Dealing with False Doctrine

Introduction

At this point in the narrative of the early church there have been many Gentiles who have placed their faith in Christ. This was still a point of contention for some among the Jews.

Some of the Jews went out as teachers and began to teach that the Gentiles must be circumcised in order to be saved. This was a common practice in Judaism among those who were proselytes so it is understandable how they came to such a conclusion.

Yet their conclusion was false and these teachers were promoting false doctrine.

Paul and Barnabas received word of the promotion of this false doctrine and they felt they had a responsibility to deal with it.

The first thing they did was:

Confront it Boldly (Vs. 1-6)

Paul and Barnabas would not sit idly by while this false doctrine was being taught. They immediately confronted these teachers and they engaged in what is described as a heated quarrel to convince them of their error.

This could easily be compared to a Sunday School teacher in the church teaching something that is not in alignment with the doctrinal statement of High Plains Baptist Church.

If this takes place, no matter our position we must be willing to confront false doctrine head on. We cannot allow others to be influenced by it.

Paul and Barnabas first confronted these teachers but ultimately they felt that it needed to be addressed with those in leadership of the church at Jerusalem so they went directly to them.

When they arrived in the church at Jerusalem they found that there was indeed a section of the church who were also entangled in this error (the Pharisees).

The false doctrine was more widespread than just a couple of rogue teachers and certainly needed to be addressed by the leadership in the church.

We must consider the possibility of how wide an audience may have been influenced by this false teaching had not Paul and Barnabas responded.

When it comes to matters of preference we need not confront everyone whose preferences differ from ours but just the opposite is true in regard to doctrine. We must always be ready to confront false doctrine without hesitation.

We cannot afford to compromise right doctrine for the sake of maintaining peace.

Consider the Evidence (Vs. 7-12)

The leadership of the church at Jerusalem now come together with the design of definitively stating their position in this matter. The first step was to consider the evidence.

The leaders at Jerusalem are now presented with evidence from eyewitnesses of Gentile conversion.

They hear from Peter as he recounts his time in the home of Cornelius and then they hear from Paul and Barnabas as they recount all that God has done among the Gentiles during the first missionary journey.

Peter is the first to declare that God has given testimony to the salvation of the Gentiles at the conversion of Cornelius and his companions.

The conclusion that Peter had reached based on the personal evidence he had witnessed was that salvation “by grace” for all men. He rightly judged that circumcision was not necessary for salvation for the Jews or for the Gentiles.

Paul and Barnabas then gave further evidence that God had extended salvation to the Gentiles without any regard for circumcision.

Baptism- proper mode of baptism is by immersion. This is backed up by the historical evidence throughout church history.

There was no one present who could present hard evidence that circumcision was necessary for salvation.

Church tradition alone does not speak to the truth in any matter. We must examine the evidence of God’s hand of blessing as well. There was no denying that God had done a great work among the Gentiles and that without any of the new converts having been circumcised or keeping the law of Moses.

Consult the Scriptures (Vs. 13-21)

If it is obvious that God has blessed a particular

James recounts the testimony of Peter and then appealed to an even greater testimony, that of the Word of God.

James may certainly have appealed to a wide range of scriptures to defend the point but the one that is recorded is a reference to

The most important justification the validation of any doctrine is the Word of God. The is never a point at which we have the right to usurp the authority of the scriptures.

The prophets of old had foretold a time when the Gentiles would turn to God and now James appeals to the fulfilment of these scriptures as positive proof that God has brought salvation to the Gentiles without the keeping of the law.

If we find scripture that contradicts any doctrine that is being promoted we must come to conclusion that this doctrine is false.

James now hands down the verdict clarifying the doctrine of salvation independent of the keeping of the practice of circumcision or the keeping of the Mosaic law.

Then he give a further clarification that the Gentiles need not be expected to keep the entirety of the Mosaic law which even the Jews had failed in keeping. Yet there were a few matters that they should be instructed in to promote fellowship with the Jewish believers.

These Jewish believers would have been greatly offended over these issues and the instructions that James gave were to prevent this offense and to promote fellowship among the entirety of the church.

Notice though that these standards were implemented not in regard to salvation but in regard to promoting fellowship and unity in the church.