The Good News of Grace

Acts 15:1–21 NIV

Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.” The apostles and elders met to consider this question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: “ ‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’— things known from long ago. “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

Introduction: Story of discussion with College Friend that I was not saved, because I was not Baptized as an Adult. I had to be Baptized by immersion to be saved.

One of the things religions often due is...

27 - Religion creates Requirements

1. How are people saved? This is still an important question today. And it was an important question during the time of the first church too. What we can gather from the writings of Paul (for example, Galatians 2:14) and here in Acts 15 is that certain Jewish believers in Jesus were following Paul around, and after he left they would tell the gentile converts that they weren’t fully saved unless they were circumcised and started to follow the Law of Moses. Paul and Barnabas disagree with this, so they take their argument to the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. The leaders gather and debate the matter at length, until Peter stands and makes a speech (Acts 15:1–7). What’s clear here is that most of the early church is still Jewish, and they operating under a Jewish paradigm. No reason to blame them for that. They are still trying to work out the implications of the Gospel. They are playing catch up to God.

They have these O.T. Requirements - These are important ones - The importance of circumcision - Covenant Sign (Defines who is in and who is out of the people of God), and one which became a point of persecution - The Greeks.

Requirements that can become barriers.

- Churches that make people be Baptized/or even Baptized again to become a member. - They are adding a requirement -

28 - Heresy - F + W = S

Gospel - F = S + W

29 - George converting to Latvian Orthodox Church.

- We want to put all kinds of tests on God.

Family not allowed to dine at dinner because they were wearing their swim suits at Resort - (They didn’t feel like they belonged.) No shoes, No shirt, No mask, No service. https://dskidsermons.com/2021/04/08/may-2nd-2021-5th-sunday-of-easter/

Religion is always catching up to God, because God does what God wants by Grace.

30 - The Gospel is Given By Grace.

Story of Seminarian who knew Jesus before even knowing Jesus.

The Story of Paul DeJonge - How the Vision was instrumental in his not fearing death. - Grace.

- What is God’s grace? It is God’s unmerited favor. It is kindness that is not deserved or earned. Imagine a parent sets a jar on the counter. Every day that the kids are good, they each get to put a penny in the jar. Every day they are bad, they take a penny out; and if they are all really, really bad, the parent has the option of emptying the jar. When this jar is full, the kids all get to go out for ice cream. Now, imagine a day at home with the kids when every one of them is as bad as can be. The day starts out with screaming and crying and fights. They yell at the parent. They insult one another. They refuse to do their chores. If a rule can be broken, it is broken, and if there is a chore to be done, it’s ignored. There is total chaos. The agreed “contract” in place is that on a day like that, the jar gets emptied. But instead, the parent calls the children into the kitchen and says, “I love you. Let’s go get ice cream.” That’s grace.

- Circumcision in the Pharisee groups definition is what is required to save people, but God was saving people who were not circumcised. He was saving people, giving them favor, regardless of any thing they did, or requirements they performed.

Describe Grace as presented in this text. - The Apostle's are not manufacturing the Holy Spirit. They are preaching the Gospel, Trusting God, but God is intentionally and purposefully the one who is cleaning people's hearts to dwell in them through the Holy Spirit. -

Here is the initiation of God - He was taking for himself Gentiles called by his name, God cleansed their hearts, God Gave the Holy Spirit. This is all God's choosing. It is received by Faith.

31 - The Gospel is all by Grace. Jesus Came by God's unmerited choosing, Jesus lived, preached, and healed by God's unmerited choosing, Jesus died by God's unmerited choosing, God raised Jesus from the dead despite our deserving of death, in Jesus' authority he sends the Holy Spirit by God's unmerited Choosing to cleanse people and save them from sin, and Jesus will come again by God's unmerited choice. We receive all this by Faith. This is what we mean that the Gospel is not a religion which is about "Doing", but a relationship which is about, "Done."

The Gospel should shape how

32 - We Live and Proclaim the Gospel of Grace.

The conclusion here is that if God is bringing Jews and gentiles into one people of God under His name, by God’s grace, then we should live in accordance with what God is doing.

Back to No Shoes, No Pants, No Masks, No Service. - This is about belonging. Notice how the Church looks to the Gospel for guidance on what to do. - What if the family was given clothes to wear that they may change and eat at the restaurant - That is Grace - Jesus clothes us/cleanses us with the H.S.

- Stories of People being Saved, grounded in Scripture - James sees that what is happening is supported by Scripture. - That in Amos God would restore Israel, and a big part of that is also including nations as well.

So why the requirements at the end.

For table fellowship - So Jews and Gentiles can eat together “IE Worship together”

And so that the Gentiles Christians can be a light in their context when sexual immorality was the norm.

33 - This is the pattern for the church in our day and the conflicts we have.

What is the Gospel?

How can we align our ministry to the Gospel of Grace?

How can we help those God is reaching and the different groups he is reaching to feel welcome at the table?

Masks, Vaccines and why we did what we did.

Conclusion:

Reference the Reformed Confessions: The Reformed Confessions are statements of faith written to clarify the Gospel at times when the Church was in crisis. Heidelberg Catechism: Q&A 19-22, 53-54, 61 Belgic Confession: Articles 16, 22 Canons of Dort: Head I: Articles 2-14; Head II: 5, 7-9; Head III & IV: Articles 6, 8, 10-14,