Adding Burdens to Grace

Sunday, April 14, 2024

Introductory information

Paul and Barnabas had recently returned to Antioch from their first missionary journey that had begun in Acts 13

Soon after they had returned, some Jewish Christians came from Jerusalem and began to teach that Gentiles now had to fully convert to Judaism in order to be saved (Acts 15:1)

After a lot of debate and argument with them, Paul and Barnabas were sent with a group to Jerusalem to bring this issue to the Apostles and Elders for a decision

This is the first time we see a genuine disagreement about the doctrine of Christianity, and over the course of Acts 15, Luke is going to explain how they handled it

READ

Question to consider as we read:

Why do we add burdens to ourselves and/or others?

Acts 15:4–12 CSB

4 When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. 5 But some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and the elders gathered to consider this matter. 7 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you are aware that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the gospel message and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he also did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why are you testing God by putting a yoke on the disciples’ necks that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? 11 On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way they are.” 12 The whole assembly became silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul describe all the signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

EXAMINE

What are the key points in this passage?

#1 | A group within the church wants to add conditions and requirements (burdens) to salvation

These conditions came from their own understanding and tradition

Acts 15:5 ...some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

These conditions had historically been true for the Jewish people, in order to be part of God’s people

They thought these same conditions should now be applied to Gentiles who had joined God’s people

In adding their own conditions, Peter accuses them of testing God by seeing how far they could push their own requirements on others

Acts 15:10 “Now then, why are you testing God by putting a yoke on the disciples’ necks...?”

Jesus had told His followers to teach the Gentiles to obey Jesus, not the Law of Moses

Matthew 28:19–20 “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations... teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you...”

#2 | Peter challenges the assembly to accept the reality of God’s grace

Peter points out that both the Gentiles and the Jews have been saved without obeying the Law of Moses

Acts 15:10–11 “...putting a yoke on the disciples’ necks that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? 11 On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way they are.”

Since the Gentiles had clearly been accepted by God (Acts 15:8) why would they now need to follow the Law of Moses in order to be saved? i.e. they couldn’t be “more saved” than they already were.

The evidence was incredibly clear - following the Law of Moses was not a requirement for being accepted by God

Acts 15:12 The whole assembly became silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul describe all the signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles

#3 | Grace sets us free to love one another

Consider what Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia regarding this exact issue (3)

Galatians 5:13–15 “For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.”

One way we “bite and devour” one another is by placing burdens, rules, expectations, etc. on one another that are not from God

When we fail to show grace to one another, we find there is no grace left for us either

The only way to truly love one another is in the spirit of grace

For the Christian, grace must both be received from God and given to others

APPLY

Explore and apply the passage with these questions:

[These questions must be focused, yet very open-ended. Allow the conversation to go where people take it - we want to encourage everyone to share and explore the topics of the passage. You don’t have to ask all these questions. Sometimes a group may only get through one or two questions. Select the questions you think are right for the conversation. Then, as it comes time to wrap up, refocus the conversation to “land the plane.”]

Why do we allow others to place “extra” burdens and conditions on us?

Why do we do that to ourselves?

Why do we do that to others?

Why is grace so hard to accept? What is the first step to receiving and giving grace?

Where we want to “land the plane”

We must embrace the grace of God - both receiving it for ourselves and freely giving it to others

REFLECT

Prayer Points for Today

Ask the Lord to give us the discernment to know what burdens and rules He has placed on us, and which ones have been placed on us by ourselves and others

Devotional Question for the Week

A common human problem is placing a lot of rules on others. How have you been guilty of that? Who in your life needs to experience grace from you?

FOOTNOTES

James, evidently the head of the church at Jerusalem, then took the floor and issued a summary statement. He was Jesus’ half brother and wrote the [book] of James. Stanley D. Toussaint, “Acts,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 394.

Verse 21 - This policy, James urged, would not work to the detriment of Israel’s mission in the Gentile world; there was still ample opportunity for Gentiles to learn the law of Moses, for it was read publicly every sabbath in synagogues throughout the civilized world. But with regard to Gentile converts to Christianity, “Moses, so to speak, would suffer no loss, in failing to obtain the allegiance of those who had never been his.”64 This observation was perhaps intended to calm the apprehensions of the believing Pharisees, in whose eyes it was specially important that the whole Torah should be taught among the Gentiles; this, said James, was being attended to already by the synagogues. 64 R. B. Rackham, The Acts of the Apostles (London, 61912), p. 254. Another interpretation makes James mean that, since Jewish communities are to be found in every city, their scruples must be respected. F. F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1988), 296.

The Epistle of Galatians was addressed “to the churches in Galatia” (1:2). Where was “Galatia,” and who were the “Galatians”? (cf. 3:1) This question is complicated by the fact that Galatia had two meanings when this epistle was written. First, it referred to the area in Asia Minor where the Gauls had settled after migrating from western Europe through Italy and Greece. The territory was limited to the north central and east central areas of Asia Minor and its principal cities were Ancyra, Pessinus, and Tavium. But in 25 B.C. this kingdom was converted to a Roman province, and territory was added to the south, including the cities of Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. A debate has raged for centuries over whether Paul wrote his Galatian letter to Christians living in northern or southern Galatia. The North Galatian theory held that Paul visited the geographical district of Galatia in the north and established churches there. This church-planting ministry would have taken place on Paul’s second missionary journey after he left the southern Galatian region and before he came to Troas (cf. Acts 16:6–8). A second visit to the northern territory is apparently described in Acts 18:23. The South Galatian theory was advanced by Sir William Ramsay. In this view the churches addressed in the epistle were those of Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and (Pisidian) Antioch, cities Paul visited initially on his first missionary journey (cf. Acts 13–14). Thus while there is no account in Scripture of churches having been established in North Galatia, even on the second missionary journey, churches were established in South Galatia, according to Acts. Other arguments which tend to favor the South Galatia theory are that the main roads from Paul’s hometown of Tarsus pass directly through the cities of South, not North Galatia; the Judaizers were not likely to bypass the southern cities for the northern cities; a large Jewish element which could be addressed by the Judaizers lived in the southern cities; representatives of South Galatia accompanied the offering for the poor in Jerusalem but none were from North Galatia (cf. Acts 20:4); Barnabas who is mentioned but not introduced (cf. Gal. 2:1, 9, 13) would not have been known by the believers in the northern cities since he traveled with Paul only on the first journey. For these and other reasons many New Testament scholars now favor the view that Paul wrote the Galatian letter to Christians in the cities of South Galatia. Those who identify the recipients of Galatians as the believers in the southern cities of Galatia generally consider that the epistle was written from Antioch of Syria in about A.D. 48 just before the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15). While some chronological problems remain with this view, it is perhaps the best of the available options. After the first missionary journey Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch. Peter came down from Jerusalem to visit them, fellowshiped with them, and then withdrew from the Gentile Christians only to be publicly rebuked by Paul for his inconsistent behavior. Meanwhile, Judaizing false teachers had infiltrated the churches in Galatia, denying Paul’s authority as an apostle and teaching that circumcision was necessary for salvation. Reacting quickly and vigorously to Peter’s actions and the threatened lapse of the Galatians into legalism, Paul wrote this strong letter prior to attending the Jerusalem Council. Donald K. Campbell, “Galatians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 587–588.