3 July 2026

In Acts 15, we read about the first council of the Church, the Council of Jerusalem. It dealt with a controversial issue. The first Christians were Jews. They had been circumcised. When Gentiles became Christians, shouldn’t they be circumcised too?

The Council had to determine whether circumcision was ‘of the substance of the faith’ as we say in the Kirk. To enforce such a practice may appear to be designating the Gentiles as second-class citizens, not fully Christian, not fully human, not fully made in the image of God?

The Council decided wisely that Gentiles who converted did not need to be circumcised. That in itself might have been sufficient to demonstrate how much the Church valued them. But there was more. The Gentiles for their part had to give something too! They had to refrain from worshipping in pagan temples.

Each party had to give and to receive and so grace was evident in the way the  Council introduced these compromises to resolve a significant problem in its development. The Kirk has done this too with divorce, women ‘s ministry and, more recently, ministers in same-sex marriages.

Summarising the decision at the Council, Peter says, ‘On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.’ It was, after all, the acknowledgement that God had given the Gentiles the Holy Spirit too which saved the day. His love was demonstrably unconditional.