We Are Mirrors

“But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” — Acts 15:11

The conflict over circumcision and the Jerusalem Council were some of the biggest events in church history and a turning point.  Out of this gathering came the great declaration from Peter on salvation by grace.

Scholars believe this council and conflict occurred twenty years after Christ’s ascension. It took this length of time preaching, teaching, trials, prison, and persecution to conclude that one’s salvation was not based on laws and rituals or merit through works but grace alone.  All people are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The conflict that arose about admission into the early church was between converted Jews, circumcised as Old Testament believers, and the transition with the newer Gentile believers.  Many of the converted Jews felt circumcision was necessary — the OT Laws were at the heart of the argument — therefore, the works within the Law lead to forgiveness by God and salvation granted. Through the testimony of Peter and Paul, and Barnabas’ testimony too on God’s works of wonders they experienced, the council was reminded that it was Christ and Christ alone who saved the Gentiles, i.e., all of us.  All people are saved across all ethnic identities by the grace of Jesus Christ. James then supported Peter’s declaration of turning away from the burden of ritual and law as the means for salvation.

Peter’s timeless declaration in verse 11, ending with, “… we shall be saved in the same manner as they,” are the last words of Peter recorded in the book of Acts.  He left us with an eternal truth that we are saved through faith by grace alone. We are never outside Jesus Christ’s grace. Grace brings us back to Him when we fail. Grace is unmerited favor and without prejudice. It is never ending. Grace is greater than any sin we pursue. Grace is a gift. A gift Peter and Paul experienced.

Jesus Christ gave grace to these two men amid their wretchedness. They appeared unlovable at times in their lives. What comes to mind regarding Peter’s declaration of grace and Paul’s witness of God’s wonders is C.S. Lewis’s thoughts on grace and its life-changing transformation in his book The Four Loves.

Lewis thinks God gave each of us Divine Gift-love, which enables us to love what does not naturally attract us.  Lewis makes the brilliant point that God is hidden in these charitable acts to those who are not the object of our desires.  This unknowable hidden love is deliverance by grace.  Grace transforms us from those disparaging views that humanity is worthless and does not possess lovable virtues. The gift of grace gives us the ability to see our self-worth and attractiveness as human beings, and others who are not the object of our love or charity.  Lewis writes, "We are mirrors whose brightness, if we are bright, is wholly derived from the sun that shines on us."[1] Grace brings about joy in accepting not only who we are, but that there is also a need for Jesus Christ and His acts of grace in our lives.

-Dan Nickel

[1]C.S.Lewis, The Four Loves [New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,1960], 1