Jewish people contend with Peter in Jerusalem for associating with Gentiles.

Acts 11:1-3

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“Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” Acts 11:1-3

The grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ was clearly with Peter and the Apostles but not so much with those upholding the laws of Judaism. Grace and mercy were ruined by those who said Gentiles had no right to associate and eat with the Jewish people. Those upholding the need to be circumcised, over the grace of Christ Jesus, were very unmerciful and disrespectful to those who didn’t have their foreskin cut off. In a sense, they were trying to make the born-again experience about the Jewish culture and less about serving God through Jesus Christ. Needless to say, “those of the circumcision” were stumbling blocks, barriers, and hinderers of the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, with the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ living through Peter and the Apostles, the testimony of Jesus reached into the Jewish population, reached into to the Gentile regions all around, and eventually to all seven continents around the world. The message of Jesus Christ, that the Apostles taught, was a simple one, serving God came by faith in Jesus Christ, nothing else, and not through the laws of Judaism.

Our sanctification is a process of removing the attitudes that prevent the mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus from being available to others. Holiness enables us to put aside ungracious and unmerciful behaviors and words. In that Holiness, we are able to present Jesus to others. How can the Gospel of Christ be given to others when we are throwing stones of criticism, scrutiny, despise, and self-righteousness at others? “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord…” Hebrews 12:14

We live in a world where love has gone cold and the mercy and grace of Jesus is next to non-existent. Hostile attitudes of non-acceptance abound in today’s culture because they use social disapproval within a process of behavioral modification to change what people speak and do. They use social approval, esteem, dignity, and respect for those who speak and do according to the will of the community culture. Behavioral modification is used to conform people to welcome the beast that gives what to speak, do, think, and feel.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11