Hello everyone. Good to meet up online again, to remember the Lord together, to worship Him and hear from His Word.
• We are going to look at Acts 15 today, where a council was convened in Jerusalem to answer a very important question: “How are we saved?”
• Supposed we died and stood before God and He asked, “Why should I let you into heaven?” What would you say? What do you think you would say?
• “I have been a good person. I tried to live the Christian life the best I can. I read the Bible and I give to the poor. I’ve been attending my Bible study on Zoom regularly. I have been serving the Lord…”
• Can I be saved? Will that be enough to grant you access into heaven?
That’s the question the early church was confronted with. Are we justified before God by faith in Christ or by the works of the Law? Or faith in Christ plus works of the Law?
• By the end of this sermon, we will get the answer. The council at Jerusalem resolved it for us.
Let us pray and ask the Lord to speak to our hearts again this morning.
Enlighten us, Lord, so that we can be sure of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Your Son is our righteousness, the only atoning sacrifice that You have prepared for us.
Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds and lead us in the way everlasting. Our faith in you will bring about a change in our lives. May we not turn from your way, the only way that can bring us life abundant and life eternal.
Keep us from all false doctrines and false teachings. Grant us wisdom and discernment, to understand your truth and walk in it.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. In your name, we pray, AMEN.
Let’s read the Word of God - Acts 15:1-5
15:1 Some 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." 2 This 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. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they travelled 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.
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."
This was a pervasive thought: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” (15:1)
• We have Jewish believers coming from Judea to Antioch teaching this.
• And then in 15:5 when in Jerusalem they met a group of Pharisees repeating the same: “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the Law.”
• This wasn’t about some preferences or customs, but the very essence of salvation. UNLESS the Gentile believers follow the Jewish Law they CANNOT be saved.
Having understood the message of grace and seen the works of God’s grace among the Gentiles, Paul and Barnabas stood up to them.
• They had sharp dispute and debate because this has to do with the truth of our salvation in Christ. Are we justified by faith in Christ or do we have to do more?
• This has to do with the essentials of the Christian faith. It’s not about different styles, practices or preferences in doing things.
• It has to do with the essence of the Gospel. You change this, you change the Gospel.
• Must Gentiles be circumcised and keep the Mosaic Law to be saved? Can they be saved apart from the Law, without being Jewish?
The issue at stake was huge. The Antioch church did the right thing. They sent Paul and Barnabas plus some other believers to Jerusalem.
• They need to nip this in the bud and resolve it with the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. It has to do with the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone.
The Pharisees are well known for their high regard for the law and their belief that one can be justified before God by keeping the law.
• Their identity has been tied to the Old Testament and the understanding of their covenant with God, framed by the rite of circumcision and the Mosaic Law.
• Right from the time of Abraham, circumcision was the mark of the old covenant and their identity as the “people of God”.
• So for the Gentile converts to be the “people of God” they must be initiated into Judaism through circumcision and then live under the Law of Moses.
Acts 15:6-11
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."
It was a long discussion. Luke highlighted for us the words of Peter, Barnabas and Paul and the concluding remarks by James, the leader of the council.
Peter recalled how the Lord expressed His will and initiated His move towards the Gentiles.
• Peter was led to Cornelius’ house, not on his own but by the Holy Spirit.
• He preached the Gospel and God showed His acceptance of the Gentiles when He poured out His Spirit upon those who believed.
God, who knows the heart, purified their hearts because of their faith in Christ, evidenced by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• Peter was taught by God not to call anything impure that He has made clean.
• He knew then that the salvation of the Gentiles was God’s will. “He made no distinction between us and them.” (15:9)
• They were saved and received into the Kingdom of God, apart from the Law and without circumcision.
15:10 “Why then do we 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?
• The Judaisers would like to think that by observing the Law they had “contributed” to their salvation, that their righteous deeds scored points with God and gained His favour. Therefore the Gentile converts have to do the same.
• But the reality was, Peter said, they were accepted by God, not through the works of the Law.
• The truth is, keeping to the Law did not and could not save the Jews too. “It was a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear.”
• So why are we pushing it down to the Gentiles?
15:11 Peter said NO emphatically! “No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
• Listen carefully to what Peter says. He wasn’t saying, “We are saved this way, and the Gentiles, another way. So let us just accept the different ways.”
• And he did not say, “It is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that THEY – the Gentiles – are saved, just as WE are” which would be what we expect.
• Instead, he turned it around and said, “Through the grace of Christ, WE are saved JUST AS they are.” We are like them; not getting them to be like us!
“Both we the Jews and they, the Gentiles, are saved the same way – through the grace of our Lord Jesus!”
• There is no other way because the Law cannot save us. No work of the Law can make us righteous before God.
• The same grace is needed for all, whether they are trying to follow the Law (like the Jews) or those without the Law like the Gentiles.
• All have sinned, and all are saved by grace through faith alone in Christ alone.
Our salvation is not based on any goodness in us or any good deeds on our part.
I have spent a large part of my life serving God, being raised in the church.
• I have participated in many ministries growing up and served in many different areas.
• But none of these count to my salvation. A pagan murderer on death row is just as close to salvation as I am.
• Rom 3:22b-24 “There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
Pastor Kent Hughes shares this incident that happened in a church in England. The church has a few mission centres in some of the poorest areas of the city.
Every year on the first Sunday of the new year, people from the church and the mission centres would gather together for the Holy Communion combine service.
On one occasion the pastor of the church saw a man who had been sentenced to prison, a burglar, kneeling to receive communion. Remarkably, as it happened, the man kneeling beside him was the very judge who, some years before, had dealt with his case and sent him to prison.
The pastor was deeply moved, thinking about how God’s grace had touched the burglar’s life and the wonderful change that had taken place.
After the service, the pastor caught up with the judge: “Did you see who was kneeling beside you at the communion this morning?”
“Yes,” the judge said. “I noticed. It’s a miracle of grace, a miracle of grace.”
“Yes,” said the pastor, “it is really marvellous to think of how he has been converted from that life of crime…”
“Oh no,” said the judge. “I wasn’t talking about him. I was talking about me! It’s no surprise to me that the burglar came to Christ. He knew the extent of his need.”
“But,” the judge said, “I was taught from my earliest age to live like a gentleman, that my word was my bond, that I was to say my prayers and go to church. I went through Oxford, obtained my degrees, was called to the bar, and eventually became a judge.”
“People like me rarely see their need for Christ. My miracle was greater than his.”
Self-righteousness, by its nature, blinds us from seeing the need of God’s grace.
Acts 15:12-18
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.
Barnabas and Paul spoke next and testified about what God has done among the Gentiles on their first missionary trip.
• The works of God’s grace authenticates the preaching of the message of His grace.
• We’ve seen over the years the many testimonies and transformations of life because of the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Luke did not tell us much about what they said, since he had already written about the trip in chapters 13 and 14.
• I believe Paul would have contributed much to the discussion, being a trained Pharisee himself and familiar to the requirements of the Law.
• And yet seeing what God has done among the Gentiles throughout his mission trip.
We have a fuller thesis of Paul’s teaching on this subject in his letter to the Galatians.
• He wrote Galatians right about this time, either just before or after this Jerusalem council, addressing to the churches in Galatia - Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe - the places he visited on his first missionary journey.
• Let me quote from Gal 2:16, “Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”
Finally, we have James, the brother of Jesus and leader of the council, speaking to wrap up the discussion.
• He reiterated the main point and supported it with Scripture (15:14-18).
• He quoted the prophecy in Amos 9:11-12 about God rebuilding the fallen tabernacle of David.
• 15:16-18 16"'After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, 17that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things' 18that have been known for ages."
God announced then that “the remnant of men [remnant of Edom, non-Israelites] and all the Gentiles who bear My name [all the nations that bear my name]” would be brought into His Kingdom, a promise fulfilled through the Messiah Jesus.
• Clearly, God’s people includes the nations – “the Gentiles who bear His Name”.
• God’s grace reaches out to both the believing Jews and the Gentiles because of their faith in the atoning sacrifice of His Son Jesus.
• It is not based on human traditions but on the revealed Word of God, evidenced by the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who believe Christ.
• Peter, Paul and Barnabas, and James, all testified to the salvation work of God for the Gentiles.
This is the truth of the Gospel - we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from good works.
• Good works follow saving faith, as James emphasized in his writing, in James 2.
• What good is it, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? (cf. 2:14)
• James questions faith that sees no life change, because true faith in Christ saves and it brings about fruit of repentance and of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 15:19-21
19"It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20Instead 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. 21For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."
Some practical instructions need to be given to the Gentile believers in the various cities so that they do not act in ways that would offend the Jewish community and affects the witness of the church among the Jews.
• We will touch on this in the next sermon.
Let’s end with the question we started, so if God asked, “Why should I let you into heaven?” What would you say? I think by now you would have your answer.
• Our only claim to heaven is Jesus Christ. He died and rose for us. He took the punishment for our sins. He has become my righteousness.
• Jesus is our only way and the only hope of entering into God’s holy presence.
• There is no other name; no other name given among men by which we can be saved.
Let’s pray.
Our loving Father, we thank you for the salvation and hope we have in Christ. May the message of the Gospel continues to take root in our hearts, and in every city and nation. Strengthen the many missionaries who are faithfully carrying the message of your grace around the world.
Forgive Lord, the unsaved for not acknowledging you. Forgive them for turning away from you, for living in rebellion and ignorance of your truth. We pray that those who are blind will see your goodness and love toward them.
For those who are discouraged and backslidden, revive them, O Lord and lead them back. Help us keep our eyes focused on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Let us not grow weary and lose heart in doing good and sharing Christ.
And so may the saving grace of Jesus Christ, the unchanging love of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and forevermore, AMEN.
