Acts 15

“But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will” (v11).  Many in the early church believed that Gentiles who believed in Christ should get circumcised and follow Jewish customs.  But Peter had seen in a vision (ch 9) that God welcomed the Gentiles by faith in Jesus alone.  Peter reminded his Jewish friends that they, too, were accepted by God because of Jesus – not because of their culture or Law. 

“And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us” (v8). Knowing Jesus isn’t a matter of group identity or the right words, but rather a Spirit-transformed heart.