Paul and Barnabas went to Antioch and some Jewish men, who believed in Jesus as their Savior, came from Jerusalem.  They touched off a debate that needed some resolution.  Paul and Barnabas then went with other believers from Antioch to Jerusalem.
(Acts 15:1-3)
There was a glad reunion with believers in Jerusalem.  Paul and Barnabas shared their experiences of the two years that the first missionary journey covered “and they reported all that God had done with them.”  (Acts 15:4)

What had God done with them?
(NASB) Acts 14:27 “…He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.”

How did some believing Jewish Pharisees react to this news?
(NASB) Acts 15: “But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.’”

Consider their “side”:
They had been schooled from early childhood in the Law of Moses.  This Law was their heritage as God’s chosen people.  Moses and all the Prophets point to Messiah in their writings…and these Pharisees believed Jesus to be the Messiah, the Anointed One of God.

Consider the words of Scripture:
(NASB) Habakkuk 2:4 “…But the righteous will live by his faith.” 

(NIV) Romans 1:16-17 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.  17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”

Paraphrasing Galatians 3:11, it is evident that no one is declared to be righteous and brought into right standing with the living God through the Law of Moses.  The Scripture states that the person in right standing with God will live by faith and because of his faith he is declared righteous and in right standing before God…each person who lives by faith in the Lord Jesus will live ~ forever in the presence of Almighty God.

Upon what do you really depend to save you for all eternity?  Is it a spouse or your parent’s faith?  That won’t make the grade from God’s viewpoint.  It is your faith in the Lord Jesus; it is your trust in Jesus as your Savior, which saves you.

God has opened the door of faith to all who will acknowledge and receive Jesus as their Savior.  It is not dependent on what you do or have done.  It is dependent on what Jesus did on the cross…for you…He died in your place and mine.  He took the punishment our sins deserve.

God opened the door for faith in His only begotten Son Jesus.  He did all the work and paid the full price – that is the door God has opened for you and me.  Have you received that priceless gift and stepped through that door of faith?