Over the last few sermons, I have been arguing for a perspective on the book of Acts that envisions God as a wartime General who will stop at nothing to advance his kingdom here on earth through the preaching of the gospel.
If you have been tracking with me over the last few weeks, then you might agree that there has been opposition to God’s activity around every corner. Our enemy, the Devil, is absolutely relentless at trying to demolish what God is building. If the accusations of drunkenness among the apostles was not enough on the Day of Pentecost (2:13), then threats from the high ruling council of religious leaders should have been enough to stop everything in its tracks (4:18).
But that opposition did not stop the Spirit from advancing the gospel. In fact, it appears that with every strategic attack the enemy brings, God’s people, emboldened by his Spirit, seem to rise up and advance the kingdom even further. When Ananias and Sapphira, upstanding members of the early church, get caught lying about their tithes and offerings, God strikes them dead (5:1 – 11). When the high priest arrests the apostles because of his jealousy, an angel shows up, sets the apostles free and instructs them to continue preaching the gospel in the town square (5:17 – 21). When the apostles are beaten for disobeying the high priest and his council of cowardly hypocrites, the apostles are filled with joy, and they continue preaching the gospel (5:40 – 42).
When division threatens to tear the church apart because the widows are being mistreated, God provides the wisdom and the leadership to resolve the conflict (6:1 – 7). When Stephen becomes the first martyr at the hands of a blood thirsty terrorist, God chooses to radically save the terrorist and commission him into the ministry as an evangelist and church planter among the most unreached people in the area (CHS. 7 – 9). When preconceived prejudices nearly stopped short the advancement of the gospel among the Gentiles, God transformed Peter’s heart towards Cornelius and the Gentile ministry began (CHS. 10 – 11).
When James gets murdered and Peter gets arrested by a blood thirsty king named Herod, God sets Peter free and kills Herod with a bad case of intestinal worms (CH. 12). When Paul and Barnabas are sent off on their first missionary journey, a magician tries to oppose them and winds up walking around blind as a result of his opposition (13:8 – 11). When the local religious folks became jealous of Paul and Barnabas in Pisidia and drove them out of town, many Gentiles heard the gospel and believed in Jesus (13:45 – 50). When local religious leaders in Iconium decided to lay a trap to stone Paul and Barnabas, the apostles snuck out of town after making many disciples and began preaching in other nearby towns (14:1 – 7).
When Paul’s enemies finally caught up with him in Lystra, they stoned him and believing he was dead, they dragged him out of town and left him lying in the dirt, but they severely underestimated the power of the Spirit in the apostle Paul and he jumped up and returned to preaching in the streets of the cities where he was previously opposed over the next few days (14:19 – 23).
Once again, when God decides to advance his kingdom here on earth through the preaching of the gospel, we can expect that there will be much opposition from the enemy. But rest assured, the higher the opposition from the enemy, the more God will double down on his promise to be with his people to the end of the age as we labor under the power of his Spirit to make disciples to the ends of the earth (Matt. 18:18 – 20). As we dive into our text today, it is easy to see that God is not done advancing his kingdom. Therefore, the enemy is not done opposing God. Check out the text with me…
1But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 3So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. 4When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
6The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
12And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
16“‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, 17that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things 18known from of old.’
19Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20but should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from blood. 21For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
22Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
30So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 35But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
1: A CONFLICT ERUPTS OVER THE MESSAGE OF SALVATION (VV. 1 – 5)
In verses 1 – 5, some believers from out of town show up and begin preaching that salvation can only happen if someone is circumcised and of course, Paul and Barnabas strongly resist the urge to allow anything to be added to the process of salvation. The debate between Paul and Barnabas and the circumcision party reaches some really intense levels.
So, they take the argument before the council in Jerusalem where Paul and Barnabas share everything that God has been doing through their ministry which causes the circumcision party to jump in with their perceived technicality that “it is necessary to circumcise them [the new Gentile believers] and to order them to keep the law of Moses” (v. 5).
What these Pharisees are doing is attempting to add something to the message of salvation. They are saying that someone can only be truly saved if they add some kind of works to their profession of faith. Paul and Barnabas of course, are doing everything they can to help the church resist the urge to add anything to the process of salvation outside of a profession of faith in Christ crucified, risen, and returning.
I am certain that the circumcision party believed that the council in Jerusalem (being fully made up of Jewish believers) would side with them and put Paul and Barnabas in their place and rebuke them for being so radical with their ministry. But things do not go the way the circumcision party expected them to go as Peter and James weigh in on the conflict.
2: PETER AND JAMES WEIGH IN ON THE CONFLICT (VV. 6 – 21)
In verses 6 – 21, after hearing the core of the conflict between Paul, Barnabas, and the circumcision party, Peter and James weigh in about the centrality of relying on the grace of Jesus Christ alone for salvation.
Peter gets up first in verses 6 – 11, and he basically reminds everyone that the Gentile ministry began with him in Cornelius’ household and that God did not play favorites but instead he saved the Gentiles because of their faith in Christ. Therefore, it seems absolutely ridiculous to Peter that anyone would want to test God by laying the heavy weight of the law on these new Gentile believers since everyone from past generations until now knew full well that the Mosaic law could not be performed in perfection. In light of all this, Peer proclaims that “we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as they will” (v. 11). Peter is literally arguing to keep the gospel pure by relying on the grace of Jesus Christ alone for salvation.
What Peter said must have landed like a bombshell in the middle of that assembly because Luke says in verse 12, that everyone “everyone fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.” And once they were done talking, James, the half-brother of Jesus who was known to be one of the most Pius Jews of his time,2stood to speak in verses 13 – 21.
Again, I can imagine the circumcision party, thinking that maybe James would be the one to bring this entire debacle back into reality since he represented their interests as a devout Jew the most. But the reality is that James begins with substantiating the ministry of Paul and Barnabas by showing that the prophets agree with what they were witnessing (vv. 14 – 18). God had always been about the salvation of both Jews and Gentiles. Therefore, James’ judgment is that Peter is right, Paul and Barnabas are in fact preaching a faithful message of salvation and the Gentiles are genuinely being saved which means that circumcision and a requirement to obey the law of Moses, is uncalled for as he says “we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues” (vv. 19 – 21).
The point in what James says here is that he agrees with Peter that we need to keep the message of salvation pure by relying on the grace of Jesus Christ alone for salvation and that as new believers, the Gentiles need to resist idolatry and sexual sin, and they also need to be sensitive to the fact that there are new Jewish believers coming to faith in Christ in every city who will continue to observe their traditions of holiness.
There is no need for the Gentiles to flaunt their freedom in ways that are either sinful or relationally destructive. But again, the overriding principle is that we need to fight to keep the message of salvation pure by relying solely on the grace of Jesus Christ alone. Something of this magnitude is worth writing down and that is exactly what this first church council does.
3: THE EARLY CHURCH WRITES ITS FIRST DOCTRINAL STATEMENT (VV. 22 – 29)
In verses 22 – 29, the church writes the first doctrinal statement regarding salvation and Christian ethics (outside what is commonly known as Didache or the teaching of the apostles in Acts 2:42). In their statement (written in the form of a letter to the Gentile church in Antioch), the church in Jerusalem makes it clear that while a believer is saved by grace alone, Christians have a responsibility to resist idolatry and sexual impurity, while remaining sensitive to secondary issues that may arise among legitimate brothers and sisters in the faith.
There are a few things that stand out in the letter that the church in Jerusalem writes. First of all, they resist the urge to demonize the circumcision party, although they do acknowledge that this group of people troubled the Gentile believers “unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions” (v. 24). So again, they do not demonize them or their position in the argument, but they do speak truthfully about the results of their behavior and they also clarify that they had no part in their behavior.
Secondly, the church clarifies that they are united in the judgment they are about to communicate regarding the process of salvation, and they choose some upstanding “men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” to accompany Paul and Barnabas with the letter (vv. 25 – 27). I can think of no better messengers to send than those who are willing to lay it all on the line for the name of Jesus Christ; anyone with lesser credentials would be like a punch to the gut.
Thirdly, the letter they write in verses 28 – 29 is a near carbon copy of what James said in the council which is an indicator of how influential James was among the early church. I think James was a man who had a unique gift for sifting through all of the rubble of the conflict while holding fast to the purity of the message of salvation in light of God’s word and then holding fast to its principles in the face of severe opposition. He seems to be a man of intense courage in the face of great opposition.
I also think that James had a unique understanding of his opponents. I think he understood that at the heart of their argument was a fear of a perceived lack of integrity. The Pharisees could not fathom the murky gray waters of Gentiles coming into relationship without the Law of Moses playing a part in the process as had been their experience; they struggled with understanding that a relationship with God had always been based upon the grace and mercy of God – even in their journey towards faith in the finished work of Jesus at the cross of Calvary. To them, the Gentiles were not coming into relationship with God on the same pathway as they had, so they were concerned about the integrity of the entire enterprise. In many ways, I think they believed they were trying to protect the early church from a lack of integrity.
And again, I think James understands their stance but ultimately he knows that he cannot lead the church to endorse their stance because to do so would be to add something the grace of God in salvation which would inevitably make the message of salvation null and void since it would be based upon man’s working to gain God’s grace (an oxymoron if ever there was one).
At the end of the day, James, and the letter that the church adopts on behalf of the new Gentile believers, makes it plain and simple: You are saved by grace, through faith alone in Christ Jesus and you can keep that message of salvation pure by resisting idolatry and sexual immorality, and being sensitive to secondary issues among brothers and sisters in Christ. The only question left now is: How will the Gentile believers receive the letter? How will they respond to what the church in Jerusalem has decided?
4: THE DOCTRINAL STATEMENT IS DELIVERED (VV. 30 – 35)
In verses 30 – 35, Paul and Barnabas and their band of brothers deliver the doctrinal statement from Jerusalem, and they also continue to teach and exhort the new believers and the Gentile believers rejoice in the simplicity of the message they receive. Verse 31 confirms this when Luke tells us that “when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.”
Now it may seem weird to us to think that a short list of ethical requirements for a believer would be encouraging but let’s not forget that these new Gentile believers were waiting to hear whether or not they would be required to be circumcised and observe the entire Mosaic Law.
This short list of ethical standards for believers would have been really encouraging in light of the dismal possibility of adult circumcision – not to mention the heavy weight of the Mosaic Law. The bottom line here is that the Gentiles do what we often forget to do: They rejoice in the simplicity of the message of salvation.
APPLICATION…
Now, I think it is important for us to think about how this all applies to us. Again, keeping in mind that the book of Acts unfolds like a continuous warzone with God advancing his kingdom through the message of the gospel, and also remembering that our enemy is crouching around the corner, ready to oppose God at every turn, but also remembering that the enemy cannot outsmart God, we also have to agree that we have a part to play in extending the kingdom of God by not only being to proclaim the gospel but by also fighting to keep the gospel pure. Here are some ways from the implications of the text that I think we can fight to keep the gospel pure.
1: Resist the urge to add anything to the process of salvation. Salvation is a gift of God that comes by grace through faith and not by any man’s works so that none of us can boast in ourselves but instead so that we can boast in Christ and Christ alone. Jesus plus anything equals nothing. I would even submit that if any of us are struggling in our relationship with God the Father, it is because we have lost sight of what it means to be saved by grace and have therefore lost our awe and reverence for God because we have begun to focus on what we need to do or what we should be doing or what God may require us to do now that we are saved.
2: Rely on the grace of Jesus Christ for a salvation-based relationship with God. A graceless relationship with God becomes a heavy burden to bear. Let me suggest that if this is you, then you might want to try coming to God with nothing but your sin in your hands so that our Good Father can shower you with his grace once again and then you can be set free from your legalism and enabled to enjoy God as a Good Father once again.
3: Resist idolatry and sexual impurity, while being sensitive to secondary issues. Idolatry is and sexual immorality are cancerous infections that creep into a believer’s life deceptively and quickly develop strong roots if they are not rooted out constantly. Idolatry can range from vocational idolatry to relational idolatry to ministry idolatry to financial idolatry to family idolatry to victimhood idolatry and the list can go on and on; you name it, and we turn all sorts of good things into ultimate things as we twist God’s Word and make up our own rules. Sexual sin is pervasive and constantly knocking on the door in the media we consume to the scantily clad people we encounter in our community. If we are not careful, we can quickly begin to lead double lives with secret sexual sins that we are feeding instead of starving.
The last piece here is the sensitivity to secondary issues. The thing I have observed is that we love to argue secondary things vehemently while ignoring the first two. We are often guilty of idolatry (being in a relationship with another manmade god such as vocation, family, hobbies, money, etc. at the expense of a vibrant relationship with the living God) and we are often guilty of sexual immorality (even at the mere thought level like the Pharisees who wanted to throw stones at the prostitute) while investing untold amounts of time on our pet peeve secondary issues. I think that if we all focused on true repentance from the first two (idolatry and sexual immorality) then it would be easier for us to extend grace on secondary issues among brothers and sisters in Christ.
4: Rejoice in the simple message of salvation. This final principle is the one that I think is like the nail in the coffin. When we cease to rejoice in the simplicity of the message of salvation, I think we fall into distant relationship with God which then affects our horizontal relationships with others which ultimately leads to us expecting from other people what only the Lord can satisfy. It might be good for some of us to begin praying for the Lord to restore to us the joy of our salvation and then rely on his grace to restore that joy.
CONCLUSION…
As we conclude our study today, I would say that the bottom line in all of this is that we need to be reminded that salvation is by grace through faith alone in the finished work of Jesus at the cross and empty tomb whereby we have the hope of heaven that is not attached to our performance. I think if we could all etch this on our hearts, then we might take a step forward in fighting for the purity of the gospel. – Amen!
1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).
2 Kent, Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 1996), 195.