Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade.
Both draw attention to the issue of sanctity of life and our nations struggle to carry out its most fundamental principle: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The cause of the struggle is our own sinfulness. We judge some people to be superior to others. We judge the rights of some to be more important than others. No law will fix this. We need grace.
In the days of Christ, Jews and Gentiles did not treat each other as equal. Both groups claimed superiority. This was brought out once Cornelius and his household were saved. Certainly, a Gentile would not be given the same salvation the Jew received? That was the question on the table at the council of Jerusalem.
After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” (Acts 15:7-11 NIV)
God does not discriminate. Everyone is of equal value to Him and He extends His grace to all. That changed Peter. And it can change us.
