Acts 15:4-12
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
[READING: Acts 15:1-12]
1 Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue. 3 Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. 4 When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. 5 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.” 6 The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter. 7 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; 9 and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 10 “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” 12 All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
[PRAYER]
[CONTEXT] Salvation in the name of Jesus Christ came to the Jewish people in Acts 2. Salvation in the name of Jesus came to the Samaritan people in Acts 8. Salvation came to the Gentile people in Acts 10. And salvation always came by faith alone in Jesus Christ.
Salvation by faith alone in Jesus Christ was the message embraced by Christians in the Jerusalem church and the church in Antioch.
Salvation by faith alone in Jesus Christ was the message embraced by people on the Island of Cyprus and in the cities and towns of Perga, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe on Paul and Barnabas’ first missionary journey.
Only Jesus lived perfectly before God.
Only Jesus died to pay the price for our sins.
Only Jesus rose from the dead proving that all who trust in Him are made right with God.
That’s why Jesus is the only worthy object of our faith.
That’s why faith must be in Him alone.
But in Acts 15 some Pharisaical brothers came down from Jerusalem and said that salvation wasn’t by faith alone.
They said that anyone who would be saved by faith in Jesus must also be circumcised according to the custom of Moses (v. 1).
They said that anyone who would be saved by faith must observe the Law of Moses (v. 5).
Paul and Barnabas intensely disagreed, and soon it was decided that the elder and Apostles in Jersualem would have to make a decision.
To be saved, did someone only have to trust in Jesus or did they have to trust in Jesus and follow the Law of Moses?
[CIT] In our passage this morning, we see that question debated in Jersualem; we also see the testimony of Peter and the testimony of Paul and Barnabas in defense of salvation by faith alone.
[PROP/INTER] We must always be ready to defend salvation by faith alone in Jesus Christ because He is the only worthy object of our faith, but what arguments might we equip ourselves with?
[TS] Let’s look at the ARGUMENTS in Peter’s testimony and in Paul and Barnabas’ testimony…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
Argument #1: Cornelius and the other Gentiles in Acts 10 were saved by faith alone (vv. 7-9)
Argument #1: Cornelius and the other Gentiles in Acts 10 were saved by faith alone (vv. 7-9)
7 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; 9 and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
[ILLUS] Everyone trusts in something or someone. Everyone has faith in something or someone. In order to determine the object of someone’s faith, we could ask them, “Why should God let you into Heaven?”
I asked a man that question once, and he said, “Well, I’ve tried to be a good person. I don’t think I’ve treated people to badly, so I think he’ll let me in.”
That man trusted in his own goodness.
A friend of mine asked a coworker a similar question, and that coworker said something like, “Well, of course I’ll get in. I’m a Christian. My daddy has been a preacher for decades!”
That coworker trusted in his daddy’s position.
In Acts 10, Cornelius and the other Gentiles trusted in Jesus Christ alone.
[EXP] As many as 10 years earlier, Peter had been sent by Jesus to preach the good news to the Roman centurion named, Cornelius, and the other Gentiles of his household.
Peter spoke of the power of Jesus.
Peter spoke of the crucifixion of Jesus.
Peter spoke of the resurrection of Jesus.
Then Peter spoke of faith alone in Jesus by saying in Acts 10:43…
43 “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”
As Peter was still speaking, “the Holy Spirit feel upon all those who were listening to the message,” (Acts 10:44).
Now, you can go read Acts 10:34-48 and see for yourself, but Peter never mentions circumcision or the Law of Moses. Cornelius and his household were not saved by those things but by faith in Jesus Christ alone.
God gave those Gentiles the gift of faith.
They placed that faith in Jesus Christ alone.
And the Holy Spirit fell on them just as He had fallen on the Jews at Pentecost, a sure sign that salvation had come to the Gentiles just as it had come to the Jews.
[ILLUS] This past week, the interim president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention stepped down because he falsified credentials on his resume.
Willie McLaurin falsely claimed to hold degrees from North Carolina Central University, Duke University Divinity School, and Hood Theological Seminary.
He had served as interim president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee since February 2022.
[APP] Sometimes people deceive us, and we reward them with positions for which they aren’t qualified.
That sometimes happens to us.
It never happens to God.
We sometimes we get deceived.
God never does.
Faith in Jesus is the only qualification necessary to have a place in the household of God, and you can’t lie about it because God searches the heart!
He knows the heart, and He never gives the Spirit to anyone without also giving them faith alone in Jesus Christ who was perfect, who was crucified, and who was raised from the dead.
Even though they weren’t circumcised according to the custom of Moses, God testified that Cornelius and the other Gentiles of his household were saved by giving them the Holy Spirit when all they had done was trust in Christ alone.
They were saved by faith alone.
They were sealed by faith alone.
They were sanctified by faith alone.
All that is necessary is faith alone in Christ alone.
[TS] Look at the second ARGUMENT Peter made…
Argument #2: Not only were Cornelius and the other Gentiles saved by faith alone, Peter and the other Jews were saved by faith alone (vv. 10-11)
Argument #2: Not only were Cornelius and the other Gentiles saved by faith alone, Peter and the other Jews were saved by faith alone (vv. 10-11)
10 “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”
[EXP] To put God to the test is very serious. It is essentially daring God to do something when we flagrantly do what is sinful.
In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira flagrantly lied to the church in order to look more generous, and the Lord took their lives.
The one who puts God to the test runs the risk of losing his or her life.
Peter knew that the false teaching of salvation through faith in Jesus plus obedience to the Law of Moses provoked God to anger because it placed on the Gentiles a yoke that the Jews themselves were never able to bear.
A yoke is an instrument made from bent wood that is placed around the necks of animals joining them together as they plow a field or pull a cart.
In the Bible, the yoke is used as a symbol of burden. A harsh yoke increased one’s burdens, but an easy yoke lightened them.
Peter saw the Law as a harsh yoke with impossible burdens for the people of God because the Law demanded the impossible; it demanded perfection.
Now these Jewish false teachers were basically telling the Gentiles, “You have to be perfect before you can be saved by Jesus.”
But Peter knew the yoke of Jesus was easy because Peter heard Jesus say…
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
It’s not about keeping the Law in perfection, which is impossible for us.
It’s about coming to Jesus in faith, which God makes possible by His grace.
Peter knew this was true for the Gentiles because it was true for him and the rest of the Jewish believers.
In Acts 2, the Spirit came upon Jewish believers in Jesus not because of circumcision according to the custom of Moses or obedience to the Law of Moses; but the Spirit came upon them because they trusted in Jesus.
It was the Jews who believed—i.e., it was the Jews who had faith in Jesus—that were added to the church on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41, 44).
[ILLUS] Imagine that you ask me for directions to some destination. I give you the directions, and you set out on your journey. But eventually you call me and say, “Hey. I followed your directions as best I could, but I don’t think I’m going to get there this way.”
I respond, “Yeah. I couldn’t get there that way either.”
You would immediately ask in frustration, “Then why did you send me this way when you couldn’t get there this way yourself?”
[APP] That’s the question Peter was asking his fellows Jews. “Why would we send Gentiles the way of Law when we couldn’t get to God that way ourselves? Why wouldn’t we send them the way of Jesus when that’s how we all actually came to God?”
The Law calls us to behave, but we haven’t and we will never behave well enough to get to God.
The Gospel on the other hand calls us to believe; we believe on Jesus because He alone gets us to God.
[TS] Look at the last ARGUMENT…
Argument #3: The Gentiles on Paul and Barnabas’ first missionary journey were saved by faith alone (v.12)
Argument #3: The Gentiles on Paul and Barnabas’ first missionary journey were saved by faith alone (v.12)
12 All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
[EXP] If we go back to Paul and Barnabas’ first missionary journey, we see that they preached salvation by faith alone in Christ.
The first place they came to on that first missionary journey was Pisidian Antioch. In the synagogue in that city, Paul said…
38 “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.
Striving to keep the Law of Moses would not lead to forgiveness.
Believing on Jesus would lead to forgiveness.
God did miraculous things through Paul and Barnabas on that first missionary journey so that the people in those cities and towns would believe on Jesus and be forgiven.
God did not do those miraculous things through Paul and Barnabas so the people would try harder to keep the Law or get circumcised if they weren’t already.
No, those miraculous things were done so that the people would believe and by believing have life in His Name.
[ILLUS] Toward the end of John’s gospel, John tells us that he hasn’t told us everything.
30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
That verse reminds us of last verse in John’s Gospel.
25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.
So why did John include the things he did and leave some other things out?
31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
[APP] Every miracle every performed by Jesus and every miracle performed in His Name had one primary purpose—to cause people to trust in Him as the Christ, as the Savior.
It was no different for Paul and Barnabas’ on their first missionary journey.
Everything they did was so that people would believe on Jesus and by believing have life in His Name.
It should be no different for us on this our missionary journey through life.
Everything we do should be done so that people will believe on Jesus and have life in His name.
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
All that is necessary is faith alone in Jesus.
We believe on Jesus because He alone gets us to God.
Everything we do should be done so that people will believe on Jesus and have life in His name.
[PRAYER]