Table of Contents
Introduction
Dissension & Debate (Acts 15:1-11)
1)No Salvation Without Circumcision (Acts 15:1)
2)Paul and Barnabas Disagree (Acts 15:2a)
3)Paul and Barnabas Sent to Jerusalem (Acts 15:2b-3)
4)Welcomed and Declared God's Work (Acts 15:4)
5)The Pharisees Demand Circumcision (Acts 15:5)
6)Peter's Argument (Acts 15:6-11)
It Was God's (Not Mine) Choice That...
God Knows the Heart, Accepted Them, Gave Holy Spirit (Vs 8)
Their Hearts Purified By Faith, Just Like Ours (Vs 9)
The Yoke of the Law (Vs 10)
We Are Both Saved in the Same Way (Vs 11)
7)Principle
Salvation has always been through faith and never by works.
8)Applications
What doctrine are you promoting that is un-Biblical?
What are you trying to contribute to a work Jesus declare, “It is finished!”?
If you were to stand before God tonight, on what basis would He declare you justified? Something “good” that you've done or faith in the perfect work Jesus did or a little of each?
Decision & Decree (Acts 15:12-21)
1)Paul and Barnabas Relate Signs and Wonders (Acts 15:13)
2)James Refers to Scripture (Acts 15:13-18)
3)The Letter (Acts 15:19-21)
James' Judgment (Acts 15:19)
Write a Letter (Acts 15:20-21)
4)Principle
The believer is free to live for Christ and for others.
5)Applications
How important to you is your liberty as a Christian?
How important to you is your fellow Christian?
How willing are you to adjust your liberty for the sake of a fellow Christian?
Consensus & Correspondence (Acts 15:22-35)
1)Consensus Reached (Acts 15:22)
2)The Letter (Acts 15:23-29)
3)The Outcome (Acts 15:30-35)
4)Principle
Believers rejoice when the truth of Scripture is upheld.
5)Applications
How important is the truth of Scripture to you?
How sure are you that the things you believe are in fact things the Bible holds to be true? Are you willing to change what you believe if they don't correspond?
Do you experience joy when Biblical truth is upheld?
Conclusion
Introduction
We've come to a point in our American society where it seems that the only dogma people will accept is the dogma that there is no dogma that is superior or right but that all dogma is equal. One of the problems with that, however, is that if I hold to the dogma that the aforementioned dogma is false, then the adherents to the aforementioned are obligated to accept my dogma and thus their dogma is deemed invalid by what my dogma asserts.
If that sounds convoluted or strange, it probably is due to the fact that it is strange and convoluted. To assert that there are no absolutes is itself an absolute and self-defeating.
Dogma.
1. That which is held as an opinion; a tenet; a doctrine.
2. A formally stated and authoritatively settled doctrine; a
definite, established, and authoritative tenet.
3. A doctrinal notion asserted without regard to evidence or
truth; an arbitrary dictum.
Syn: tenet; opinion; proposition; doctrine. e.
The apostle Paul and Barnabas were confronted with some individuals who were asserting a doctrine contrary to the truth. And they were not about to let this slip by. It was not just a matter of opinion, it was a matter of eternal significance.
Dissension & Debate (Acts 15:1-11)
1)No Salvation Without Circumcision (Acts 15:1)
Some doctrinal issues we can disagree on as believers. And we can even discuss the reasons why each believes the way he does and go away satisfied, even if the other was not convinced of our view.
It is vital that you and I know and understand Christian doctrine and why we believe what we believe. We are in a drought today in many American churches in that doctrine is not taught so people generally don't really know what they believe and how it should make a difference in their lives.
Although there are doctrines we can disagree on, there are some that we can't disagree on and still call ourselves Christians. One of those doctrines is justification. Under what circumstances does God declare a sinner, condemned to death, not guilty?
Romans 4:21-25 – 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”
23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,
24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
These Judaizers, because Judaism is what they were proposing for the Gentiles, were stating that without circumcision (and the law of Moses) Gentiles could not be saved.
Note: Notice how Luke calls them brothers (Acts 15:1)
2)Paul and Barnabas Disagree (Acts 15:2a)
Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ and called to go to the Gentiles. This was his commission from the Lord some 14-17 years earlier.
Paul points out in Galatians, that he received his revelation from the Lord and did not first check out his doctrine with the other apostles until quite some time after his conversion.
Galatians 1:11-12, 15-17 – 11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.
12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,
16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
Paul and Barnabas had already seen the results of the gospel message to the Gentiles. They believed and received the Holy Spirit, just like Paul and Barnabas had. And besides what they had experience, Jesus never told Paul to circumcise his converts.
This type of heretical teaching had to stop and Paul was not about to let these men and their false teaching spread among those they had spent so much time discipling. That would be devastating both to the new believers and a stumbling block to those who might otherwise believe. The danger was that they would believe that somehow they contributed something to their salvation and that Christ's death and resurrection were incomplete.
Take a look at Galatians 1:8-9 to see how strongly Paul felt about what he learned from the Lord.
3)Paul and Barnabas Sent to Jerusalem (Acts 15:2b-3)
The Antioch church was a pretty healthy place. Here's some qualities I saw in them:
Sound doctrinally. They were not only willing to debate but they were interested in getting a right understanding.
Serious about the truth.
They were humble enough to admit when they needed more information and help.
They were submissive to their mother church in Jerusalem. They realized that the foundation of their faith was rooted in the prophets and apostles, with Jesus Christ the Chief Cornerstone. They sent to Jerusalem for clarification and to find out if their thinking was correct.
4)Welcomed and Declared God's Work (Acts 15:4)
Paul and Barnabas are always seeking to encourage their brothers and sisters in the faith. And they spend the trip down to Jerusalem, stopping in at various churches to report on the work God has been doing in the Gentiles.
5)The Pharisees Demand Circumcision (Acts 15:5)
The Pharisees demand is similar to the argument they made when Peter came back from Cornelius.
Acts 11:2-3 – 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying,
3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
In other words, until they are circumcised you better not eat with them.
But if you can imagine their mindset for a moment. I think we really have no inkling how big of an issue this really was.
Think about it. All your life you've been taught to follow the Mosaic law. You celebrate all the feasts and festivals. You go to temple regularly. You were circumcised at age 8 days if you were born into a Jewish home. All of these things and so much more were an integral part of your culture and way of life.
And you had always been taught not to enter a Gentile's home and eat with him. You would be considered unclean if you did. There was a major culture barrier there that would be so hard to overcome.
What they're demanding is hard to stomach! Not even the Jews could keep the law.
6)Peter's Argument (Acts 15:6-11)
It Was God's (Not Mine) Choice That...
I Take Gospel to Gentiles (Acts 15:7)
That They Believe (Acts 15:7)
God Knows the Heart, Accepted Them, Gave Holy Spirit (Vs 8)
Notice the end of verse 8, just as he did to us. In other words, God made no distinction between a believing Jew and a believing Gentile, so why should we.
Their Hearts Purified By Faith, Just Like Ours (Vs 9)
The Yoke of the Law (Vs 10)
Peter is firing on all cylinders here! He really gets it.
The law was not possible to keep, even though it was required. The purpose of the law was not to make us right with God, but to show us how unrighteous we really are before a holy God.
Romans 2:25-29 – 25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.
26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.
28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
The Law of Moses could not, nor was it designed, to save.
We Are Both Saved in the Same Way (Vs 11)
It's not our performance that saves us. It's not our ethnicity that saves us. It's not our adherence to the Law of Moses that saves us.
It's the grace of our Lord Jesus that made salvation possible for us, just as he has for them. No distinctions.
7)Principle
Salvation has always been through faith and never by works.
8)Applications
What doctrine are you promoting that is un-Biblical?
What are you trying to contribute to a work Jesus declare, “It is finished!”?
If you were to stand before God tonight, on what basis would He declare you justified? Something “good” that you've done or faith in the perfect work Jesus did or a little of each?
Decision & Decree (Acts 15:12-21)
1)Paul and Barnabas Relate Signs and Wonders (Acts 15:13)
If you recall last week, the message of Paul and Barnabas was confirmed by signs and wonders. God did this to show the people that these are my words.
Acts 14:3 – 3 So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
2)James Refers to Scripture (Acts 15:13-18)
There are many people who live by the motto, “It worked so it must be correct”. Sometimes we make judgment about right and wrong based upon whether it worked out or not. Not being concerned whether it is right or not.
Here, both Peter and Paul have given compelling examples of conversion of the Gentiles. Now James wants to point out that what they have seen happen is not something that was not already foretold by the prophets long ago. Their experience and their revelation from God totally aligned with God's revelation through the Scriptures.
He sites a couple of verses in Amos 9, verses 11, 12.
You see, it has always been God's plan to redeem a people for himself. His people are not of one particular ethnicity, or national origin, or any other distinction. But they are distinct in that they are His possession. And He is the one who redeems them.
16 “‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17 that the remnant of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’
18 that have been known for ages.
David's fallen tent had been rebuilt. Jesus, the descendant of David, was the builder and the tent.
3)The Letter (Acts 15:19-21)
James' Judgment (Acts 15:19)
James has weighed the evidence and the arguments on both sides. And he is convinced that the scales tip toward Peter, Paul, and the Prophets and not toward the Pharisees.
In his judgment, the requirement of circumcision and the law would be a burden on them. This is putting it quite mildly. In fact, when Paul writes the Galatians, he points out that circumcision and the law, if in fact you are justified by them, renders Christ's death purposeless:
Galatians 2:21 – 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if justification were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Write a Letter (Acts 15:20-21)
How many times have you gone to the grocery store to pick up a couple things for your wife and come home to find out that you've forgotten one of the items and may even have other items she didn't request. You didn't bring the list (or there wasn't a list).
[Recollect. 1. To recover or recall the knowledge of; to bring back to the mind or memory; to remember.]
Getting an agreement in writing is a good idea. That way later on, others can read what was written without the potential of distortion or incomplete recall.
Here James has some things he thinks the Gentiles should adhere to. And at first blush, it seems like an odd and eclectic collection of items dealing with food and sex.
[ read Acts 15:20 ]
But what I think he is trying to get at is the idea of being considerate of other brothers. In particular, your Jewish brothers. Certainly, no Christian should be sexually immoral. That one would be going against God's moral law and it should go without saying. But it seems that the items James points out are all common pagan practices that many of the Gentiles had come out of when they came to faith in Christ.
They are also detestable things to the Jews and Jewish believers. They were practices that certainly a Gentile could abstain from in order not to offend his brother.
Paul speaks about not offending a weaker brother in Romans:
Romans 14:1-4 – 1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
4)Principle
The believer is free to live for Christ and for others.
Galatians 2:20 – 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
5)Applications
How important to you is your liberty as a Christian?
How important to you is your fellow Christian?
How willing are you to adjust your liberty for the sake of a fellow Christian?
Consensus & Correspondence (Acts 15:22-35)
1)Consensus Reached (Acts 15:22)
It seems that there was an agreement in the church and among all the leaders. And as one body, they decided to make a special gesture toward the church in Antioch. They didn't just want to send Paul and Barnabas back, but they wanted to be more supportive of their Gentile brothers by sending a couple of leaders.
Silas is one we will hear about quite a bit through the rest of the book of Acts.
I work with a small team of developers, I am one of 3. We used to be distributed around the building and we would often IM each other since you never knew if the person would be at their desk or not.
Well, now we have offices that are in very close vicinity of each other. But we still IM.
It wasn't enough for the Jerusalem church to just send an email, IM, or text message. They wanted to put a face with the message.
2)The Letter (Acts 15:23-29)
I just want to touch on a couple of features of the letter.
They start with the salutation stating who they are, but they refer to themselves as your brothers. That is in fact what they were, but this was a way of speaking to them in a way that showed they were equals with them in Christ.
Verse 24 points out that those who had been spreading the false doctrine were not coming as representatives of the church in Jerusalem.
They point out their support of Paul and Barnabas as well as their love for them.
3)The Outcome (Acts 15:30-35)
When the letter was read in Antioch, they rejoiced. They had been disturbed by the implications of what they had heard, and I am sure this letter brought them all relief.
4)Principle
Believers rejoice when the truth of Scripture is upheld.
5)Applications
How important is the truth of Scripture to you?
How sure are you that the things you believe are in fact things the Bible holds to be true? Are you willing to change what you believe if they don't correspond?
Do you experience joy when Biblical truth is upheld?
Conclusion
It's important to know what you believe and why you believe it.
It's easy to get caught up in doing things for God because that's the way we've always done them. Or this is the ministry in our church and that is what we do. If that's why I do something, without understanding the reason, then I am just performing an empty ritual.
But if what I do is based upon sound doctrine, then the purpose is known and my attitude is to glorify God.
Do good works, but not in order to be justified by God and not without understanding the doctrines that make the works good.
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