Acts 15:1-3
1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren.
It is fallen human nature to add our works to the grace of salvation. Here the law's ritual of circumcision was made essential for salvation, when that was but an outward sign of the heart's inner cleansing that God was concerned with. The question became a dispute, and the disciples had to appeal to the apostles and elders for resolution. So today those who argue against the doctrines of grace add our effort of a dead will assumed to be able to choose apart from God's grace, but we have the reformation's creeds based on examinations of scripture to stand on. But real joy comes from those God saves along the way.
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