A Door of Faith to the Gentiles

Call to Worship

Psalm 117 LSB

Praise Yahweh, all nations; Laud Him, all peoples! For His lovingkindness prevails over us, And the truth of Yahweh is everlasting. Praise Yah!

Elder: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you!

Reading of Scripture

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

2 Timothy 2:8-15

Introduction for the children

Before we begin, children, take a look at this painting:

what do you see happening?

Now imagine that it is winter outside, and you are freezing, and you look into a window to see a house with a warm fireplace, hot chocolate, and warm donuts, but you are stuck outside! Wouldn’t it be great if you could be let in?

Well, even though the sermon today is going to be very difficult to understand, it is very simple: it is all about how we can let you into the warm house.

You see Cornelius getting baptized? That is how he was brought into the house. Were you baptized? Then you have also been brought into the house. Did it matter if you were a boy or a girl? Did Lillian get baptized? Yes! So, I’m going to take a few minutes to talk about how the Gentiles were brought into the nice warm house.

Ok, let’s turn to our text:

Acts 14:24–28 LSB

And when they passed through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia. And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. And from there they sailed to Antioch, from where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. And when they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they spent not a little time with the disciples.

The Door Opened: The Gentiles Have Been Included

Luke shows that the Gentiles are being added

And with that, we have reached an important milestone in the book of Acts: A door of faith has been opened to the Gentiles. If you recall:

After Jerusalem and Samaria were reunited, An Ethiopian received Christ in Acts 8.

Then Peter witnesses the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on Cornelius and his household in Acts 10.

And don’t forget the report Peter gave to the disciples who confronted him about eating with with the Gentiles in Acts 11, just before the founding of the church in Antioch, which also included Gentiles.

Then in Acts 13, Saul and Barnabas were set apart by the Spirit to go to the Gentiles. And so they traveled to Cyprus, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and finally Derbe, before returning back to Antioch, their sending church.

And with all of these events, Luke is recounting for us how God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

Question: Must Gentiles become Jewish in maintenance of the Old-Covenant symbols?

But, because of all of this irrefutable evidence that God was showing no distinction between Jew and Gentile, and that He was concerning Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for his name, this resulted in a question: “Must the Gentiles become Jews? In what sense are the Gentiles being grafted into the olive branch? Must they follow the ceremonial/symbolic/typological laws of Moses? Have the symbols changed? Have the symbols of separation been removed?”

And here, by way of introduction to Acts 15 - the Jerusalem Council, which convened to answer these very questions, we are going to discuss the Judaizers, Church councils, and heresy. And the thesis, or the main point, comes from this statement in our text for this morning: “...they began to report all things that God had done...how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles...” Notice, that Paul and Barnabas saw the Gentiles professing faith in Jesus as the working of God.

Sometimes, our sinful flesh does not like how God chooses to bring about His will. Sometimes he uses lepers, harlots, widows, paraplegics, eunuchs, shepherd boys, fisherman, tax collectors, pharisees; and we can be thinking, “this is wrong” because it goes against the symbols of separation that we have come to value: Jew/Gentile, leper/clean, man/woman. When actually, our spirit is wrong, and we are failing to recognize what it is that God is doing. God has chosen the weak things to confound the mighty.

The Root Issue: Symbol versus Substance

Old Covenant as typology & the Judaizer’s mistake

And so, this thing that God had done in opening a door of faith to the Gentiles was not what the Judaizers had in mind for how God would save the world. They were not expecting God to remove the wall of separation, so that there would be no more distinction. And it is as though the Judaizers were saying that rather than God having a people for Himself from all peoples on the earth, they were grasping for their unique identity as God’s people, saying that these Gentiles need to become Jewish in order to be part of God’s covenant people. They are not part of God’s covenant people, the promises are not to them, unless they become us.

They were failing to see the typology: The Old Covenant system under Moses was designed to point to the separation between righteous and unrighteous, healthy and sick, redeemed and lost. The entire system pointed to this in how it required men and women to function in the temple, the blemished (eunuchs, lame, lepers, etc) and slaves to behave. It all pointed to our sinful separation from God. Then the sacrifices were pointing toward our coming sacrificial mediator to God. They were pointing to Christ.

But the Judaizers came to see their symbolic position as the priest who enters the Holy place, or the man who brings the sacrifice, or the owner of the slave, they came to see these symbolic representations of righteousness as their ontological identity, of inherent spiritual superiority.

For example, because a leper was not allowed to come into the temple, but the clean could come into the temple, the Judaizers would be like the clean person thinking that because they are physically without leprosy, which is symbolic of sin, that this equals spiritual righteousness before God. Because they did not have leprosy, they must then not have sin. They are looking at the symbol as the substance. This should have taught them that they need a mediator. They should have seen themselves in the leper, rather than in the one who is clean.

The outpouring of faith among the Gentiles demonstrates that God has torn down the old symbolic barriers of law and ritual that once separated Jew from Gentile, clean from unclean, man from woman. Where the Judaizers clung to the symbols and privileges of Israel’s typological system—mistaking them for signs of inherent spiritual superiority—God shows through Christ that all who believe, regardless of background or status, are equally welcomed into His covenant family. And even in the Old Covenant, lepers could be saved by faith in the Messiah: this spiritual reality has always been the same. What we are talking about is covenantal, or visible, realities.

As I’ve stated, before Christ came, the church (ancient Israel) was a picture of the separation of mankind from God by sin, but in the New Covenant, after Christ, the church is a picture of the equal access of mankind to God in Christ. This is what the Gentile inclusion signifies: that Christ has come to save the entire world. Before, in the Old Covenant, the separation of Jew and Gentile signified the need of One to come to save the world. And now, in the New Covenant, we signify that One has come to save the world.

Reality in Christ

Paul says, Galatians 3:26–29 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.”

Visibly, the church represents mankind’s equal standing and access in Jesus Christ, whereas in the Old Covenant, the church represented mankind’s need of salvation from sin so that we could be brought near to God.

So, no, the Gentiles did not have to become Jewish in order to be saved. They had to become Christian. And the Jews, in order to be true to their Judaism (what it symbolized), had to accept the Messiah, and the signs of the new covenant, and symbols of separation being thrown down; in other words, they had to accept Christ and become Christian. In Christ, there are no longer visible distinctions such as these. In Christ, humanity has been brought back into the garden of Eden, where we may commune with the Almighty, where we have peace with God.

Clarifying Paul on “no distinctions”

And just to clarify, Paul is purely talking about the symbolic nature of the Mosaic system representing separation from God, as opposed to the new system in Christ, representing access to God. He is not talking about roles of men and women, social hierarchies, or national identity. So, when he says there is no male/female, Jew/Gentile, etc. he is purely saying that the symbolic walls of partition have been removed in Christ. He is not saying that gender roles no longer exist.

Heresy, Church Councils, and Lessons for Today

Pattern of church conflict and resolution

And this controversy resulted in the first church counsel in around 50 AD (17 years after Christ’s ascension), recorded in Acts 15. It was held in Jerusalem and it is very indicative of how church history would proceed. I believe it was Bob Godffrey, in his church history overview that mentioned a peculiar pattern that repeats itself throughout history: An adversary arises (like Arius, who denied that Jesus was God), then a defender of the faith rises up in opposition (like Athanasius, influential in writing the original Nicene Creed), and then the next generation refines the teaching of the defender (The Cappadocian Fathers: Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa). During the Reformation, Luther stood against the excesses of Medieval theology, and Calvin refined much of the Reformation doctrine in the next generation.

A similar pattern occurs with councils. It is in the event of large controversies that greatly effect the life and health of the church that councils are called and these matters are disputed.

And it is not usuallthat these things are addressed during times of peace. Rather, someone begins to teach something in error and then the church must respond (Acts 15:1, 24 - “Some men came down from Judea and began teaching...whom we gave no instruction...disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls...”).

The Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be saved - The Jerusalem Council (50 AD)

There was a time when Jesus, the Son of God, was not. He came into being in Mary’s womb (Arius) - The Council of Nicea (325 AD)

The Holy Spirit was a created or angelic being (Pneumatomachian Heresy/Macedonian) - The Council of Constantinople (381 AD)

Jesus and the Son of God are two distinct persons (Nestorius), or Jesus is the Son of God admixing his human/divine natures (Eutychianism) - Council of Chalcedon (451 AD)

These were all doctrines that were being taught in the church throughout the first 500 years of church history. Illustrating the precedent set by the Jerusalem Council.

Why heresy appeals

In each case, the doctrine that was being taught had a rationality to it. It made sense. It was seeking to address a tension in the Scripture or in Christian doctrine.

In many of these cases, the orthodox position was one of paradox: where two things must be true and yet appear to be at odds from our human perspective. Like the incarnation or the Trinity. The heresies related to these usually stem from someone seeking to alleviate a paradoxical tension in Christian doctrine. And for this reason, there is a reasonable rationale to many of these teachings.

So, you can imagine that if you are a newly converted pagan living in Antioch and enjoying this new community you have become a part of, and then someone comes and says you can’t really be in this community unless you are circumcised and learn the law of Moses. Unless you have been fully ingrafted into the olive branch. That would be unsettling and disturbing...on multiple levels. If people in your community began to refuse to eat with you simply because you were a Gentile. You might begin to think, am I really a part of this community? Am I really saved? What must I do? I already believe in Jesus, but, must I be circumcised and then not share a table with Gentiles?

Kids, could you imagine playing a game, and then all of sudden a bunch of big kids come in and say that you can’t play with them and they make you go sit in the corner? Would that be very nice?

This is Judaizing. And it includes at least two errors that appeal to our flesh: 1) actually thinking that those symbols saved them (circumcision and keeping the law: because I have no leprosy I am therefore righteous), and 2) Actually thinking that they could keep the law. This is classic legalism. It ultimately denies the finished work of Jesus and puts way too much stock in their own righteousness before God. But, that is appealing to our flesh. It is kind of nice to live in such a system that allows me to represent holiness. I’m thankful that I am not as other men who don’t have these wonderful things...This appeals to our prideful flesh.

Or, you can imagine, having Arius as your pastor, and he is presenting Jesus as the greatest man who has ever lived, and who won salvation for us, and who was perfect, but who was begotten which must mean that he was created. And that this aligns with the Shema, affirmed by our Jewish forefathers, that our God is One God. We are not pagan polytheists, we believe in one God. Therefore, Jesus can’t be God, or worse, a type of God, just lesser as Origen suggested. I hope you can see the reasonability of that argument in order to understand that heresy is not usually distasteful. It is sinful. And therefore, it is appealing to some aspect of our flesh.

I came across the suggestion that Arius’ underlying sinful motivation may have been pridefully prioritizing intellectual consistency over the truth revealed and received by faith. Because this doctrine does not make sense to our human intellect, therefore, we will speculate and formulate solutions to the paradoxical doctrine rather than trusting that God revealed it that way on purpose. It is intellectual pride. And Athanasius said, evidence of godlessness, because he did not value what was truly divine, he only valued what was human, or what could be understood by our human intellect.

And this truth about heresy being sinful leads to an important truth about Christianity.

Christianity: propositional & spiritual

Christianity has always been propositional, meaning, that it is based upon certain propositions: Jesus was God, He was born of Mary, He died on the cross, and He rose from the dead. Those are all propositions that must be affirmed as a Christian. But, it is also spiritual. Meaning, someone can affirm all of those things and still be dead in their sin. And we have to remember that if we are not filled with the Spirit of God and His fruit, then heresy is going to look a lot more appealing.

Practical implications

If you are not living and thinking as you ought to be, then it will be so much easier for you to be driven by every wind of doctrine, always looking for the next proposition that will feed your sinful flesh, or falsely comfort your troubled conscience.

You struggle with the weight of your sin, so you try to keep the law even more so that you can assure yourself that you are righteous. This is the sin of the Judaizers.

You want to be academically relevant, so you allegorize the creation account, or the miracles, or the virgin birth, so you aren’t thought of as a religious nut. This is the sin of Arius.

We sometimes get sucked into these debates about the propositions and we forget that there is a spiritual root that is not being addressed in many cases. We can’t be all about the propositions at the expense of the spiritual, nor can we be all about the spirit at the expense of the propositions.

Dead orthodoxy will not save you, but neither will “following the spirit” without the objective truth of God’s Word.

There is usually a unique combination of these things that come together in a strong way that results in a church council being called to address it. When the doctrine is wrong and it is the result of a sinful and enticing spirit, drawing people away from the faith, or harming their faith, then it is the responsibility of the leaders of the church to gather, debate, and judge.

But notice all the things that come together: a sinful spirit, wrong doctrine, and then these being disseminated among the body.

In Acts 15, the Judaizers represent a spirit of ethnic pride, teaching falsely that the symbols represented the reality, and they were disseminating this to the church in Antioch which resulted in the calling of the Jerusalem council to address the matter.

And this is the role of church councils: to identify sinful spirits and wrong doctrine and to address them. I believe that this happens in the grandest scenes at general council in our system when the entire denomination sends delegates to debate matters of global Christian importance. And then proceeds downward: the region, the local, and then the familial and individual.

In our text, Paul and Barnabas recognized that what was happening with the Gentiles, in the words Peter, God was showing no distinction between Jew and Gentile, that this was a work of God. But, the Judaizers were willfully ignorant of that which demonstrated a spirit of antichrist.

The Judaizers were operating in a manner that they thought was right, but to the exclusion of the massive things that God was doing. God had opened the door to the Gentiles, and rather than celebrate this obvious and public truth, they wanted to fight it. Similarly, rather than celebrate the healing of a lame man in Acts 3 as symbolic of the forgiveness of all our sins, the Jewish leaders expelled him from the synagogue. And before that, rather than celebrate the healing of a lame man by Jesus, the Pharisees demanded to know why he was breaking the sabbath.

In every case, there is a willful ignorance of the work that God is currently doing. They were turning a blind eye to the obvious: God has opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

I would like to say that it is primarily the role of church councils and church government in general to recognize what God is doing. God has revealed the Trinity, and the deity and humanity of Christ, and the inclusion of Gentiles and all people in the church, and we simply recognize that or sinfully resist it.

The Final Charge

We must be seeking the face of God. We must be reminding ourselves of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, our doctrine will be wrong and our practice will be evil and we will find ourselves against God and His anointed. If our spirits are where they ought to be, then I believe our doctrine and our practice will follow. We will be able to recognize with Paul and Barnabas all the things that God is doing rather than fight against Him. And although it will be unexpected, we know that it will be glorious.

Let’s pray

Communion

John 13:2–5 LSB

And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He tied it around Himself. Then He poured water into the washbasin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel which He had tied around Himself.

The synoptic Gospel accounts might layout the propositions concerning the Lord’s Supper, but John here presents the Spirit of Jesus’ Supper.

Jesus commanded us to love one another. And He showed us how to do that in service, humble service, towards those who are confused, unlearned, quarrelsome; Christ matured them by serving them. How does the church act as a mother? By loving her children and teaching them to observe what Christ commanded. It does not happen overnight, and the process necessarily includes unconditional service towards those who are ignorant of what that service actually costs and represents.

So, let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loves is born of God. He that does not love, loves not God for God is love. So, let us love one another.

If you are baptized and in good standing with the body of Christ, harboring no sin in your heart toward God or your neighbor, then we invite you to eat and drink with us in remembrance of Christ.

If you are not baptized, or if you are harboring sin in your heart toward God or your neighbor, then we would ask you to refrain from the supper, repent of your sins, and accept the invitation to membership in Christ’s household.

The Bread

Give thanks

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 LSB

...the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was being betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”

Read during distribution:

Psalm 66:1-12

The Cup

Give thanks

1 Corinthians 11:25 LSB

In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.

Read during distribution:

Luke 17:11-19

1 Corinthians 11:26 LSB

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.

The Lord’s Prayer

Matthew 6:9–13 LSB

“...Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

Matthew 6:14–15 LSB

“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

The Commission

Matthew 28:18–20 LSB

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Numbers 6:24–26 LSB

Yahweh bless you, and keep you; Yahweh make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; Yahweh lift up His face on you, And give you peace.’