Acts 15

1. Background

The gentile church has been operating now for about 10 years as we turn the page to chapter 15. It has been approximately 20 years since Christ was resurrected.   For the first 10 years of the church, Christians were mostly Jews only who previously held to Mosaic law and visited the temple in Jerusalem for worship.  For the most part, Jewish Christians held to their Judaistic practices and so when the gentile church began to rise, some Jews taught that non-Jews must be circumcised and keep the law in order to be saved (have eternal life).

Chapter 15 is mainly a soteriological issue.  The church in Antioch would have had a mixture of Jews and Gentiles worshipping together which would have otherwise been a deal stopper for most Jews who would keep themselves perfectly separate from gentile customs.  But when some Jewish Christians came from Judah and began teaching they must obey the law in order to be saved, Christians in Antioch began to dispute that point.

And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

The church at Antioch desired to send men to Jerusalem church to find out the truth.  The men who came to Antioch and taught circumcision supposedly came from this church, so they wanted to know what the church’s stance on the issue was.

² When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

Once they arrived, the apostles and elders of the church convened together and there was much dispute.  Finally, Peter stood up and retold the story about how God sent him to a gentiles house and instructed him through a vision that the gentiles were no longer “unclean”.  Once Peter was there, the Holy Spirit fell on the gentiles and had their own mini Pentecost experience, signifying that the uncircumcised Gentiles were saved just as the Jews were.

⁸ And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; ⁹ And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

So the council determined that gentiles were being saved by God without adding anything to their faith in Jesus Christ.

¹¹ But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

After the men kept their silence, James, whom I supposed to be the pastor of the church at Jerusalem, stood up and reconfirmed God’s working through Peter, but he also appealed to the authority of scripture (Amos 9:11-12) that it is indeed God’s will that the gentiles would be saved (and still remain gentiles).

¹⁵ And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, ¹⁶ After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: ¹⁷ That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.

James also suggested writing a letter to exhort the gentile churches for the sake of the Jews who are in their cities and in their church congregations.  The letter was to help the gentiles maintain a good relationship with their Jewish brothers and sister in Christ by not eating things offered to idols, eating blood, and abstaining from immorality.

¹⁹ Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: ²⁰ But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. ²¹ For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

The content of the letter was not to add conditions for salvation but guidelines for gentile believers to unify socially well with Jewish believers.

After the council, Judas and Silas were sent to return to Antioch with the letter which they read to the congregation.  The gentile Christians of Antioch were encouraged and confirmed by the council’s judgment, the matter of circumcision or following the law was not required to be in Christ.

²⁴ Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment…

³¹ Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation. ³² And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them

2. What we learn about God.

God chose Jesus Christ and faith in Him to be sufficient for salvation.  This is such a powerful passage in the Bible that gives us the authority on what one must do to be saved.  The question is specifically regarding circumcision and keeping the law of Moses, but the principle discovered is able to settle the issue.  Acts is narrative so this truth of faith in Jesus alone is sufficient for salvation has been brewing ever since Peter was sent to Cornelius house back in chapter 10.

The Jews first turned to Christ when Peter preaching repentance in Acts 2, some 20 years prior to this event.  The Holy Spirit entered those the Christian believers and gave evidence of a new dispensation that was foretold in Joel that God’s spirit would be poured out on His people.  Later, because it was necessary, God sent Peter to Cornelius’ house, a gentile, and witness the Holy Spirit come upon him in the same way.  The soteriological wall between Jew and Gentile was destroyed (see Ephesians 2:12-14).   What broke it?  Grace became the common denominator for all who will be saved.

¹¹ But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

The “we” in this verse are Jews speaking toward the faith in Christ that merits their salvation and not law-keeping (or anything else).  So the principle is here.  Nothing can be added to God’s plan of salvation through faith in Christ alone.  This principle confronts what many today believe about what is required salvation ie.  keeping the Sabbath (7th Day Adventist), observing papal authority (Roman Catholicism), baptismal regeneration (Cambellism, Church of Christ), and any number of numerous cults that add and take away from God’s word to produce a system of rituals are attempt to redeem souls.

God chose His Word to be the final authority on all matters of revelation.  Paul and Barnabas rehearsed to the council what God did through miracles.  There were notable and gave evidence that God was doing something.  However, the final appeal was to God’s written word.  The miracles and the events that happened are all elements that were pre-defined and interpreted through Scripture. Pentecost and the miracles following that day were all foretold in scripture.

James appealed to the will of God has he understood it through scripture rather than attempting to ascribe something to God He never said.  Only after James reviewed the authority of Scripture did he pronounced his own judgment in verse 19.

¹⁹ Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God.

In the context, troubling them would mean adding any stipulation to their Christian identity, but James realizes his authority does not go beyond what is written in Scripture.

3. How it all points to Jesus.

Jesus Alone. The context of chapter 15 is the whole bible’s story from men’s fall to redemption in Christ.  There is no greater problem than man’s sin problem that separates him from God.  Jesus was sent and we are commanded not to make people’s lives ultimately more comfortable and or convenient, but to tell everyone about such a Savior.  We are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, v11.

Jesus, the Word of God made Flesh. John understood that Jesus is the infleshing of God’s Word.  “Thus saith the Lord” is the most potent thing in the universe.  God speaks and it happens.  God speaks and He reveals Himself. When Jesus came, “Thus saith the Lord” became a human being and thus gives us a perfect representation of God’s power and who He is!  Jesus is the center of our worship!  His commands are the creed of our faith!  We repent of other ways for His ways!  He is worthy of our surrender and every sacrifice! And our lot in life is to know Him and make Him known! Amen!

4. Application

Recently a student asks how he could help a colleague battle depression.  Bluntly speaking, we were not sent to battle depression or fix social relationships people have.  We are sent for the same reason Jesus was sent, to save sinners.  “Even as my Father has sent me, so send thy you.”  But the Gospel message does not leave surface problems unanswered.

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, which in the end is a total and fundamental change.  A person’s life is corrupted and lost in darkness until they come to Jesus.  The Holy Spirit indwells them and they are now on a life course of change. So how can we help my student’s colleague?  By loving him and telling him about Jesus. The Gospel is not a slap on bandaid, but it is the elixir of life.  All other ways lead to death, but the Gospel leads to life.

If yourself or your friend is battling depression, we first seek Jesus, then we will be informed by the Holy Spirit on a life-long journey of change.  There is no joy like the joy of the Lord, and no one can experience it outside of Jesus Christ and a life built on the authority of God’s word.