The Simplicity of God’s Grace
Acts 15:1-21
Intro: Life can seem pretty complicated. Relationships, problems, bills, debts, kids, parents, siblings, politics, taxes… these can all tangle together into a big blurry mass of confusion and complexity. But there is something that should always remain uncomplicated: the way God loves us. The way God loves us is so simple that it confounds us, amazes us, and just blows us away. But please remember this:
Prop: God’s amazing grace is amazingly simple.
TS: Acts 15 gives us a few clear signals that show us how simple God’s grace really is.
I. God’s Grace Travels Light (Acts 15:1-2)
1Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2This 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.
-There is not supposed to be a whole lot of baggage strapped onto the message of God’s grace and forgiveness. Why do people always try to add something to what Jesus did on the cross for us? It is not Jesus + good works = salvation. It is not Jesus + attending the right church = salvation. It is not Jesus + believing the right doctrine = salvation. Jesus + anything does not equal salvation.
-When people try to do math with God’s grace, it presents a distorted picture of who God is and what He expects from mankind. Should we do good works and attend church, and believe the right things? Yes, but salvation is a free gift from God and cannot be earned or deserved.
-We cannot qualify God’s grace by saying, “It only works, if….” The only conditions for receiving God’s grace are faith and sincerity. Receiving God’s grace means entering into a relationship, not signing some cold contract that contains hidden clauses and additional requirements. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. Having said that, let me also say that true faith results in action. Faith without action or (works) is called dead faith in the Bible. The action of faith is obedience to God’s revealed will, and to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
-So, be careful if you hear someone adding clauses to the good news about Jesus. Romans 10:13 says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." That sentence does not end with a comma, or a dash, or a conjunction of any kind. It ends with a period. Secondly…
II. God’s Grace Is a Cause for Celebration (Acts 15:3-4)
3 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 brothers very glad. 4 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.
-Those who were concerned with codes, regulations, and methods are not shown celebrating in this passage. Come to think of it, you don’t read about them sharing the good news about Jesus either. The only time you hear about them is when they are trying to make salvation more difficult than it really is.
-The believers in the churches, however, were very glad when they heard about the salvation of the Gentiles. They were connected with God’s heart enough to know what made Him happy.
-Last week I made reference to the prodigal son, or lost son from Luke 15. After this disrespectful, wasteful, party animal had burned all his bridges and came crawling back to his father whom he had disgraced, the father’s response was phenomenal! He threw a party for this son who was lost. It didn’t matter that he smelled like pigs, he had come home! It didn’t matter that he had become a homeless bum – the lost son had been found and was now home! Not everybody was excited as the father, but not everybody loves the way the father loves. God’s grace that brings lost people home is amazing! It is a cause for a celebration. Luke 15:10 says “There is joy [and rejoicing] in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents."
-God’s grace is a cause for celebration, and we should never stop celebrating. That’s why we can sing v.4 of Amazing Grace and mean it! When we’ve been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun; we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun. God’s grace doesn’t get old or worn out. His mercies are new! Let’s keep celebrating His grace!
III. God’s Grace Alone Is the Basis of our Forgiveness (Acts 15:5-11)
5 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 obey the law of Moses." 6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 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. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
-As we see the events of the Jerusalem Council played out in our text, it might help us to understand a little bit of the background. It may have been as much as a decade earlier (around A.D. 39 or 40) that Peter had gone to Cornelius’ house in obedience to the Holy Spirit and had shared the good news about Jesus with him and his household. They all believed on Jesus and were filled with the Holy Spirit, just like the Jews had been. Peter brought this report back to Jerusalem, but the issue of Gentile salvation had not come to a full boil until now. The church had not settled the issue, and it is apparent that these Christians who belonged to the party of the Pharisees had completely disregarded Peter’s report about God giving the full package of salvation to the Gentile Cornelius and his household- without any mention or requirement of keeping the Jewish Law. So, Peter finds it necessary to remind them of this in vv. 7-11. He sums it up in v.11: “We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” Only by the grace of Jesus – that is how we are forgiven!
-Again, when we try to add anything to God’s grace, it dilutes it, or taints it- however you want to look at it. I don’t know about you, but I need pure grace in my life. I need the real thing – not some watered-down, artificially enriched blend of grace. Finally…
IV. God’s Grace Produces Freedom, not Bondage (Acts 15:12-21)
12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up: "Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: 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. 19 "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 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. 21 For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."
-Peter, Paul, and Barnabas shared about how the good news about Jesus had set people free. Many had repented of their sins and had found God’s forgiveness. Others had been healed of sickness, disease, or other physical problems. The gospel (the good news about Jesus) brings life and hope. Just look at how Jesus viewed His mission on this earth: Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.”
-This was the same kind of mission Jesus had sent His apostles on. They were to minister light and freedom to those who were in darkness and bondage. Heaping 630 commandments on Gentiles was not in the best interest of freedom.
-Now, what about the 4 prohibitions James gives? In one sense, James may have been seeking to preserve the unity of the church by throwing a few bones to the believing Jews. Both groups would need to do some giving and taking to preserve their unity.
-Then, v.21 appears to give a final unifying word. To the Jews he is saying, “Should the Gentiles wish to know more about the Mosaic Law and become more Torah-observant, they can do so without you forcing it on them as an additional requirement for salvation.” To the Gentile Christians, he was also saying, “Please respect your Jewish brothers who observe these Mosaic ordinances.”
-The bottom line is that the grace of God frees you to become who you were meant to be. God has a plan for each of us and wants us to get close enough to Him to find out what it is and begin living it out. Let’s not put stumbling blocks in someone else’s way that would hinder them from discovering who they are in Christ.
-God’s grace is simple: Jesus died for sinners. We all have sinned. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Conclusion: I. God’s Grace Travels Light. II. God’s Grace Is a Cause for Celebration. III. God’s Grace Alone Is the Basis of our Forgiveness. IV. God’s Grace Produces Freedom, not Bondage. I would like to close with a video clip that illustrates God’s amazing grace. How simple it is, how forgiving it is! No matter how badly we blow it, or how unlovable we feel, God’s grace is more than enough to change us & make us new.
