The gospel of Jesus had been making huge strides in its forward momentum.
But the brakes are jammed on as the church hits a theological controversy - What is the nature of the gospel? In other words, how is someone actually saved?
A group of Jewish Christians taught that outsiders had to accept Jewish religion first, in order to avail of salvation in Jesus. It may have sounded plausible, but this was a direct assault on the graciousness of the gospel - a person is saved by faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone.
Far from being a first-century AD problem, the same blockage to our understanding of the gospel plagues the contemporary churches. Even as evangelicals, we may unwittingly place barriers in front of people - hoops to jump through - before they come to Christ for salvation.
Hear why this is and how we may avoid these errors in this sermon.
MAIN TEXTActs 15:1-21
SPEAKERDavid Varney, Pastor Foundation Church Belfast
FOUNDATION CHURCH BELFASTEvery Sunday 10:30am - 2d Knockwood Crescent, Belfast, BT5 6GE
We are part of the Advance Movement of churches and the wider Newfrontiers family.