Sermon Tone Analysis

GETTING THE GOSPEL RIGHT (1): TRUTH DISTORTED

(Acts 15:1-6)

September 4, 2022

Read Acts 15:1-6 - R. C. Sproul once asked his 5-year-old son, "If you died today and God asked why He should let you into heaven, what would you say?"

The boy answered, "Because I'm dead."

Attend most funeral services, you'd think he was right.

We assign a heavenly destination to all dead people.

But Sproul was teaching a class in Romans-justification by faith being the theme of the book.

When he asked his students why God should let them into heaven, 80% gave a "works righteousness" answer.

500 years after the Reformation, 80% of theology students were still trusting in human merit to be right with God.

They still didn't have the gospel right!

Tragic reality!

That makes Acts 15 crucial to this book.

P&B have no sooner reported on their 1st journey when Jews from Jerusalem arrived, purporting to represent leadership, but denying all Paul had been doing.

The question at issue: How is one saved?

Is it faith alone, or faith plus works?

Acts 11 already addressed that.

But it is a perpetual question - always arising anew.

It's life's greatest question, thus this 3-part series, "Getting the Gospel Right" - Truth Distorted; Truth Delineated and Truth Delivered.

This is BASIC as it gets!

I.

The Devilish Contention

So, guys arrive from Jerusalem saying, "Great that you've accepted Christ as a great teacher.

But 1b) "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."

This Jerusalem group claimed, 5b) "It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses."

They thought Moses must complete what Jesus began - a complete distortion of Jesus' message in Mt 5:17: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

It distorted Jesus' good news in Jn 5:24, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my words and believes him who sent me has eternal life."

It distorted Jesus' words in Jn 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

It was never Jesus plus something; it was always Jesus plus nothing!

You can see how this could happen.

Initial believers were Jews steeped in Jewish traditions.

They could not imagine how anyone could be saved without being circumcised and obeying Jewish rituals.

They insisted that in order to come to Christ, the Gentiles first had to become Jews.

So, is this a big deal?

If they received Jesus, was it wrong to be circumcised?

The answer is yes and no.

It was no big deal if they were not doing it to get saved - to add to faith something extra.

But if they thought they had to do it, and were putting their faith partly in Christ and partly in circumcision, that was huge.

Why?

It turned the gospel from Jesus alone into Jesus plus - a fatal mistake.

That makes Jesus' death insufficient, supposes that people can contribute to their own salvation and diminishes the value of God's sacrifice make for us through His Son.

It is a rejection and denial of God Himself.

Here's how serious it is?

Gal 5:2-4: "Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace."

It you add to what Christ has already done, you don't add at all.

You nullify Him completely.

You cut yourself off from Him altogether.

You render Him of no advantage.

If you want salvation by law, then you must keep all of it, not just have a good day now and then.

But you try to add to Jesus in any way, and you have cut yourself off from Him, removed yourself from grace.

You're not just confused; you're condemned.

It can never be Christ plus; it can only be Christ alone.

It doesn't matter whether the plus is circumcision, baptism, church membership, giving to the poor, going to confession or doing penance.

It doesn't matter what it is.

By adding anything to Christ, you subtract Him from the equation altogether.

Watchman Nee, great Chinese pastor, was staying at a place once where bathing was a daily plunge in the river.

One brother got a cramp in his leg and was sinking fast.

Nee quickly pointed out the problem to a man who was an expert swimmer thinking he would help the man.

But he made no such move.

Nee desperately cried out, "Don't you see that the man is drowning?"

Others joined in; still the expert lingered.

The drowning man's effort grew feeble and Nee thought, "I hate that man, letting another drown before his very eyes."

But just when all seemed lost, the swimmer took a few swift strokes and brought the man safely ashore.

Nee berated the man for waiting.

But the expert said, "I've been thru this before.

Had I gone earlier he would have pulled us both under.

A drowning man cannot be saved until he is utterly exhausted and ceases to make the slightest effort to save himself."

That's like saving faith.

It must be Christ plus nothing - no human effort at all.

Salvation requires we come to the end of ourselves, and commit wholly to Him.

It was devilish to tell the Gentiles they must be circumcised.

Had they done so, they would have cut themselves off completely from Christ.

II.

The Divisive Confrontation

So, that leads to a divisive confrontation.

Paul loved unity.

He would later write in Phil 2:4: "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

He was all about unity and harmony.

But when it came to perverting the gospel, the gloves came off.

This was eternally critical.

Jesus' substitutionary death was being diminished; people were being led to eternal condemnation by the "Jesus plus" movement, so Paul engaged.

2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them."

A donnybrook ensued.

With the gospel, there's no room for "partially right."

P&B fought furiously for the truth.

You can be sure that wherever the gospel is clearly taught, and the supremacy of Christ is maintained, the enemy will not be far behind with some well-orchestrated and eminently plausible opposition.

Eternal vigilance is our duty.

And we must be ready to do battle.

The "Jesus plus" movement spread rapidly.

Shortly after this, Paul wrote in Gal 1:6-9: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel- 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed [sent to hell].

9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed."

Paul is saying, "Don't even let an angel tell you Christ plus; it's Christ alone!"

Paul gets graphic in Gal 5:12: "I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves."

He's saying, "They want circumcision?

I wish they'd cut a little too deep!"

This was a critical matter to Paul.

For good reason.

It was keeping people away from God and out of heaven.

He'd said in Gal 5:4 if you trust circumcision to save you, "you are severed from Christ." "By cutting that flesh, you've cut yourself off from Christ."