfeit.  It is the same with God’s Word.  When we know the Word, the truth, we will not be deceived with ‘counterfeit’ teachings.