JUL 14 2013PM Two Questions About Salvation
Acts 15:1-5
We have just gotten in from Paul’s first missionary journey. For the next three Sunday evenings, including tonight, we are going to be talking about things that happened in what is called “The Great Jerusalem Council.” How many of you have heard of it? In seminary, we spent some time on it and there were several questions on tests concerning this council. Why was it so great?
There are two reasons why the council is referred to as great. One was that all the apostles were involved in its discussion and decision. And the other is that the council declared forever that a man is saved apart from ritual, saved by the grace of God through faith alone. Can you see why it is important to us?
Do people today still tend to rely on ritual to be saved? Do we as Baptists? How?
Baptism. Lord’s Supper. Coming to church.
There are two questions that arose at the great Jerusalem council that we are going to look at tonight. The first question was a basic question that asked, “Is a ritual or ceremony necessary to be saved? READ Acts 15: 1-3. There are 5 points:
1. The disputers from the Judean churches were a powerful force; so powerful that their argument and emphasis have continued down through the centuries and are still disputed today. We need to note that the visitors from Jerusalem moved among the Antioch believers and taught their own ideas. So they were teachers and leaders, well-versed in the Scripture. They were esteemed.
So what they said was considered very important. The problem was if the disputers were allowed to continue, the believers of Antioch were bound to become upset and confused. The result would have been that the Antioch church would have been split and its ministry and witness made ineffective.
2. Second point. Scripture is clear on what the dispute was. They were saying, READ v. 1.
So a person’s eternal fate was at stake. They weren’t saying the believers had to perform the ritual to please God, or to please the church, or to show your love or anything like that. They were saying that the ritual had to be performed in order to be saved. In that, they were saying that the ritual itself is what saved them.
And, too, the issue was not whether a believer should be circumcised. Paul never said circumcision was wrong. He said that since Christ had come, circumcision was a personal matter and a matter of conscience. So circumcision was not the issue. The issue was whether the ritual of circumcision saved you. The answer was critical, affecting all generations of believers.
So the question is, is a person’s confrontation and saving experience to be focused upon Jesus Christ or upon Jesus Christ and something else? Is a person’s mind and attention, his faith, his profession, his testimony, his witness to be Jesus alone, or Jesus and a ritual? Does God save a person whose body, mind, and soul are focused on His Son alone or upon Jesus and some ritual?
The answer should be clear. God has only one Son who loves Him supremely, only one Son who has proven His love by obeying God, even to the point of death on the cross.
• Could God add anything to the plan of salvation?
• Could God want a person’s mind to be upon anything other than His Son?
• Is it possible that something else is needed other than Jesus Himself?
This doesn’t mean that a person shouldn’t be baptized or not to share in any other ritual or ordinance, like the Lord’s Supper. Even though the baptism doesn’t save you, you should follow Jesus’ example and be obedient to Him by being baptized. Even though the LS doesn’t save you, we are to be obedient to Christ and observe it until He comes back.
This argument about circumcision had been addressed by Paul and Barnabas before. Note that this was a sharp dispute and debate (v.2). The arguments were frequent and long. They involved the questioning and challenging of each other as well as sharp dissension. And they were unyielding with neither side giving an inch. (Almost sounds like one of our business meetings.)
This must have been a critical issue because Paul would not have wasted his time on some useless argument.
3. Point #3 is that there was a decision of the Antioch church to seek counsel from the Jerusalem church. The Antioch church was sure of its position. They were not looking for the Jerusalem church to enlighten them on the doctrine of salvation.
The church sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem for 3 reasons.
a. God told Paul to go. In Gal. 2:2 Paul says, “I went in response to a revelation.” God willed a great church council that would issue a great verdict proclaiming the truth to every generation.
b. A declaration by the apostles would carry great weight and help tremendously in silencing those who would add a ritual to the requirements for salvation.
c. A declaration by the Jerusalem church would provide a great weapon to use in the struggle against “ritual salvation.” If the Jerusalem church would issue a strong verdict denying the necessity of ritual for salvation, the position of “Salvation by grace” alone would be greatly strengthened.
4. The 4th point is there was the triumphant and glorious march of a great church, encouraging and loving God’s servants. V. 3 says the church sent them on their way. As Paul and Barnabas began their journey to Jerusalem, a great company from the Antioch church escorted them as a mark of great affection and honor. Despite the opposition that seemed to be in every church toward Paul, there were some believers who loved and respected him deeply.
5. The 5th point is that the servants utilized every opportunity to preach. As Paul and Barnabas traveled toward Jerusalem, they proclaimed Christ to the believers where churches had been founded. They also preached about the great movement of God that had taken place among the Gentiles.
As they spread the news to the Samaritan and Phoenician churches, it says they were very glad, or had great joy.
The Phoenician churches were founded by laymen over a decade before. (Acts 11:19). This was over 10 years earlier.
The Samaritan churches had been founded by Philip and Peter and John. (Acts 8:5, 25)
READ v. 4-5. And here we have the 2nd question we need to answer tonight. Does a man have to accept the whole law before he be saved? Three points and then we will stop.
1. Paul and his company were welcomed by the Jerusalem church, including the apostles and elders. They all seemed to be present: the council was a critical session. The word “welcomed” in Greek has the idea of a formal meeting of the church. Paul was reporting to the church…the apostles and elders…in a called meeting. Apparently there were two days of meetings. V. 4 speaks of a meeting for them to report everything God had done through them. And when we get to v. 6 it appears that a second meeting was held to discuss this question.
Note that Paul reported everything God had done. The saving of men “by grace through faith” was not his doing. God was the One who was accepting people through faith alone.
2. The Jerusalem disputers were believers who “belonged to the party of Pharisees.”
3. The enlarged debate. When I say the enlarged debate, I am referring the fact that the question in Jerusalem became much larger than mere circumcision. In Antioch the question had been, “Does a man have to be circumcised to be saved?’ In Jerusalem the enlarged question was, “Does a man have to keep the whole law to be saved and accepted into the church? Does he have to accept he law as well as accept Christ?”
And the root questions for all generations are:
- Can a person (a) earn the favor of God? Or (b) does he receive the favor of God?
- Is a person (a) acceptable to God because he keeps the law? (Ten Commandments) Or is he (b) saved by confessing that he breaks the law and is utterly dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ?
- Does he (a) work to make himself righteous? Or does he (b) cast himself upon Jesus’ righteousness?
- Does he (a) say, “Lord, I come in my own righteousness? Or (b) “Lord, I come in Jesus’ righteousness?”
- Does he (a) say, “Lord, I come offering my own package of works?” Or (b) “Lord, I come needing your mercy for coming short?”
- Does a person (a) come to God to be praised for what he has achieved by his own hands and efforts? Or (b) does he come to praise God for what God has done for him in Jesus?
- Is man (a) to receive the glory because he has done good? Or (b) is the glory to be lifted up to God for who He is and what He has done?
Verse 6 says that the apostles and elders met to consider this question about salvation. We’ll start there next time with Peter’s sermon and declaration on salvation.
