Unity
- Cornerstone Church
- Aug 9
- 4 min read
The Book of James will finish with its instructions on endurance and Christian living before going on in the narrative in the Book of Acts. A controversy over justification breaks out due to a divisive false teaching. Justification is a word that means how a person is justified, or made right, before God. In other words, you might have heard it described as how someone is “saved.” A person can be made right, justified before God and is therefore saved from the wrath of God against sin. This week’s readings in Acts and Galatians deal primarily with this question. A group of Jews from the circumcision party went to the primarily gentile, non-jewish, church in Antioch proclaiming additional requirements for gentiles to be saved or justified before God based on the Old Testament Law. Paul and Barnabas, who were leaders at Antioch, confront them, and then go to their Elders in the church in Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas’s focus was maintaining the unity of the Church in the doctrine of salvation through faith in Christ alone, rooting out false teaching, and that is the Big Picture.
Each week, as you take in the Bible, find some friends to talk it out. You can follow this simple guide to help. First, R.E.A.D. and P.R.A.Y. on your own. Then, meet with friends to share what you've learned.
R - Repeated words
E - Examine and mark
A - Ask what you learn about God
D - Do if there is anything to do
P - Praise
R - Repent
A - Ask
Week 33
Bible Reading Plan
Daily Prayer Plan
START IT.
We're reading the Bible together in 2025 to see how Love Shows Up from the Old Testament and into the New Testament. How do we understand so many stories and lessons through the entire Bible while trying to stick to the "sacred timeline"? The answer is the big picture. If we get the big picture, we get the story the Bible is trying to tell. From Sunday's message or The Big Picture Bible Reading Plan this week in the book of James, Acts and Galatians, what is impacting you the most? How has praying daily through the Psalms impacted you? Was there a word, phrase, Bible verse, or theme that impacted you?
STUDY IT.
Read Acts 15:1-2 and Galatians 1:6-9. What was the false teaching?
Read Galatians 2:5 and Acts 15:24. Why was Paul motivated to confront these false teachers and bring it to the Church they came from at Jerusalem?
Read Galatians 2:12. Why did Cephas/Peter revert to separating himself after the matter was settled in Acts 15:1-22?
Read Galatians 2:15-16. How is Paul comparing “life like a Jew” and “life like a Gentile” in this passage? How is “living like a Jew” or returning to justification by the law a contradiction to the Gospel?
Read Galatians 3:5-9. How are Christians today God’s faithfulness to His promise to Abraham? Read Galatians 3:19-22. How did the law point to the necessity of Christ?
SHARE IT.
Read James 5:8-9. What is the reason given for not complaining about other Christians? Do you think about Jesus “standing at the door” or returning soon?
Read James 5:9, 20. What is different about complaining and turning someone back? Do you struggle with complaining instead of going to other Christians?
Read James 5:16,19-20. What part do Christians play in each others’ lives when it comes to accountability? How is your worship connected to your efforts at unity and truth? (Hint: Matthew 5:21-24)
Read Acts 15:1-2, Galatians 2:11. Why is confronting error actually a more loving road to health and unity in the church? (Hint: Acts 15:24-25 and Galatians 1:6-9)
Do you struggle with confrontation even if you know it needs to happen? How did Paul confront the false teachers, Elders at Jerusalem, and Cephas? (Hint: Galatians 2:11)
FINAL THOUGHT
The Church comes from the Greek word “ekklesia,” that means “called out ones.” Believers have been called out by God from their spiritually dead state. This might make you think of how the sheep know the Master’s voice and follow Him (John 10:27-28). This is described as a “high calling” in Ephesians 4:1. Christians are co-heirs with Christ and will one day judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3). God has called you out of the futility of mind, and you had no hope of making yourself righteous according to the law. The law only served to show you a greater salvation in Christ. The Church is also called the “body of Christ” and that each member is being built up together with different functions, but all are equal in the body. When one part of the body suffers the whole body suffers with it, and when one part of the body is honored the whole body rejoices with it (1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 27-28). Believers are called to make “every effort” to maintain unity due to their high calling and love for God’s commands. Due to Christ having priority in our lives, the unity of Christ’s body must have priority in our lives.
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