FRIDAY, MAY 27
/Friday, May 27, 2022
God Never Forgot the Gentiles
Acts 15: 8 – 11 (NLT)
God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. 10 So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? 11 We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”
According to Genesis 12: 1 – 3, what was God’s purpose for calling Abraham to follow him?
How were the Israelites to treat their gentile (alien) neighbors and why? How might this relate to Israel being a blessing to the world? (Exodus 20: 10, 22: 21; Deuteronomy 10: 17-19; 24: 14, 17-21; 26:12)
Who were to be God’s witnesses, and were they effective?
READ: Isaiah 43: 1, 10 – 12
What did the prophets say would happen to the pagans who lived around Israel?
READ: Isaiah 66: 18 – 20; Micah 4: 1 - 3; Zechariah 8: 23
What role are Jesus’ followers to have in completing God’s witness to the ends of the earth? READ: Acts 1: 1 – 8
Why do you think God’s acceptance of Gentiles was difficult for some Jews to accept? Is this why Paul’s teachings angered some of the Jews in Antioch Pisidia?