To Be or Not To Be...Circumcised

Intro - One of my favorite movies is the Percy Jackson movies. In this there is Camp Half-Blood where they go to train. In order to access this privileged place and thereby be sent on an effective mission, you must have a certain pedigree. In Acts 15, the Jews are debating something similar claiming that Gentiles need to have the pedigree of circumcision and obedience to the Law in order to have access to Yahweh…this is debated at the Jerusalem Council.

TR: First let’s talk about the confrontation that sparks this council in Jerusalem...

The Confrontation (v. 1-3)

History of the Gentile/Jewish relationship. They were less than 200 years removed from a conflict where the Gentiles attempted to wipe out the Jews.

In the period known as the Maccabean Revolt there was a great defilement of the Jewish temple as well as slaughter and chaos that the Jews had to defend.

In an effort to not assimilate into the culture, the Jews established more rigid laws that would distinguish them from their Gentile occupiers.

That is the nature of those living in the belief that they are vulnerable.

I read a story about a little black girl standing in the line at the bank. She kept wanting to get out of line and go play like the other white kid was doing but wasn’t allowed. What it taught her was that she couldn’t do what other kids could do and it stemmed from the parents belief of protection and vulnerability.

Thus Israel created and/or emphasized rules as being absolutes

Of all of the things that they sought to define themselves, circumcision was the greatest. Not only was circumcision the sign of the Covenant but it predated even the Law

Genesis 17:10 ESV

This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

Please understand that circumcision was the sign that granted access to ALL of the Abrahamic blessings and overwhelmingly symbolized God’s acceptance.

It was the chief complaint amongst those of Jewish belief.

Acts 11:3 ESV

“You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

So now people are coming to Antioch telling the Gentiles, who were uncircumcised, that they actually weren’t okay with God and needed something extra.

Basically to become Christian you had to first become a Jew.

How many times has that happened to us?! Yes you’re accepted buttttt…they were essentially on Christian probationary period...

Some of us operate our lives like this, especially when we’ve been wounded or when we fear being taken advantage of.

Or there are times when we’ve been receipients of the hesitancy of those that we want to draw near to but can’t and we can grow impatient.

The reality is, many times, we accept people differently than what God does…God has his standards and then we have ours.

Think of the standards that we have for people before they’re accepted, forgiven, or loved by us.

Yet one of the most powerful testimonies during this time was the community aspect of the believers…there was a unity with them that didn’t exist elsewhere!

Paul and Barnabas vehemently opposed the extra standards, especially coming off of their first missionary trip where they saw the exact opposite happen, and therefore debated with them.

As a result of their dissension they appealed to Jerusalem, who at the time was seen as the epicenter for Christian doctrine.

TR: After their initial confrontation it was time to confess once and for all what the Spirit had done...

The Confession (v. 4-11)

The Elders and Apostles in Jerusalem gather to settle this matter.

v. 5, notice how closely held Christianity was to Judaism. There were people that were still in the temple, still practicing the Law, and still considered Pharisees…who were BELIEVERS!!!

These folks said not only should they be circumcised but they should keep the Law.

Now why are they so adamant about this?

There is a fundamental teaching in Judiasm and it is this…God will not dwell, occupy, or inhabit anything that is unclean.

Uncleanness was only taken away through ritualistic cleansing or sacrifice...

So unless you were clean God had no dealings with you. To be unclean was to be unacceptable!

To bypass cleanness and go directly to God was an affront to ALL that Judaism held dear and to throw away all that Israel had identified themselves with.

The Law was their national identity…they were a nation of Law and Order and obedience to that legitimized their relationship with God.

Listen, there are things that you use to identify yourself that aren’t meant to be used that way…let me explain

You’re money is not an identifier, your job is not an identifier, your marital status, history, the sin you just did, or the sin you’re about to do.

It’s one thing to be forgiven of sin, it’s an entirely different thing to be accepted by God....

See to not demand Law and Order was to be unpatriotic for an Israelite....yet like I said previously…THAT WASN’T THE POINT OF THE LAW!

The point was to show the consistent uncleanness that needed to be removed and WASN’T!!

Hebrews 10:1–4 ESV

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Since bulls and goats, sacrifices, cleansing, and rituals wasn’t enough to take away sins, why then are they commanding them to uphold the law?

Because the law maintained their national identity and was all that they knew!!

But then Peter opened his mouth:

Acts 15:9 ESV

and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

Now notice the language because Peter nails it…God CLEANSED them!!

How did He know?! Because Peter knows that God can’t dwell in any place that is unclean…therefore, if God took up residence in them they would’ve had to be CLEAN!!!

Going on vacation with my wife, I learned real quick not to touch anything or sit down until she got through inspecting the room. She’s wiping down stands, bathrooms, all the sheets coming off the bed, mattress is getting lifted up. Everything!!! We aren’t chilling until we KNOW IT’S CLEAN!!!

That’s exactly what God did in your life. The Spirit came in, checked under that bed, wiped down the history book of your life, checked in the closet of your past relationships, investigated your past financial transactions, and inspected your internet search history and said....CLEAN!!!! CLEAN!!!

What did that cleaning? The cleansing blood of Jesus!

The Gentiles, namely Cornelius is in view here, received the Spirit the same as the rest of the Apostles did.

Here’s the magnificent truth…you can’t do anything to make God love you more and His love is all you need.

Example of leaving Heartland Care behind because it wasn’t improving my relationship with my wife and it was a burden to me. Just like we are allowed to leave the Law behind and to continue to carry it is a burden to us.

The beauty is that WE ARE CLEAN!!! When people witness us interacting it should be as a family of people interacting with one another based on the perception God has of us.

Then Peter goes further...

If the point of the law was to cleanse and God has cleansed them and poured out on them the Spirit, why do they need the burden of the law?

Instead, in a turn of phrase, rather than them having to become like us to be saved, we’ll be saved like they’re saved…by grace through faith.

TR: So then we come to the conclusion of the argument...

The Conclusion (v. 12-21)

First Paul and Barnabas recount what happened with them to affirm what Peter was saying.

However, as a final nail in the coffin of the argument, James speaks up and in many cases he shuts down the debate.

He affirms Peter’s account but then says something amazing in the Greek “and with this the words of the prophets agree...”

The term “agree” there is where we get the term “symphony”…James says that the prophets, along with what Peter said, create a symphonic noise....they work together.

What does that symphony sound like? He quotes from Amos 9:11-12.

This is profound, that Gentiles were always meant to be a piece in the fulfillment of the Davidic Promise.

Here’s what he’s saying in total…that the Abrahamic Covenant which promised seed and blessing to the world, would come thorugh David’s line, when the outpouring of the Spirit happened.

LAND IT LOUD

Here’s what I want you to realize....YOU COMING TO JESUS WAS A PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S PROMISES

This is where I started getting goosebumps. See the fulfillment OF the Promise was in GIVING ME A PROMISE!!!

Jesus promised me eternal life (somebody say Amen). Jesus promised me that He will never leave or forsake me (somebody say Amen). Jesus promised that His death would atone for my sin and that I’d get to be with Him.

I’m thinking “well okay Jesus but I don’t want to mess up anything you got going on here” and he was like “Oh no, don’t trip little bro…you were part of the Master’s plan from the BEGINNING!!!”

WHEN AMOS WAS RUNNING HIS MOUTH, WHEN ISAIAH WAS RUNNING HIS MOUTH, WHEN JEREMIAH WAS RUNNING HIS MOUTH ABOUT YAHWEH RECONCILIING THE NATIONS....THAT WAS YOU!!!!!

Here’s why that’s groundbreaking for the Jews…God is tearing down walls of hostility not just between God and man but between Jew and Gentile.

The reason why Israel exists isn’t as a racially or morally superior state but rather as a vessel to carry God’s plan to reconcile the nations

Therefore, if Gentiles have come to God, have been identified with God, and are indwelt by God then who are we to add to that?

PRAISE GOD YOU’VE COME TO FAITH!!! THE SPIRIT HAS BEEN POURED OUT ON YOU!!! You are mentioned in v. 17!!!

So we too should be about reconciling the nations!!

How should we do this???

James’ conclusion was to have them abstain from certain things that more than likely pertained to the idolatry which they were redeemed from. WHY?

They’ve repented, they have turned away from those things. So for the sake of their Jewish brethren…stop acting like you use to act!!

Basically, do all that you have to do to stick together because in doing so you are LITERALLY walking out the PROMISES OF GOD!!!