# Accepting Gentile Believers - The Book of Acts

An episode of [Kids Bible in a Year with Julia Jeffress Sadler](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1696638708), 19 Apr 2024, 13 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/f8ddd7fd-69c6-48d0-804f-b4d6010c327c/976a1f8b-107a-4e88-8ba3-b4d6016e46e3/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=14e8ed60-20b2-4d5c-a832-b4d6010c3283

Join Julia Jeffress Sadler as she takes us on an incredible adventure in Episode 200. Join us in today's episode as Paul and Barnabas confront a major controversy in Antioch about whether Gentiles need to follow Jewish customs to be saved. Travel with them to Jerusalem where they debate with the elders and apostles, leading to a pivotal decision that shapes the future of the early church. Discover how a simple letter can unite believers across diverse backgrounds in faith and fellowship. Sign up to receive Kids Bible in a Year devotionals in your inbox every weekday: https://www.kidsbibleinayear.com/ Get ready to experience the Bible designed specifically for children with the official KidsBibleinaYear.com podcast, led by Julia Jeffress Sadler. This captivating audio series presents the age-old wisdom of the Bible in an engaging format that will captivate your kids. Each episode Julia translates biblical teachings into real-life applications, making Bible comprehension a breeze for young minds. And if you want more Christian resources and content, you can download the Pray.com app. Pray.com is the digital destination for faith, offering over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime Bible stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible. For more resources on how to live a successful Christian life, visit Julia Jeffress Sadler's website at https://ptv.org/julia/. This episode is sponsored by Little Passports. Visit LittlePassports.com/blessed and use promo code BLESSED to receive 20% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: God, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them
[0:03] Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, just like he did to us. He
[0:07] Speaker 1: made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts
[0:10] Speaker 1: by faith. Acts 15, 8-9 Dear God, we are loved
[0:16] Speaker 1: and forgiven by you, not because we keep all the rules.
[0:20] Speaker 1: We are a part of your family, not because we
[0:22] Speaker 1: go to church. We will be in heaven with you forever,
[0:26] Speaker 1: not because of the good things we've done. We will
[0:29] Speaker 1: be yours because of what Jesus has done. You have
[0:33] Speaker 1: welcomed us into your family with open arms, and we
[0:36] Speaker 1: say thank you today. You deserve all the praise. In Jesus' name, amen.
[0:44] Speaker 2: Thank you for praying with us today. The Kids Bible
[0:47] Speaker 2: in a Year podcast is sponsored by Little Passports, delivering
[0:51] Speaker 2: monthly activity kit subscriptions that help kids explore the world,
[0:55] Speaker 2: cultivate curiosity, and discover new interests. With hands-on crafts and
[0:59] Speaker 2: activities in cooking, science, crafts, and more. All with a
[1:03] Speaker 2: unique cultural twist. Visit littlepassports.com slash blessed to learn more.
[1:08] Speaker 2: And save 20% with code blessed.
[1:18] Speaker 3: Accepting Gentile Believers In our last story, there became many
[1:23] Speaker 3: new believers in Iconium. Yet many wanted Paul and Barnabas killed.
[1:29] Speaker 3: Then there was a crowd at Lystra that thought Paul
[1:31] Speaker 3: and Barnabas were Hermes and Zeus. And then they stoned Paul,
[1:37] Speaker 3: but Paul survived. In this story, a council will decide
[1:42] Speaker 3: whether or not Gentiles must be circumcised in order to
[1:46] Speaker 3: be saved. As inspired by Acts.
[1:54] Speaker 1: Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Kids Bible in Ear podcast.
[1:58] Speaker 1: This is Julianne Thompson, guest hosting for Julia Jeffress Sadler,
[2:02] Speaker 1: and I am so glad you're here. Today, a big
[2:06] Speaker 1: argument is taking place. The Pharisees are back with their
[2:09] Speaker 1: laws and rules and judgment, but Paul, Barnabas, Peter, and
[2:14] Speaker 1: others are going to set them straight. Here we go.
[2:19] Speaker 3: Some Jewish teachers came to Antioch to teach believers. You
[2:24] Speaker 3: cannot be known as saved until you are circumcised, they taught.
[2:29] Speaker 3: Paul and Barnabas strongly disagreed with them and began to
[2:33] Speaker 3: argue with them. To settle this argument, Paul and Barnabas
[2:37] Speaker 3: went to the council of elders and apostles in Jerusalem
[2:40] Speaker 3: with this debate. On their way to the council, they
[2:43] Speaker 3: went through different regions and spoke of Gentile conversions that
[2:47] Speaker 3: have been happening, and the believers in these regions were
[2:50] Speaker 3: pleased by this news. Paul and Barnabas received a warm
[2:53] Speaker 3: welcome at the gates of Jerusalem from the church as
[2:56] Speaker 3: well as some apostles and elders for everything they have
[3:00] Speaker 3: done for the kingdom of God. Upon hearing this, some
[3:04] Speaker 3: of the Pharisees stood and proclaimed to the people, All
[3:08] Speaker 3: Gentiles must be circumcised, and they are also mandated to
[3:13] Speaker 3: obey Moses' law. The elders and apostles met together to
[3:18] Speaker 3: discuss this. Once they had been talking for a long time,
[3:22] Speaker 3: Peter rose and said to the council, I have heard
[3:25] Speaker 3: the gospel and believe it from the very beginning. God
[3:30] Speaker 3: chose Gentiles and Jews alike that they might accept his
[3:34] Speaker 3: spirit in their lives. God does not separate Jews and Gentiles.
[3:39] Speaker 3: So why do you try and defile God by dropping
[3:42] Speaker 3: a weight on these people that no one in our
[3:45] Speaker 3: history could ever carry? It is by the grace of
[3:48] Speaker 3: God that all can be saved, even the Gentiles. Everyone
[3:53] Speaker 3: got quiet and looked to Paul and Barnabas, who began
[3:57] Speaker 3: to speak of all the miracles God has done through them.
[4:02] Speaker 3: After Paul and Barnabas spoke, James followed by quoting the
[4:05] Speaker 3: words of Old Testament prophet Amos, whose words supported Paul
[4:11] Speaker 3: and Barnabas. He spoke of the prophecy of the Lord
[4:14] Speaker 3: coming and restoring.
[4:15] Speaker 2: All of mankind, even Gentiles.
[4:19] Speaker 1: I believe.
[4:19] Speaker 3: James continued, that it should not be any harder for
[4:23] Speaker 3: a Gentile to turn to God than it is for
[4:25] Speaker 3: anyone else. I think we should send them a letter
[4:28] Speaker 3: and instruct them to stay away from any food that
[4:31] Speaker 3: has been around idols, sexual sin, meat of animals who
[4:35] Speaker 3: have been suffocated, and all blood. Moses' law has now
[4:39] Speaker 3: been proclaimed in every city and has been read every Sabbath.
[4:45] Speaker 3: The council got together to make a decision about on
[4:47] Speaker 3: who to send to Antioch with the letter they had written.
[4:51] Speaker 3: They came to a decision to choose Silas and Judas,
[4:55] Speaker 3: leaders among the Jewish believers. The letter these two men
[4:58] Speaker 3: carried was to Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, encouraging
[5:04] Speaker 3: them in their faith and to instruct them to not
[5:07] Speaker 3: consume food poisoned by idols, sexual sins, meat from suffocated animals,
[5:12] Speaker 3: and blood. The letter said that if they did these things,
[5:17] Speaker 3: they would be well off in their lives. Once Silas
[5:20] Speaker 3: and Judas arrived in Antioch, they rallied all of the
[5:25] Speaker 3: people in the church to give them the letter. When
[5:28] Speaker 3: the people read the letter, they were thankful for the
[5:30] Speaker 3: encouragement that it brought to them. Judas and Silas spent
[5:34] Speaker 3: a little more time with the people before leaving them
[5:37] Speaker 3: with peace and blessings and went back to where they
[5:40] Speaker 3: were sent from, while Paul and Barnabas stayed back Okay,
[5:47] Speaker 3: in case you're.
[6:00] Speaker 1: A little confused, here's what's happening as the story opens.
[6:05] Speaker 1: Some Jews who had become Christians came to the church
[6:08] Speaker 1: in Antioch where all the action took place. The Holy
[6:12] Speaker 1: Spirit was filling hearts, and more and more Gentiles were
[6:15] Speaker 1: coming to Jesus daily. These Jews were finally starting to
[6:19] Speaker 1: get used to the Gentiles being accepted and loved by God.
[6:24] Speaker 1: They heard about the signs and miracles from Paul, Barnabas,
[6:27] Speaker 1: and other believers, and they agreed that the good news
[6:30] Speaker 1: of Jesus should be shared with both Jews and Gentiles.
[6:35] Speaker 1: But there was a catch. These Jews felt that in
[6:38] Speaker 1: order for the Gentiles to be in God's family, they
[6:42] Speaker 1: would have to keep the strict laws of Moses from
[6:44] Speaker 1: the Old Testament. They needed to do everything the Jews
[6:47] Speaker 1: had done for hundreds of years in order to earn
[6:51] Speaker 1: their place in God's family. This included things done to
[6:55] Speaker 1: their body, foods they ate, and much, much more. But
[6:59] Speaker 1: as we heard, Paul and Barnabas disagreed. Strongly. The fight
[7:04] Speaker 1: got so heated that they took this matter to the
[7:06] Speaker 1: council of elders and apostles in Jerusalem. In other words,
[7:11] Speaker 1: the people in charge. Make no mistake, this was a very,
[7:16] Speaker 1: very important issue of the faith and it needed to
[7:19] Speaker 1: be settled. Can a person be right with God by
[7:22] Speaker 1: keeping the law? Or are they made right with God
[7:25] Speaker 1: because they have faith in what Jesus did on the cross?
[7:28] Speaker 1: Do they make themselves right with God by obeying all
[7:32] Speaker 1: the rules? Or does Jesus make them right with God
[7:34] Speaker 1: by paying the price for their sins? Jesus does, of course.
[7:39] Speaker 1: We call this doctrine, by the way. Doctrine is a
[7:43] Speaker 1: set of beliefs about a subject. What we believe about
[7:46] Speaker 1: our faith, Christianity, comes from our doctrine. When you establish doctrine,
[7:52] Speaker 1: it's easier to make sure the things people are teaching
[7:55] Speaker 1: you about Christianity are actually true. If what they say
[8:00] Speaker 1: matches the doctrine, you're good. Peter and the disciples then
[8:04] Speaker 1: told the council all about the amazing miracles God did
[8:08] Speaker 1: by bringing these Gentiles into God's family and the church.
[8:12] Speaker 1: Peter and the disciples then told the council all about
[8:15] Speaker 1: the amazing miracles God did by bringing these Gentiles into
[8:19] Speaker 1: God's family and the church of Jerusalem rejoiced with them.
[8:24] Speaker 1: If God has accepted the Gentiles just as they are,
[8:27] Speaker 1: they argued, why shouldn't we? Then the Pharisees busted on
[8:31] Speaker 1: the scene and argued that while all that is great,
[8:35] Speaker 1: these Gentiles need to be following the law of the
[8:37] Speaker 1: Jewish custom. After a long discussion by the elders and apostles,
[8:44] Speaker 1: why they tried to figure out who was right and
[8:46] Speaker 1: who was wrong, Peter stepped up to the mic. He
[8:49] Speaker 1: explained how God has clearly chosen the Jews and Gentiles
[8:53] Speaker 1: to be in his forever family. So why should the
[8:56] Speaker 1: Gentiles have to change? and try their best to keep
[8:59] Speaker 1: all these laws, which no one could keep perfectly, by
[9:03] Speaker 1: the way, when God has not asked them to do that.
[9:07] Speaker 1: All they needed was to trust in Jesus for the
[9:10] Speaker 1: forgiveness of their sins and accept his free gift of salvation. Ultimately,
[9:16] Speaker 1: Peter and Paul won the debate and the Pharisees lost.
[9:21] Speaker 1: But everyone agreed on a few important Jewish laws in
[9:24] Speaker 1: order to keep their bodies, minds, and hearts pure and
[9:27] Speaker 1: clean before God. They wrote out in his letter and
[9:31] Speaker 1: delivered it to the Gentiles in the established churches, encouraging
[9:36] Speaker 1: them in their faith to remain pure before God. What
[9:41] Speaker 1: was decided in that council all those years ago is
[9:44] Speaker 1: so very important. Do you know why? All your life,
[9:48] Speaker 1: you will be tempted to think that you can work
[9:50] Speaker 1: your way toward God's love. You will think, if I
[9:54] Speaker 1: go to church more, have more patients, give more money
[9:57] Speaker 1: to missions, share my faith, then I will be more
[10:00] Speaker 1: accepted by God. Those are lies. The truth is you
[10:05] Speaker 1: are already fully, completely, and wholly accepted and loved by God.
[10:09] Speaker 1: In fact, regardless of what you do or don't do,
[10:13] Speaker 1: God cannot love you any more or any less than
[10:16] Speaker 1: he does right now. What Jesus did on the cross
[10:20] Speaker 1: paid for your sins once and for all. And from
[10:24] Speaker 1: that moment forward, you were forever made right with God.
[10:29] Speaker 1: So why do good things? We do things that are
[10:32] Speaker 1: right and holy to show our love to God. We
[10:36] Speaker 1: live in a way that pleases Him in order to
[10:39] Speaker 1: honor Him and respect Him. Instead of trying to earn
[10:43] Speaker 1: His love, we're simply showing Him ours. Well... As today's
[10:48] Speaker 1: story ends, Paul and Barnabas are parting ways. Sad, isn't it?
[10:54] Speaker 1: Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them, but Paul
[10:57] Speaker 1: did not. He remembered how John Mark had left them
[11:01] Speaker 1: in an earlier journey, and it seems that he didn't
[11:03] Speaker 1: trust him. Barnabas felt very strongly about this, and so
[11:08] Speaker 1: did Paul. The Bible doesn't tell us who was right
[11:11] Speaker 1: and who was wrong, but we do know that God
[11:15] Speaker 1: wasn't finished with either of them just yet. So Barnabas
[11:19] Speaker 1: and John Mark went one way and Paul with his
[11:21] Speaker 1: new sidekick Silas went another. More miracles, hardships, and persecution were.
[11:27] Speaker 2: Ahead of them all.
[11:29] Speaker 1: But as always, God would be with them. Thanks for listening.
[11:34] Speaker 1: Be sure to come back next time to hear a
[11:36] Speaker 1: very special letter that Paul wrote to the people of
[11:39] Speaker 1: Galatia and really to us. Remember, the Bible is the
[11:44] Speaker 1: best story ever told. It's God's story to you. And
[11:47] Speaker 1: it's all true. Did we add some sparkle to your day?
[11:51] Speaker 1: Let us know with a review and guide more families
[11:53] Speaker 1: to experience the same joy you felt. Thanks for listening
[11:57] Speaker 1: to Pray.com Kids Bible in a Year. For more inspiring
[12:00] Speaker 1: stories and wisdom to last a lifetime, download the Pray.com
[12:04] Speaker 1: app for free today. Thanks for listening to Kids Bible
[12:15] Speaker 1: in a Year. I want to invite our adult listeners
[12:18] Speaker 1: to check out my other show, Unapologetic, God's Truth on
[12:22] Speaker 1: Today's Topics. It's unfiltered, important, inspiring, and we have awesome
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[12:51] Speaker 1: you check out Unapologetic. Remember that you can tune in
[12:55] Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts and on Pray.com.

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