The Jerusalem Council

INTRODUCTION

In 325 AD, there was a council called in the city of Nicaea—modern-day Turkey.

The church came together to strengthen doctrinal unity and deal with false teaching that was emanating from a man named Arius.

Arius was saying that Jesus was not eternal, but that He was created by the Father.

Church leaders met to listen to his teaching and compare it with Scripture.

The debate went on for a month.

At a certain point in the council, as Arius was waxing poetic about his errant doctrine, one of the council members decided he had enough.

That council member was none other than Nicholas of Myra.

As in “St. Nicholas” … good old St. Nick.

He stood up, walked across the room and slapped the taste out of Arius’ apostate mouth.

And this was actually a serious crime. It was illegal to strike someone in the presence of the emperor.

He was stripped of his clothes and tossed in prison for his trouble.

In the end, the council determined that the Scriptures made it clear Arius was incorrect.

The Nicene Creed, which celebrates its 1700th birthday next year, was written by the council.

So they had:

a problem: Arius’ false teaching about Christ

a Gospel defense: Church leaders came together to debate and relied on the Scriptures as their guide

a solution: To categorize Arius’ teaching as heresy and clarify the truth with a creed that stated...

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.

The Nicene Creed

a result: The church went forth teaching the truth about the divinity of Christ throughout the world

What we see in Nicea is a church contending for the truth.

We see the church standing on the Word of God and contending for sound doctrine.

And that is what we will see in our passage this morning as well—only it won’t be in Nicea.

This will be the Jerusalem Council.

CONTEXT

The last we saw, the Gospel had made great gains in the pagan world and Paul and Barnabas were coming back to the church in Antioch to tell them about it.

Luke told us that Paul and Barnabas remained there in Antioch for “no little time.”

During this time, they run into a problem with some men from Judea who come down and start teaching wrong things to the believers there.

This is where we pick it up in Acts 15.

Much like Nicea, there is:

The problem (v. 1-5)

The Gospel defense (v. 6-21)

The solution (v. 22-29)

The result (v. 30-35)

And then we will see three reasons why we must follow in the footsteps of Christians throughout our history and contend for the truth of the Gospel:

1. The clarity of the Gospel is at stake (v. 11, v. 28).

2. The joy of the church is at stake (v. 3, v. 31).

3. The preaching of the Word is at stake (v. 32-35).

THE PROBLEM (v. 1-5)

The problem is stated right away in chapter 15.

Some men come down from Judea teaching false things to the Gentiles and Jews who had been converted in Antioch.

They arrive at the church which is acting as the ministry center to the Gentile world and they start teaching that in order for a Gentile to come to Christ, they have to be circumcised first.

They must keep the custom of Moses—otherwise, they cannot be saved.

Now as we read this, it reminds us of what Paul dealt with in the Galatian church. He wrote to the church there warning them to stop believing in a false gospel that says you must be circumcised before you can enter the kingdom.

In Galatians 2:1-14, Paul explains that fourteen years after period surrounding his conversion, he went to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus.

This is likely when he and Barnabas take the aid collected for the Jerusalem church in Acts 11:28-30...

He took this opportunity to make sure that the Gospel he was preaching, which had been revealed to him by the Lord, was sound and in line with what Peter, James and John were teaching.

Titus was there—a young believer who was not circumcised—and no one tried to circumcise him.

Peter, James and John accepted him as a brother.

It was determined that the message Paul was preaching to non-Jewish people was the same Peter was preaching to Jewish people and the Jerusalem Apostles offered the right hand of fellowship to them.

During this meeting, Paul says some of these false teachers tried to infiltrate things, but they were dismissed and didn’t seem to have influence.

But later on, when Peter was in Antioch, some of these false teachers came and he didn’t act the same way he had in Jerusalem.

He started acting differently toward the Gentile Christians and keeping distance from them and not eating with them.

This led to confrontation with Paul.

Galatians 2:14 ESV

But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Now, as we look at Acts 15, it seems like the men from Jerusalem that are causing problems are the same guys who Paul is writing about in Galatians.

The fact that he says nothing about the Jerusalem Council, probably means Galatians was actually written before Acts 15 takes place.

It is a church that Paul likely planted on his first missionary journey.

Acts 15 is happening a couple of years after all of that.

This is 49-50 AD—about 17-18 years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.

Paul and Barnabas have no small debate—no small dissension—with these men.

It gets so serious that Paul and Barnabas and some others are selected to go to Jerusalem and get this issue of circumcision settled (v. 2)

All along the way, as they are passing through places like Phoenicia and Samaria, they are telling the churches and the believers about how God is at work in the Gentile world.

It brings great joy to all the brothers.

This detail from Luke about the received report as Paul travels is important.

It is letting us know, even before the meeting of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem, that church at-large is in not just in agreement about accepting uncircumcised Gentiles as brothers—they are truly overjoyed at how God has adopted them into His family by grace.

They essentially get the same reception in Jerusalem (v. 4).

The congregation, the apostles and the elders (Pastors) of the church, roll out the welcome wagons for the Antioch mission team, insinuating that they are totally accepting of the and the work they are doing in the Gentiles.

They are accepting of them and the doctrine they preach.

But there is a group in Jerusalem who is not so eager to receive Paul’s party (v. 5)

Luke says that there are some believers—so these are brothers—who belong to the party of the Pharisees, and they said, “Hey—listen—if we are baptizing Gentiles, we better be circumcising them first and they better be keeping the Law of Moses.”

In other words, Gentiles must become Jewish before they can become Christian.

They have to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses before they can receive Jesus.

Now it might seem odd to have Christians from the part of the Pharisees, but that is what we have.

And if you think about it, it isn’t so odd, is it?

Jesus spent a lot of time with the Pharisees.

He taught in front of them. He corrected them with God’s Word. He rebuked them.

It makes sense that God’s Spirit would break through that hard rock in some of those hearts and they would be saved.

It also makes sense that they would bring some self-righteous baggage into the church and that they might fall for false teaching like this.

These Pharisee brothers reached back into their past and got reacquainted with their old legalistic roots by drinking from the false teaching being offered up by the “men from Judea,” the way a repentant drunkard might have a relapse and reach for a bottle.

THE GOSPEL DEFENSE (v. 6-21)

In verses 6-21, we are able to see how the church responds. We see the Gospel defended.

This happens in a smaller setting. It seems like the objection from the Pharisaical brothers is in a larger setting.

In verse 6, we see that the apostles and the elders of the church in Jerusalem go into a private conference together to consider the matter.

This conference, where we really see the Gospel defense, consists of 3 different sets of remarks.

Peter (v. 7-11) -theological argument and authoritative argument

Paul and Barnabas (v. 12) -Argument based on evidence and experience

James (v. 13-21) -Scriptural argument, as a good pastor should!

PETER (v. 7-11)

Starting with Peter, we should first of all notice that he does not speak until after there had been much debate (v. 7).

This shows growth from the brash man who spoke and acted too quick throughout the Gospel accounts.

His tongue has been transformed by grace.

AUTHORITATIVE

Peter starts with an authoritative argument in verse 8.

He says, “You know that I am the one God initially called and sent to the Gentiles.”

He is speaking of the Cornelius incident in Acts 10, which was sort of the Gentile Pentecost as Cornelius, the Roman centurion, and his family are saved and received the Spirit.

He brings this up because his resume of having been the one to take the Gospel to Cornelius and his family uniquely qualifies him to speak on this matter.

And Peter tells them that he saw Cornelius receive the same Spirit and that means God made no distinction between the Jew and the Gentile.

As both believe, both receive the Spirit and are justified by faith.

THEOLOGICAL

So that is the argument from authority. But then, in verses 10 and 11, Peter switches into more of a theological argument.

He asks why the party of the Pharisees are putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of gentile disciples that the Jews and their ancestors were not able to bear? (v. 10)

Instead of believing that salvation can be achieved through law-keeping, Peter says that “we believe that we will be saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus,” just as Gentiles will.

Grace, not law.

Grace, not circumcision.

It is a simple argument for salvation by grace through faith.

We are saved by the grace of God, which we receive through faith.

When Peter speaks of the Law as a yoke, he speaks of it like a burden on the neck.

And that is not because God’s law is bad.

The Law is pure and good, just like the One who gave it.

But the Law cannot save.

It is meant to expose our sin and show us our need for a Savior.

When the Law is used as a means of salvation, as these Pharisee brothers are suggesting, it becomes a burden that cannot be carried.

After all—who can be perfect according to God’s impeccable standards?

Instead of being a means of salvation, the Law must point us back to the One who gave it and the grace He has shown in Jesus Christ to save us from our transgressions of the Law.

In many ways, Peter’s argument has flipped the Pharisees’ entire position on its head.

They said, “These Gentiles must become like us to be saved.”

Peter responds and says, “Actually, we are saved just like them.”

And Peter’s argument is not just a “take it or leave it” sort of stance.

He is saying that this is so important, that they would be testing God to misuse the law as a means of salvation.

God has made it clear that salvation is only found in His Son, Jesus—the once for all sacrifice for sin.

To attempt to work for your salvation and spurn the grace of Christ is to run in the opposite direction of God and it tests Him in the sense that it is obstinate to reject God’s means of salvation and try to earn one that you can take credit for.

It is to shake your fist at His provision and His warnings of judgment.

PAUL AND BARNABAS (v. 12)

Peter’s words are so affecting that the entire assembly falls silent.

Paul and Barnabas take the opportunity of the silence to make their Gospel defense.

In their case, they make an argument that is based on evidence and experience.

EXPERIENCE

Luke summarizes Paul and Barnabas and we get no direct speech from them.

This is because we already know where they stand and we have already heard about the events that they describe to the council.

They are telling them about their experience on the mission field.

EVIDENCE

And they are specifically concerned with the evidence of God’s work that they saw among the Gentiles.

How do they know He was at work?

Because of the signs and wonders that accompanied their preaching made it clear that God’s hand was with them.

This argument is important because the brothers in Jerusalem know full well that when the Gospel took off after the Spirit fell on the church at Pentecost, its preaching was accompanies with signs and wonders.

Acts 5:12–13 ESV

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

It was common knowledge in Jerusalem that irregular and wonderful things were being done through the ministry of the Apostles.

Paul is saying the same irregular and wonderful things were happening in conjunction with his ministry, proving that God was the power behind salvation coming to uncircumcised Gentiles.

JAMES AND HIS SCRIPTURAL ARGUMENT (v. 13-21)

And then lastly, we have James stand up to speak.

Luke records more words from James than anyone.

He follows up on Peter and Paul’s efforts by making a Scriptural argument.

AMOS 9:11-12 AND Isaiah 45:21 (v. 16-18)

James uses Peter’s testimony as clear proof that God has taken a people for His name from among the Gentiles—meaning, God has made the Gentiles a part of His covenant people.

And he says this agrees with the words of the prophets and he quotes from Amos 9:11-12 and briefly from Isaiah 45:21.

In Amos 9, God had sent judgment on the nation of Israel and they were in exile.

The people, along with their kings, were in exile.

God promised someone would sit on his throne forever, but it seemed like the tent of David had collapsed.

In Amos 9:11-12, God is promising that is not the case.

He is promising to restore the tent of David.

And in the promise, God says that Gentiles, who are called by His name, will be included in the restoration of tent.

In quoting this passage, James is saying this restoration is now happening in the church of Jesus Christ.

Jesus has died for the people of God and atoned for their sins. He is their Savior.

All who believe in Him are citizens of His Kingdom and live under His royal rule in the tent of David.

The restored “tent of David,” is the community of all people who believe in Jesus as Israel’s Messiah and Savior, people who as a result of their faith in Jesus, belong to Yahweh.

Eckhardt Schnabel

James points to this text about the Messianic community to come and says, “Look—God said it—Gentiles who are called by my name will be included!”

And then James tacks on words from Isaiah 45:21, with the words “known from old.”

Isaiah 45:21 says the nations will turn to God and be saved—a very appropriate text for the occasion.

And then James makes a proposal and he goes to Scripture again in order to do it.

LEVITICUS 17 AND 18 (v. 19-21)

James says that the Gentiles who turn to God should not be troubled with circumcision.

They do not need to become Jewish proselytes before converting to Christianity.

The Law shows them their need for grace, but grace is only found in Jesus Christ.

However, he does offer up four restrictions they should abide by.

These are not restrictions that must be adhered to in order to be Christian.

These are restrictions that are adhered to because they are Christians.

James does not dispute that Gentiles are a part of the church by God’s grace.

But by offering up these restrictions, he is recognizing that in order for Jews and Gentiles to get along and maintain the unity of the Spirit, the Gentiles must exercise biblical wisdom in these areas.

And these restrictions are indeed biblical.

They come from Leviticus 17 and 18, a passage where God is instructing Gentiles on how to live in the midst of Jewish people.

The restrictions are as follows:

Do not eat meat sacrificed to idols/polluted by idols

This is taken from Leviticus 17:8-9 …

Abstain from sexual immorality

This is a general command to abstain from all sexual immorality, but in Leviticus 18 it is more focused on incest

Do not eat meat from strangled animals who have not properly had their blood drained

This is from Leviticus 17:13...

Do not eat blood

This is from Leviticus 17:14...

If the Gentiles follow these restrictions it will accomplish two things;

On one hand, it will help them toward holiness in their own process of sanctification.

Abiding by these things will help disconnect them from their old pagan lives

On the other hand, it will also help them not offend their Jewish brothers and it will promote communal fellowship in the local churches

You can see how pastorally wise and Scripturally knowledgeable James is, as he takes these laws for Gentiles living in the midst of Israel and applies them for the benefit of Christ’s body.

In verse 21, James says that these laws should be accepted throughout the church because they are from the Law and known well.

In any city where there is a synagogue, Leviticus 17 and 18 would have been read regularly.

Jews and Gentile God-fearers alike would have been familiar with these restrictions

THE SOLUTION (v. 22-29)

In verse 22, we see that the proposal of James seems good to the apostles and elders and with the whole congregation after it was taken back to them.

They decide to take the proposal and put it in letter form and have Paul, Barnabas and two men named Barsabbas and Silas, both known as prophets, to take the letter to churches throughout Antioch, Cilicia and Syria.

Spreading the council’s conclusions through letter and by the hand of faithful men—this is the solution to put this whole thing to rest.

The letter itself is written in the form of a Roman decree—meaning it represents the official word of the church on this matter, as the church stands on God’s Word.

And unlike the way he summarized what the apostles and elders had to say in the council, the council’s solution is recorded verbatim in this letter:

They recount the problem (v. 24-25)

They commend the men coming with Paul and Barnabas (v. 25-27)

They say that their proposal is not just from them, but from the Holy Spirit (v. 28)

The fact that the letter is carried by two respected and recognized prophets would give credence to the Holy Spirit’s approval of the solution propsed

And then the four restrictions from Leviticus 17-18 are listed out

THE RESULT (v. 30-35)

And then finally, we see the results of the church’s conference and contending for the truth in verses 30-35.

The letter is delivered (v. 30)

The church rejoices over its encouragement (v. 31)

Judas and Silas encourage and strengthen the brothers in the church (v. 32)

After they leave, Paul and Barnabas remain, continuing their ministry with teaching and preaching (v. 33, 35)

These are good things.

Joy, strength and continuing ministry—which leads us to our application of this text this morning.

WE MUST CONTEND FOR THE TRUTH

We must be willing to contend for the truth, just as Paul and Barnabas and the Apostles and elders of Jerusalem do in this passage today.

And before we wrap up this morning I want to give you three motivations for doing this, according this this passage.

1. We must contend for the truth because the CLARITY of the GOSPEL is at stake (v. 11, v. 28).

If we look back to v. 11, you see Peter make the Gospel abundantly clear in His defense.

Acts 15:11 ESV

But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

Salvation is not by grace AND works—for anybody.

Whether you are ethnically Jewish or ethnically Gentile, the only way to be a part of God’s spiritual Israel, is to repent of sin and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for the redemption of your soul.

This is what Peter is saying. The Gospel is being clarified by his words in the process of contending for the truth.

Then, if you go down to the letter they sent to the churches in v. 28, the council says:

Acts 15:28 ESV

For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:

In the letter, as the results of the council are being related to the churches, the Gospel is clarified once more.

You do not need to be circumcised in order to be saved. And that is not just from us—it is from God’s Spirit of truth.

This is what happens when the truth is contended for.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is clarified.

It is made clear through the contention.

SEVEN ECUMENICAL COUNCILS

There are seven ecumenical councils in the first eight centuries of the church.

Ecumenical is just a fancy word for “multiple types of churches coming together.”

There are more councils after that recognized by Roman Catholics, but not by Protestants.

These councils, like the Jerusalem Council, are not called to quibble over some secondary or tertiary doctrinal issues.

They didn’t get together to hammer out beliefs about the end times or even baptism

In nearly ever case, they came together to contend for the truth when the Gospel was being muddied.

They came together to contend for the truth with primary doctrines about God and salvation were being tinkered with by the sinful hands of humanity.

First Council of Nicea: Affirmed Christ as eternal God.

First Council of Constantinople (381): Clarified the Holy Spirit as eternal God.

Council of Ephesus (431): Clarified Christ as one Person, not two Persons in one body.

Council of Chalcedon (451): Clarified Christ as 100% God and 100% man.

Second Council of Constantinople (553): Confirmed the conclusions of the first four councils.

Third Council of Constantinople (680-681): Confirmed Christ as having two wills in one Person, just as he has two natures.

These wills never conflict

Second Council of Nicea: Complex fight regarding the use of Icons in worship.

So you can see that six of the seven council were over key issues that are so close to the heart of the Gospel that if you were to lose one of them, you lose the Gospel all together.

The heart would cease to pump.

In modern day evangelicalism here in the West, things are a bit more decentralized, but we still contend for the truth.

You may not see this in councils, but you do see it in statements that pastors, from a variety of traditions, will make statements together.

You see in statements like The Chicago Statement on biblical inerrancy in the mid 80’s or The Danvers Statement on biblical manhood and womanhood in the late 80’s.

You also see it in theological stances taken like when Southern Baptist fought for theological conservatism in the convention and in the seminaries in a battle that began in the late 1970’s and some say did not conclude until as late as 2004.

Sometimes we may mistake denominational meetings where the Gospel is being clarified as unnecessarily contentious.

We may view the early councils of the church as dusty history that has impact upon us today.

We might think that pastors making statements together is grandstanding.

But in the end, the truth must be contended for with precision and care.

The waters of Christ crucified and resurrected—a doctrine handed down once for all to the saints—must be guarded with vigilance and they cannot be muddied with the doctrine of man.

We must be like Jude.

Jude 3 ESV

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

2. We must contend for the truth because the JOY of the CHURCH is at stake (v. 3, v. 31).

Look at verse 3.

Acts 15:3 ESV

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.

The report of the conversion of the Gentiles brought joy to all the brothers in these churches in Phoenecia and Samaria.

And now, go down to verse 31:

Acts 15:31 ESV

And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.

The letter from the Council is received as encouragement and it brings joy.

When the truth of God is being preached and people are being saved and grace of Christ is at work, joy will be following close behind.

In this passage, I think there is:

Joy over grace: That is what we see in v. 3 and in v. 31.

In v. 3, the joy is over how God’s grace is transferring Gentile pagans out of the domain of darkness and into the Kingdom of the Beloved Son.

In v. 31, the joy is over the fact that God’s grace alone is powerful to save, apart from any work like circumcision.

Joy over unity: This is especially seen in v. 31.

Imagine if Paul had to come back and say, “Sorry guys. They said you have to get circumcised.”

There would be physical and spiritual reasons for the Gentile believers to become saddened.

Or imagine if Paul had to come back and say, “The church in Antioch is splitting from the church in Jerusalem.”

That would have been such a jolt to the system of these young believers.

But instead, Paul comes with a letter that says, “We are all saved by grace through faith.”

There is unity between Jerusalem and Antioch and unity is a thing to rejoice over.

To celebrate their unity even further, notice that there is no pushback from the Gentile believers over the restrictions.

They seem to be all in on the biblical wisdom offered in the proposal.

Their joy over the letter represents a joy over the opportunity to not offend their Jewish brothers by adhering to the Council’s words.

We cannot look at this joy and believe it happens in a spiritual vacuum.

The truth of the Gospel is clear because its clarity has been fought for.

And God uses this truth produce joy in His people.

On one hand, joy over His unmerited favor, which He has shown to us immeasurably in Christ Jesus.

On the other hand, joy over how His unmerited favor has brought Jew and Gentile under one roof.

The former not offending the latter by laying unbiblical burdens upon them.

The latter not offending the former by living in fellowship with biblical wisdom in mind.

But under this one roof, the one people of God are experiencing His joy, which is a fruit of the clarified truth of Jesus’ Kingdom message.

Wherever you find joy as a fruit, you will be able to find truth in its root.

3. We must contend for the truth because the PREACHING of the WORD is at stake (v. 32, 35).

In verse 32, the prophets Judas (also known as Barsabbas) and Silas, who we will see soon as a partner to Paul, are encouraging the congregations and strengthening them spiritually with many words.

In verse 35, Paul and Barnabas remain in Antioch and continue teaching and preaching God’s Word.

In each of these cases, we can see how in the aftermath of the truth being contended for at the council, the Word of God is flourishing.

On one hand, the Word is flourishing in the ministry of these two prophets from Jerusalem.

On the other hand, the Word is flourishing in the ministry of Paul and Barnabas as they continue on in Antioch—completely free to do so after the results of the gathering in Acts 15...

Wherever you find the truth contended for in a godly manner, you will find strong teaching and preaching from the Word of God.

Where there is discernment regarding truth and falsehood, you will typically find straight backs in pulpits proclaiming the Lord’s revealed Word.

Where there is a doggedness to battle unbiblical, antichrist teaching, there will typically also be a doggedness to herald the Word of God faithfully.

Why is this?

Because those who will fight hardest for a treasure are those who will shine it and display it most vigorously.

On the other hand, where you find capitulation to the culture, you will find a lack of biblical teaching and preaching.

And where there is a lack of biblical teaching and preaching, there is a lack of change and transformation.

There will be a lack of true joy.

If Christians and churches and denominations give themselves over to the world’s supposed wisdom on issues like sexuality and identity, forsaking God’s Word in the process, they should not be surprised to find that as they take on the world’s morality they also take on the world’s morose lack of joy.

Here in the local church, we must contend for the truth as well.

We are not immune to false teaching at Seaford Baptist.

We all must practice discernment see to it that the Word of God is the standard for all that we do.

This is the ecclesiastical environment—the sort of church culture—where the preaching of the Word will flourish.

And that is not just for us.

We contend for the truth now so that preaching may continue for generations to come—until the Lord returns.

CONCLUSION

The clarity of the Gospel.

The joy of the church.

The preaching of the Word.

We contend for the truth because these things are at stake.

In councils and committee meetings.

In pulpits and in private conversation.

Because at the end of the day—in the contention, we are seeking a victory, but it is not for ourselves.

The man who baptized me, David Slayton, was my pastor in college. He said that he would come home from Business Meetings at the church and his son Jonathan would ask, “Dad, did you win?”

Well at the Jerusalem Council, there was indeed a winner.

Not Peter. Not Paul. Not Barnabas. Certainly not the believers from the party of the Pharisees.

It was the Gospel.

The Gospel won.

And that is why we contend for the truth.

That the message may be clear.

That the church may be joyful.

That the preaching of the truth may abound.

That the Gospel would win.