Acts 15, Part 1
Notes
Transcript
1 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.
The basic question arising about salvation. Is a ritual or ceremony necessary to be saved?
The dissenters from the Judean churches were a powerful force, so powerful that their argument and emphasis have continued down through the centuries. (See DEEPER STUDY # 1, Judaizers—Gal. 2:4 for more discussion.) Note that the visitors from Jerusalem moved among the Antioch believers and taught their own ideas. Therefore, what they said was considered very important. The problem was this: if the dissenters were allowed to continue, the believers of Antioch were bound to become upset and confused. The result would have been explosive and devastating: the Antioch church would have been split and its ministry and witness made ineffective.
Scripture clearly declares what the dissension was; there can be no mistake about what was being said: “Except ye be circumcised [undergo this ritual] … ye cannot be saved.”
A person’s eternal fate was at stake. The dissenters were saying believers must undergo the ritual and be circumcised to be saved. They were saying it was the ritual, the circumcision that saved them; a believer was just not saved unless he was ritualized.
The issue was not whether a believer should be circumcised. Paul never said that circumcision was wrong. He maintained that since Christ had come, circumcision was a personal matter and a matter of conscience. If a person wished to be circumcised, let him be. Down through the centuries a host of Gentile believers (even two thousand years after Christ) have been circumcised and not become Jews. The physical act of circumcision does not make a person a Jew any more than any other physical ritual makes a person a member of any other race. It is the nature and commitment of one’s body, mind, and soul that makes a person a true member of a race or of anything else.
Again, the issue was not whether a person should be circumcised or ritualized, but whether a ritual was necessary to be saved. The answer was critical, affecting all generations of believers. The answer would determine a man’s primary relationship to Jesus Christ: Is a man’s confrontation and saving experience to be focused upon Jesus Christ or upon Jesus Christ and something else? The answer should be clear to all who think and are honest and unselfish. God has only one Son who loves Him supremely, only one Son who has proven His love by obeying God supremely, even to the point of suffering for all the sins of the world. And God loves His dear Son supremely. This does not mean a person is not to be baptized or not to share in any other ritual or ordinance. A person who has his eyes upon Jesus Christ is focusing upon Jesus Christ, and that means he is immediately following Jesus through the very first act of the Christian life—being baptized. But in every instance, the man is saved and owes his salvation to the Lord Jesus Christ and to Him alone.
Paul and Barnabas argued time and again against this teaching, declaring that ritual (circumcision) is not necessary for salvation. Note the words, “no small dissension and disputation [questioning].” The issue was bound to be critical to Paul or else he would not have gone to such limits in arguing the point. Paul’s great commitment to the Lord would not allow him to waste time in useless argument. This fact alone should speak to the hearts of any who stand on the other side.
There was the decision of the Antioch church to seek counsel from the Jerusalem church. The Antioch church had no doubt about its position. Note that the Antioch church was not seeking for the Jerusalem church to enlighten them on the doctrine of salvation. The church sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem for three reasons. God told Paul to go: “I went up by revelation” (Gal. 2:2). God willed a great church council (one that would include the earliest apostles)—a council that would issue a great verdict proclaiming the truth to every generation. A declaration by the apostles would carry great weight and help tremendously in silencing those who would add a ritual to the requirements for salvation. A declaration by the Jerusalem church would provide a great weapon to use in the struggle against “ritual salvation.” The Jerusalem church was the ritual center, the home base of those preaching the error. Therefore, if the Jerusalem church would issue a strong verdict denying the necessity of ritual for salvation, the position of “salvation through faith and by grace” alone would be greatly strengthened.
There was the triumphant and glorious march of a great church, encouraging and loving God’s servants. Note the revealing words, “And being brought on their way by the church.” As Paul and Barnabas began their journey to Jerusalem, a great company from the Antioch church escorted them as a mark of great affection and honor. Despite the ever present opposition to Paul that seemed to be in practically every church, there were some believers who loved and respected him deeply.
The servants utilized every opportunity to preach. As Paul and Barnabas traveled toward Jerusalem, they proclaimed Christ to the believers where churches had been founded. They also proclaimed the great movement of God that had taken place among the Gentiles. Note the “great joy” of the Christian 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.”
Paul and his company were received and welcomed by the Jerusalem church, including the apostles and elders. They all seemed to be present; the council was a critical session. The word “received” (paredechthesan) has the idea of a formal meeting of the church. Paul was reporting to “the church … the apostles and elders” in a called meeting. Apparently there were two days of meetings (v. 4, 6).
Note that Paul declared “all things that God had done.” The saving of men “by grace through faith” was not his doing. God was the One who was accepting people through faith alone.
The Jerusalem dissenters were “of the sect of Pharisees which believed”.
Apparently there was a large number of Pharisees who accepted Jesus as the true Messiah after His death and resurrection. This would be a natural result to an honest and thinking Pharisee.
1. The Pharisee was looking for the Messiah to come. He knew the Scriptures. Therefore, when he heard the apostles prove from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah, he was bound to see the evidence. If he had an honest and open heart he would be touched and convicted by the Holy Spirit and converted.
2. The Pharisee would tend …
• to see Jesus as the fulfillment of Judaism, not the replacement of it
• to see Jesus as an addition to the law, not replacing or embracing the law
• to see Jesus adding belief to ritual, not replacing ritual
• to see Jesus adding baptism to the ordinances, not replacing the ordinance
Simply stated, the Pharisee, because of his extensive training and lifetime commitment to the keeping of the law, would be very slow to give up the law. He would be slow to rest completely in Jesus’ righteousness. But note: Scripture says some did make a complete break. There were only “certain ones” who rose up against the message of salvation by faith alone (v. 5).
The enlarged discussion:
Note that the question in Jerusalem became much larger than mere circumcision. In Antioch the question had been, “Does a man have to be circumcised to be saved?” In Jerusalem the enlarged question was, “Does a man have to keep the whole law to be saved and accepted into the church? Does he have to accept the law as well as accept Christ?” (See DEEPER STUDY # 1—Gal. 2:4.)
The root question is for all generations.
⇒ Can a man earn the favor of God? Or does he receive the favor of God?
⇒ Is he acceptable to God because he keeps the law? Or is he saved by confessing that he breaks the law and is utterly dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ?
⇒ Does he work to make himself righteous? Or does he cast himself upon Jesus’ righteousness?
⇒ Does he say, “Lord, I come in my own righteousness”? Or, “Lord, I come in Jesus’ righteousness”?
⇒ Does he say, “Lord, I come offering my own package of works”? Or, “Lord, I come needing your mercy for coming short”?
⇒ Does he come to God to be praised for what he has achieved by his own hands and efforts? Or does he come to praise God for what God has done for him in Jesus?
⇒ Is man to receive the glory because he has done good? Or is the glory to be lifted up to God for who He is and what He has done?
6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.
This passage covers one of the most important church council meetings ever held. It is the great declaration on salvation. The great Jerusalem council met a second time. The whole church was meeting—the apostles, the elders, and the people (v. 12, 22). Once again, the scene is that of an extremely important council meeting, the importance of which cannot be overstressed. Note the sensitive consideration being shown by the leaders. The apostles were not lording it over the elders, nor the elders over the people. The issue being considered was of such great magnitude that the leaders were demonstrating humility and sensitivity to the needs of all. Note also there was “much disputing.” No one was ignored or silenced. All were allowed to say what they thought.
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.”
Peter’s great declaration—all people are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter drove home three points.
Peter recalled that it was God and God alone who saved the Gentiles, that is, Cornelius and his house. The event had taken place some ten years before, but it was given and established by God to be the example and the pattern which the church was to follow (v. 10. Note this is important, a critical point for every church to heed in every generation.) The event had been planned, initiated, and executed from beginning to end by God and God alone.
Cornelius and his house had believed the Word while Peter was in the process of preaching the Word. They believed while they were listening and hearing the Word.
God had given the Holy Spirit while they were believing the Word. Note how Peter stressed that salvation is the act of God.
God cleansed their hearts by faith. The stress is upon the word faith, not upon ritual or ceremony. Again, the stress is upon God. God knows the heart, when a man believes, when a man’s heart is moved toward the Lord Jesus, grasping and believing what Jesus has done for him. When God sees that, He cleanses the man’s heart.
Peter confessed the yoke of the law; he confessed man’s inability to keep the law. This was a question, but note it was also a serious charge: “Why tempt ye God?” Peter said that God had already demonstrated the truth about salvation. The matter was made known clearly and unmistakably in the experience of Cornelius. If a person declares that a man is saved by God’s grace plus a ritual or the law, he tempts God; he prescribes and dictates to God.
Questioning God is, of course, walking upon sinking sand. It is very dangerous. Note what Peter said about the law.
The law is a “yoke,” a burden. The picture is that of the oxen yoke (see Mt. 11:29–30; 23:4; Gal. 5:1). To insist that a man …
• undergo a ritual,
• accept the law
… in order to be saved is to put a yoke upon a man, a yoke that no man can bear.
No man can keep the law; the Jews had proven the fact
Peter reminded the church of their basic belief: all men are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter declared the doctrine of salvation. It was the very same as Paul’s (see Eph. 2:8–9). All men are saved in the same way: “through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
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.
Paul and Barnabas’ great declaration—God and God alone has wrought miracles and wonders to verify the message of salvation by grace. Note the stress is “miracles and wonders,” not points and arguments. Why? God’s miracles show clearly that He approves the preaching of Paul and Barnabas. The message, “By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,” is verified and proven by God’s stamp of approval.
The Acts of the Apostles (King James Version) B. The Jerusalem Council Meets: The Great Declaration on Salvation, 15:6–22
Paul and Barnabas’ great declaration—God and God alone has wrought miracles and wonders to verify the message of salvation by grace. Note the stress is “miracles and wonders,” not points and arguments. Why? God’s miracles show clearly that He approves the preaching of Paul and Barnabas. The message, “By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,” is verified and proven by God’s stamp of approval.
Paul and Barnabas’ great declaration—God and God alone has wrought miracles and wonders to verify the message of salvation by grace. Note the stress is “miracles and wonders,” not points and arguments. Why? God’s miracles show clearly that He approves the preaching of Paul and Barnabas. The message, “By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,” is verified and proven by God’s stamp of approval.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2003. The Acts of the Apostles. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
