3307.— Instruction to the Early Christians
By W. B.
From Acts 15:21 it does not seem that it was necessary to instruct the people concerning things strangled and blood on account of the Jews' reading Moses. In verse 24 it says that certain ones were subverting them by commanding them to keep the law. W. B. "Things strangled" and blood were among the "necessary things" prohibited. They were considered degrading and unwholesome. Certain ones who were subverting the early converts, were commanding them to keep the law as a means of justification from sin. If man can, by his works, justify himself, then Christ died in vain. The epistles to the Romans and Galatians met this wrong teaching. There is no justification in the keeping of the law, and those who taught it subverted the Gospel. The Christian obeys God not to be justified, but because he is justified.