Acts 15:1-2
“Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them.”
Circumcision… I know you’re wondering, “What the heck? Where are you going with this?”
Jesus, just Jesus, is enough. We so often add to Jesus, just like the Pharisees. The Pharisees loved the law. They clung to the law of Moses, every last word of it they held so tight to because of the power it gave them. What we so often miss is how Jesus fulfilled the law. He didn’t just take care of some of it… he fulfilled all of it.
Clinging to the law, putting just about anything above Jesus kills the new covenant. Why is it that we can so easily add to Jesus. We add to him as if he’s just not enough, and that’s so far from the truth. It’s Jesus plus… nothing. His grace is free and the price he paid was costly. He covers all our inequity and invites us to grow closer to the father through him. That’s it.
We get wrapped up in so much side junk, junk the Pharisees loved to throw out. We may not make a big fuss about circumcision, but that was a huge argument, back during Paul’s ministry. People would say, “Ohh, oh, oh you can’t come to the father unless you’re circumcised… you do know that right? It’s the law! You can’t be saved otherwise.”
What did that lead to? It led to Paul and Barnabas fiercely protesting. These people were, in a sense, diminishing the power of Jesus. To them, Jesus obviously wasn’t enough if circumcision HAD to happen in order for someone to be saved. But no, Jesus is enough. Just Jesus, just the gospel, just the power of his resurrection, is enough for you and me. Do you believe it?
It’s easy for us to add to Jesus. We add pieces of the law or our own thoughts and perceptions, kind of like the Pharisees, but at the core it’s purely Jesus, just Jesus, that we need. Take time to really think about your relationship with Jesus. When you think of all Jesus did for you to have eternal life, do you ever add on extras, add on things you also have to do to be fully saved, or do you fully believe that through Jesus, just Jesus, you are saved, redeemed, and holy in God’s eyes? Sit with that today.