Preserving the Gospel
Acts 15:1-29
Introduction
This chapter comes right in the middle of Acts . . . in some ways, the middle of the Bible. Understanding this chapter is absolutely crucial for understanding the gospel, how the Bible fits together, and how we as Christians are supposed to live today.
We have seen how step by step the Gentiles had been brought into the church. At first there were isolated cases, like the conversion of the African official [Acts 8] and the Roman centurion (Acts 10-11).
Then began the movement of the Spirit in Syrian Antioch (Acts 11-12) which resulted in the first multi-ethnic church (Acts 13:1). As a result, the Antiochan church launched the first strategic mission to the Gentile when it sent Saul and Barnabus out as missionaries (Acts 13:3).
Gradually the (originally) Jewish Christian church came to see the Lord’s hand in the inclusion of the “nations” into the church. It was widely understood that the Gentiles were also capable of “repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18). Inevitably, however, a controversy arose about how the new Gentile converts were to be incorporated into the church.
Acts 15:1-29
But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” [2] And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. [3] So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. [4] When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. [5] But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
[6] The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. [7] And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. [8] And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, [9] and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. [10] Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? [11] But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
[12] And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. [13] After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. [14] Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. [15] And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, [16] ” ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, [17] that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things [18] known from of old.’
[19] Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, [20] but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. [21] For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
[22] Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, [23] with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. [24] Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, [25] it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, [26] men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. [27] We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. [28] For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: [29] that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
1. The Legalistic Challenge to Salvation (15:1-5)
Winston Churchill once recounted something he had seen as a young man. He talked about being by a lake once day when a family came for a picnic. As the day went on and everyone was having fun, the 5 year old son fell into the lake.
Unfortunately, none of the family could swim and looked on in horror as the boy bobbed up and down in the water, about to drown. Thankfully, though another man near the lake saw what was happening, and at great risk to himself, jumped into the lake wearing all of his clothes.
He managed to reach the child and bring him ashore. Instead of being forever grateful, when the man handed the child back to the mother she snapped at the stranger, “Where’s his hat?” Although she should have been grateful for the rescue of his son, she only found something to complain about!
Such is the case in the first century. Many Gentiles are being converted, but some of the Jewish believers didn’t rejoice, they only complained. However their complaint was not just the fruit of a bad attitude, but something far worse.
Luke makes the issue clear. “Some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’”
There was a group of Jewish men who traveled from Judea to Antioch and began teaching that the Christians there – thought they had already believed in Jesus – could not be saved unless they were circumcised and in compliance with the law of Moses.
This group would later be called Judaizers. You see these Judaizers believed that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. Therefore, no one could really follow Jesus without becoming a Jew.
It might be tempting to see this as a fear about ethnic identity. Though most of the early converts to Christianity were Jews, now the scene has shifted. More and more Gentiles are becoming Christians. Even the center of Christianity itself is shifting from Jerusalem to Antioch.
And we may be tempted to think that these Jews are concerned that their ethnic identity will become diluted with this influx of Gentiles. And that may have been a part of what’s going on here. But the core issue is much larger than that; it is more serious than that.
The central issue comes down to this – who is supreme, Moses or Jesus? You see the Judaizers were elevating the law of Moses above Jesus. Jesus could be accepted as the Messiah by anyone, but only if that group committed to obeying the laws of Mosaic Covenant. The laws dealing with food, circumcision, the temple, all of it.
So this wasn’t some ivory tower theological debate. No, what do they say? ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ Salvation itself was at stake here. The issue was this: is Christ enough? You see, they weren’t denying God’s grace in salvation. They were just adding to it.
But the gospel says ‘salvation comes by Christ alone.’ The Bible says that in order to be in right relationship to God, you need to be perfectly righteousness. That’s a problem because as human beings, we are not righteous, we’re sinful beings. And because we have sinned, we deserve to be punished.
So how do we get to God? Through Christ. Christ lived a life of perfect righteousness – a life we could not live. More than that, he died under the wrath of God for sinners. He took the punishment we deserve for our sins.
So, the Bible says when we look to him in faith. When we acknowledge that we cannot get to God on our own, but trust in the righteous life and atoning death of Christ on our behalf, we are saved from God’s wrath.
God considers Christ’s righteousness our righteousness, and he considers the punishment we deserve fulfilled through the death of Christ. So, Christ has done it all!
But these people were denying that. They didn’t believe Jesus fully accomplished salvation. They taught that believers must still contribute something to their redemption. You must believe in Jesus and follow the law of Moses to be saved.
Although, it is usually not the law of Moses, Christians often tend to do the same thing. It is almost our default setting. We want to add something to the work of Christ. Whether it’s a certain standard of holiness, or giving a certain amount of money, or very often not doing certain things – “we don’t drink, smoke, or chew, or go with girls that do.”
Whatever it is, we have to avoid the deadly temptation to add something to the finished work of Christ. Because once we do we have undermined the gospel itself.
2. The Divine Evidence for Salvation (15:6-18]
The stage has been set with the problem of the Judaizers. A problem that has already caused much grief and confusion.
Now Luke says, “The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.” And according to Luke there was much debate about the issue. Then in the end, four people stand before the entire group and weigh in on the matter.
2.1. God’s Spirit Came (15:6-11)
Peter stands up and says, you know that God moved dramatically to send me witness to Gentiles. “God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.”
Before Melinda and I started dating, my college roommate once faked an email from another girl that I was interested in. My mouth was hanging open at what the email was saying. I fell for it! But then my friend showed me a way to find a digital seal that indicated the real user id of any email and couldn’t be faked. I wasn’t going to fall for that again!
And here Peter is saying, look – uncircumcised Gentiles received the Holy Spirit. They received the promised blessing of the Messiah without becoming Jews. The Holy Spirit was God’s own seal of possession. Things guys couldn’t fake being saved – God authenticated their professions of faith by giving them the Spirit.
And he goes on and says, “therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? [11] But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
Peter says, ‘if we as Jews couldn’t even keep the law like we should have, why in the world would we want to burden the Gentiles with it?’
2.2. God’s Power Affirmed (15:12)
Now, Paul and Barnabas stand and begin to explain what they have seen. Specifically, we are told, “all the assembly . . . listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.”
Not only did the Gentiles receive the sign and seal of their salvation through the Holy Spirit being poured out upon them. But God also demonstrated his power through Paul and Barnabas through signs and wonders – affirming his blessing on their efforts.
From their experience, it should have been clear that God was at work. More than that, though, through these miraculous workings, they had essentially received God’s stamp of approval. That they were fulfilling God’s will, and not committing a massive error by failing to tell the Gentiles to keep the law.
2.3. God’s Word Proclaimed (15:13-18]
Finally, James himself speaks. James who was the half-brother of Jesus (born to Mary and Joseph after Jesus was born) had risen to become something of a chief leader in the Church at Jerusalem. James has never left Jerusalem. He’s not been involved with mission work to the Gentiles. He would have been the best hope he Judiazers had someone being sympathetic to their position.
And get begins by referring to Peter by his given Jewish name, Simeon. It’s a beautiful touch. He says, “Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name.” That was it – those listening would have known the whole thing was over.
Why? Because James just took precious language from the Old Testament about Israel – that they were the fruit of God making a people his own name – and applying it to Gentiles. Amos 9 is about the rebuilding of the David dynasty.
“’ I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, [17] that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things”
James says, we know that’s been fulfilled in Christ and here God says when it happens that many Gentiles will turn to God as Gentiles, not proselytes to Judaism. What we see happening as been God’s plan all along – a plan he has revealed through his word.
And so the judgment is this – “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,” (Acts 15:19).
This is the end of the matter then – three nails in the coffin of the Judaizer’s error of legalism.
3. The Loving Fellowship of Salvation (15:19-35)
Now, if we’ve been paying attention to the chapter up to this point, and if we have rightly understood what has been taking place, and through Luke, what God wants us to understand, then there is a real chance that we can get really confused when we hit verse 20.
Look at what the texts says, “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, [20] but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.”
It looks like James is speaking out of both sides of his mouth – ‘Look, we shouldn’t trouble the Gentiles with the law of Moses, but they should keep some of the laws.’
In order to understand what is going on here, we need to understand what these things are that James asks the Gentiles to abstain from.
First, things polluted by idols. Specifically, he got in mind here, meat that’s been offered to idols in pagan worship. In the first century, there were pagan temples around town than bars in Bay City. And of course, the people that worshipped there would, among other things, offer meat sacrifices.
Now the false god is obviously not eating the meat, so the priests would then take it to the market and sell it cheap. Even though it was just meat, it was offensive to many Jews who wouldn’t touch it.
It’d be like driving out of here and heading down Euclid and seeing a sign for gas at $1 a gallon. You pull in and find out its Mormons, or JW’s or some other false church selling the gas. Some would simply buy the gas and think nothing of it; after all it’s just gas! But others would be worried about buying there because they would feel like they were supporting the false church.
Next, James says they should abstain from sexual immorality. Although this is a catch all phrase, it’s likely that something specific is in mind here. Not what we usually think of in terms of sexual immorality – adultery, homosexuality, etc. It dealt more with the precise regulations concerning marriage among families. It seems to be the case because all of this is what we call adiaphora – second issues or matters of indifference.
Finally, he talks about abstaining from what’s been strangled and from blood. These two are related in that they both speak to how food is prepared. The kosher laws of Israel said that meat had to have the blood drained out of it before eating. So, no rare steaks.
So what’s all this about? James says, “For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
So here is what James and the others are saying. They’re saying, look it’s not necessary for Gentiles to convert to Judaism in order to be saved. The pointed to Christ, and now that he has come, the law is no longer binding over the lives of God’s people.
However, there are synagogues all over the Roman Empire. And in those synagogues the law has been preached every sabbath. And even those Jews who are now Christians, though they need keep the law of salvation will likely still live according to it because of their culture. It’s how they’ve been raised.
And as long as they do not think it makes them better than other Gentiles who don’t keep the law, or they think their law-keeping somehow earns favor with God, then it’s no problem. It’s just culture.
But that culture is going to make it difficult for them to have fellowship with Gentiles. Because when the Gentiles show up with their meat that’s been bought as cheap leftover from the pagan temple down the street, or the slab of beef that’s been cooked with the blood in, the Jewish Christians are going to get sick and not be able to sit next to you.
Therefore, you Gentile brothers – though you are free from the law – we are asking you to lovingly give up your freedom so as to maintain a spirit of unity and experience true fellowship with your Jewish Christians brothers and sisters.
And more than an interesting moment from church history, there is an enduring spiritual principle there. As Christians, we should never use our freedom in Christ in such a way that it causes a brother to stumble.
The only time we shouldn’t go along with something is if the issue compromises the gospel itself.
Conclusion
In the end, then, here was the verdict –
Don’t move on the essentials. When it comes to the core doctrines of the Christians faith, when it comes to the gospel – don’t budge.
Be flexible on everything else. Think about whether or not what you do will help create fellowship, or tear it apart.
