Untitled Sermon (9)

The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles The Apostolic Convention at Jerusalem

Christ is the one Savior who saves to the uttermost. To add anything to Christ as being necessary to salvation, say circumcision or any human work of any kind, is to deny that Christ is the complete Savior, is to put something human on a par with him, yea to make it the crowning point. That is fatal. A bridge to heaven that is built 99/100 of Christ and even only 1/100 of anything human breaks down at the joint and ceases to be a bridge. Even if Christ be thought of as carrying us 999 miles of the way, and something merely human be required for the last mile, this would leave us hanging in the air with heaven being still far away.

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The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles The Apostolic Convention at Jerusalem

Christ is the one Savior who saves to the uttermost. To add anything to Christ as being necessary to salvation, say circumcision or any human work of any kind, is to deny that Christ is the complete Savior, is to put something human on a par with him, yea to make it the crowning point. That is fatal. A bridge to heaven that is built 99/100 of Christ and even only 1/100 of anything human breaks down at the joint and ceases to be a bridge. Even if Christ be thought of as carrying us 999 miles of the way, and something merely human be required for the last mile, this would leave us hanging in the air with heaven being still far away.

Christ is the one Savior who saves to the uttermost. To add anything to Christ as being necessary to salvation, say circumcision or any human work of any kind, is to deny that Christ is the complete Savior, is to put something human on a par with him, yea to make it the crowning point. That is fatal. A bridge to heaven that is built 99/100 of Christ and even only 1/100 of anything human breaks down at the joint and ceases to be a bridge. Even if Christ be thought of as carrying us 999 miles of the way, and something merely human be required for the last mile, this would leave us hanging in the air with heaven being still far away.

The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary Chronological Comparison—Paul’s Letters and Acts

The Gentiles have turned to the living and true God; what they are being asked to turn from is idolatry and the accompanying acts of immorality. Abstaining from idolatry and immorality were after all the most basic things required by the Mosaic Law, and the cryptic v. 21 need no longer be seen as cryptic. The point is that the Mosaic Law, and not least the Ten Commandments, is already proclaimed throughout the Empire in synagogues. The witness of Gentile Christians was important to James. They must not give Jews in the Diaspora the opportunity to complain that Gentile Christians were still practicing idolatry and immorality by going to pagan feasts even after beginning to follow Christ.

At the Jerusalem Council, the apostles decreed that God was the origin of the Gentile’s salvation, that he accomplished it by grace, authenticated it by the giving of the Holy Spirit, attested to it by signs and wonders, and demonstrated that this work was in agreement with the Old Testament.

The Gentiles have turned to the living and true God; what they are being asked to turn from is idolatry and the accompanying acts of immorality. Abstaining from idolatry and immorality were after all the most basic things required by the Mosaic Law, and the cryptic v. 21 need no longer be seen as cryptic. The point is that the Mosaic Law, and not least the Ten Commandments, is already proclaimed throughout the Empire in synagogues. The witness of Gentile Christians was important to James. They must not give Jews in the Diaspora the opportunity to complain that Gentile Christians were still practicing idolatry and immorality by going to pagan feasts even after beginning to follow Christ.

Purity vs. unity