Acts 15:11 AMP
“But we believe that we are saved through the [precious, undeserved] grace of the Lord Jesus [which makes us free of the guilt of sin and grants us eternal life], in just the same way as they are.”
God’s wisdom in dealing with various issues relating to His Kingdom’s extension is beyond comprehension. From the day John the Baptist declared in the wilderness, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mat 3:2 ESV), to the Lord Jesus taking it up from John to preach, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mar 1:15 NKJV), the powerful influence of God’s Kingdom on mankind has never ceased. Notice, while Jesus Christ said the exact things that John had preached, He added a crucial point by associating the requirement to “believe in the gospel”—upon repentance—to receipt of or entrance into God’s Kingdom.
Christ revealed the strong bond between God’s Kingdom and the gospel—the good news of the life and ministry of the Messiah. In other words, the gist of God’s Kingdom message is the gospel of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the message that Peter preached when the Kingdom influence crossed over to the Gentile world (Act 10:34-43). A few years later, certain men started to teach another message from the gospel-centred Kingdom message and said, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Act 15:1 NKJV). Immediately, Paul and Barnabas were up in arms with that teaching.
When the Apostles, elders, and Pharisees convened in a heated meeting in Jerusalem to consider that matter, the Spirit of God used Peter to put the contention to rest. Referring in part to his experience in Cornelius’ house, Peter said, “…we believe that we [Jews] are saved through the [precious, undeserved] grace of the Lord Jesus [which makes us free of the guilt of sin and grants us eternal life], in just the same way as they [Gentiles] are”, as in our text. Hallelujah! In God’s wisdom, He took Peter—in advance-through an experience that would later help clear the way for the “gospel” message of the Kingdom to advance, untainted. Oh, praise God for “the [precious, undeserved] grace of the Lord Jesus” by which we are saved!
Pst. Emmanuel