For May 6, 2007 the 5th Sunday of Easter has the following three readings: Acts 11:1-18 (Peter on the roof); Revelation 21:1-7 (new heaven, new earth) and John 16:12-22 (the Spirit of truth). Our focus is Acts 11:8 as Peter refuses the command of the Lord to eat unclean meat with the words, “Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.”

Part of the reason why there are so many Christian denominations is because of the apparent contradictions in the Bible. Of course, there are no real contradictions in the Bible. Yet at first reading it appears that the God Who told His people during Old Testament times not to eat unclean meat is contradicting Himself when he commands Peter to eat that same food. Most of these apparent theological contradictions are easily resolved by means of the distinctions between Law and Gospel.

What we have here is the critical distinction between the old and new covenants. Attached to the old covenant were the ceremonial laws. These laws were unlike any similar laws found in other religions. For in other religions, the ceremonial laws were to be done to get right with their false god. However, the Biblical ceremonial laws were instead proposed by the only true God as a reminder of the depth of sin on the part of each human being and the impossibility of getting right with God by works.

Instead, the ceremonial laws pointed forward to the need of a Savior Who would alone take care of sin by taking upon Himself the curse of the Law so that we would not need to go to hell. In light of the fact that the Christ has not only come but successfully finished His mission, there is no longer any need to follow the ceremonial laws because our sins have been forgiven!

Thus, needing to worship on the 7th day, sacrificing animals or the requirement for 8-day old males to be circumcised are all now abolished. The preaching of law to be directed to the congregational members is how often each of us continue to insist on following ceremonies or habits that are not commanded by God. Christ has freed us from any burden that needed to be fulfilled beyond what Christ has done. The pastor who knows his congregation will be able to apply both the Law and Gospel appropriately.