June 6 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

The truth of the gospel is that we are all sinners and we must all be saved by grace. Otherwise we cannot be saved. As soon as we say or think that we are better than someone else, we are not "acting in line with the truth of the gospel."

The apostle Peter ("Cephas," as Paul always calls him) was having dinner with his friends from Jerusalem. They were sitting at their own little table, eating their own kosher foods. That made them feel very much at home. Eating with non-Jewish people was still difficult for the Jewish Christians. It went against everything their fathers and mothers had taught them for two thousand years. Eating the foods that the Gentiles themselves ate was even more difficult. So these Jewish friends huddled together—for old times' sake and because they did not want to rock the boat.

Peter "stood condemned," and Paul told him so. Either you believe the gospel of grace, or you try to be justified before God by foods and works and Old Testament rites. You cannot accept the Christian gospel, which puts all people on the same level, and then act as if you belong to God's elite.

With one stroke the gospel removed all distinctions we make between good and bad people; we are all under sin. And salvation is only by grace. There just isn't any other way.

In our relationships to fellow believers, we must make allowances for differences in behavior, and we must tolerate different opinions about certain matters. But if we know what it means to be saved by grace, we will raise our voices loudly against any practice or teaching that would undercut the gospel.

All pride and prejudice is gone. We must look at people and live with people in terms of the gospel of grace. If we bring back even the least bit of the old distinctions, we are not "acting in line with the truth of the gospel."

REFLECTIONS

What "distinctions" between people do we sometimes introduce in our relationships with other Christians?

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.