Now that the equality of everyone’s status of salvation by grace through faith has been established, whether Jew or Gentile, does that settle everything in the Acts 15 controversy? With this biblical teaching on justification reinforced, can the church function as it should with that knowledge alone? If that were the case, then the book of Galatians could have concluded at the end of ch.3 with this passage—Gal. 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
As we know the book of Galatians does not end there, but continues on with teaching about how that oneness or equality is directly related to the freedom from the Mosaic law that comes through faith in Christ. However, that oneness in Christ and that freedom from the law of Moses has an important intention according to Gal. 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
So Christ has secured this love-enabling freedom and Christ also has become the prototype of Christian living according to Php. 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
It’s texts like these that make a self-centered Christian an oxymoron. That’s because love, by definition, puts others ahead of ourselves and this is essentially the basis of the instructions that are given to the Gentiles in Acts 15:19-29.