It’s so simple. Or is it complicated?

But (Naaman’s) officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’”
2 Kings 5:13

While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Acts 15:1

We have a knack for making things more complicated than they really are. Don’t we? Don’t smoke. Don’t drink. Don’t chew. Don’t date girls who do. Pray 42 times a day. Attend church every week and if you really want to show you’re dedicated, go on Sunday night and Wednesday night.  Jump through as many hoops as you can to try to somehow possibly earn the affections of the Divine. Because it’s only then that you will find healing. Only then will you find grace. I think it’s pretty easy to relate to the way Naaman felt – there has to be something I can do to make God notice me and heal me. It can’t be as simple as merely taking a bath in a dirty river. And the Judaizers? Don’t get me started. It’s pretty easy to sit back and judge other believers, saying “Well, you can’t really be a Christian if you do this, this, or this. You can only be a true Christian if you act this certain way, do this certain thing, and talk this certain speech.”

Peter shatters that line of thinking. In one sentence, he reminds us of the only thing we need:

“We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”
Peter
Acts 15:11

It’s that simple. Why do we try to make it so complicated?