The ONE Thing The C-hurch MUST Get Right
The truth that Gentiles are in fact saved from the penalty of sin/given the gift of everlasting life through faith in Christ is fully affirmed by the Jerusalem Council. IOW: Gentiles have no need to submit to OT rituals and/or to live under the Mosaic Law (before or after they trust in Christ and are given the gift of E-Life).
However the Council DID ask Gentile converts to avoid several lifestyle areas
that would have so turned off Jewish believers that fellowship with them
would have been essentially impossible. The lesson for us: truly spiritual believers make it a point to avoid needlessly offending other Christians by limiting certain behaviors/actions in agape love
Take This To Heart
The Bottom Line
The grace of God is not and cannot be earned or deserved. Good works are the fruit/effect of salvation, but they are not the root/cause of salvation. Eph 2:8-10
“I do not nullify the grace of God for if righteousness could be earned by the Law (or any other set of rules/regulations) then Christ died needlessly!” Galatians 2:20