The Jerusalem Council
Acts of the the Apostles • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Why are Christians not tethered to the law of Moses? What happened that all of those laws now longer need to, necessarily, be followed? This was the very topic that brought some new believers into dispute with one another around 50 AD. 15-20 years after the death of Christ as more and more gentiles started coming to faith in Christ.
1 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
Jumping to verse 5. Acts 15:5
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
Don’t miss this. The believers. Jesus followers. Pharisees. They believe in Jesus as the messiah, but the law of Moses is sacred. We can’t just let people abandon it. But they’re agreeing with the others. You cannot be saved unless you’re circumcised and keep the law.
6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.
8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
16 “ ‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, 17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’— 18 things known from long ago.
20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
So they choose some men along with Paul and Barnabas, and send a letter to the church.
The letter says this. Acts 15:23
23 With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.
24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said.Acts 15:25-26
25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul—26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:
29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
In says in verse 31 that the people we glad at this encouraging message.
So all of the law of Moses, it’s these 4 things that they say abstain from these.
Abstain from blood and the meat of strangled animals. Eating the meat of strangled animals implies the blood is not drained, so in that case you are consuming the blood.
All the way back to Noah, it has been the commandment to abstain from blood. Genesis 9:4
4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.
In the law of Moses, it says this Leviticus 17:10
10 “ ‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. 11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.
These new believers need to understand the life that comes from the blood. Even though they are not required to make the sacrifices in the same way anymore, because Jesus was the final sacrifice, there is an understanding that blood is sacred, as it is where life is.
But something to notice here. This is a command for any Israelite or foreigner. So the disciples are not just pulling something out of a hat, they are being discerning in what the law had already stated for foreigners. Same thing with sacrificing to idols.
7 They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.’
For the people of that time, that would have been an adjustment. They are coming out of a culture where there is sacrifice to idols. The consuming of blood. And it’s not just “don’t sacrifice to idols”, it’s don’t eat the meat either. Have no part of it. Remove yourself entirely from the culture of idols. It’s a shift in priorities. You are no longer a part of that. The first 3 requirements are dietary, but it’s not just about the diet. It’s about the culture and what you are participating in.
Three of the things to abstain from are food based. The other one is abstaining from sexual immorality.
29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
Again, these are not just random. They have biblical precedent. After listing all of the unlawful sexual relations in Leviticus 18, this is written. Leviticus 18:26
26 But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things,
These were applied to the foreigners, being the gentiles. And here, at the Council in Jerusalem, it is reaffirmed by the apostles in concert with the Holy Spirit that these are what the new believers, the gentiles, should observe when it comes to the law of Moses.
What is sexual immorality?
What is sexual immorality?
Here’s how we think about these questions? What did these disciples and these new believers understand to be sexually immoral based on the scriptures and the words of Jesus?
What else is part of the list of sexually immoral things, as would have been understood in the context of this letter?
Adultery (Leviticus 20:10)
Incest (Leviticus 18:6-18)
Bestiality (Leviticus 18:23)
Prostitution (Leviticus 19:29)
Homosexual Acts (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13)
Adultery is often referred to as sleeping with someone else’s spouse. However. Jesus goes so far as to say in Matthew 5:28
28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Adultery is not simply taking another person’s spouse. Adultery is pornography. In the age of smart phones and internet, what a difficult thing to overcome.
It’s easy now to look at incest and say, of course that’s wrong. But when this law was put down, it was in the context of these royal families in Egypt, and later in Rome, who frequently practiced incest. Just because the rich and powerful say it’s good, does not mean it is.
Bestiality. Sexual relations with an animal. We all know that to be wrong.
Prostitution. I’d be surprised if anyone argued on that one, however, we know how prevalent it is.
Now this last one. This last one people get really angry over. Homosexual acts.
This topic has dominated conversations throughout the western church. A huge example is the United Methodist Church, which has now split, with this being a central issue. People will seek out churches specifically over this issue. Why would God make people this way is the common question I hear. It’s completely natural. Here is what I understand about what Jesus says. He never asks anyone how they feel about something. He always calls them to go beyond the physical. To not be ruled by the flesh. Jesus says that to look at a woman with lust is adultery. What is more “natural” than that. And yet we are called to abstain from that. When I read this list, when I think about this term, sexual immorality, I think “wow, that’s difficult.” In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul clarifies this even more.
2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.
Sometimes the list of “don’t do this, don’t do that” can create a situation where we say “well it doesn’t specially say this in this way, so I can get away with it.” We’re always looking for loopholes. This verse, along with the old testament laws, the words of Jesus, and the Council of Jerusalem, all reinforce this view.
Sex is for 1 man and 1 woman within the confines of a marriage covenant.
This has been the biblical understanding of God’s design for sex for thousands of years, despite looking for loopholes.
When we read scripture, we must read it to understand it, and then adjust accordingly. What I see with so many other churches are people desperate for scripture to conform to who they are. We must not find the scriptures that support our position. We must take the scripture as a whole and allow it to inform how we view the world.
For the people receiving these instructions, they were glad. Glad in part I’m sure because they didn’t have to remember all the other rules. But even these are difficult to fulfill, aren’t they? But what do we notice about this? It has everything to do with our bodies. What we consume, and what we do with them. A reminder that, now,
Our Bodies are Temples
You remember what we talked about before? We are the temple of God. Allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us, making no room for anyone else. Paul even says if you can have no sex at all, that would be best. Keep yourself fully for the work of Christ. But if you must, be married as God intended.
So is there hope for us? We have a hard time living up to these things. In every church it’s full of guilty people. But thank the Lord Paul wrote this to the church in Rome
22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
I thank the Lord for his forgiveness and mercy. I continue to strive for the bar he has set. If you’re struggling with any of these things, or something that has been said, know that you are welcome here. I encourage you to seek both the Holy Spirit, but also to talk to me or another believer you trust. This message is not one of condemnation, but of the reality of what scripture calls us to. Let us strive for holiness, and encourage one another in the process.
