The background to the sermons preached at the Jerusalem council.
We read in acts chapter 6 verse 7 that the word of God was spreading and the number of disciples increased rapidly and that a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. So we realize as we move on through the book of Acts that there was amongst these priests an old Pharisee mindset. These were the Judaizes who taught that you had to be first to circumcised and become a Jew to be saved in Jesus Christ.
Paul and Barnabas were preaching the gospel to gentiles throughout the Galatia region (Pisidian Antioch, Lystra, Derbe) and many gentiles had come to faith. It was at Antioch too where these Judaizers were putting a burden on them they would not be able to bear. Here at Antioch the gospel came to Gentiles as a result of the persecution that broke out after the death of Stephen.
As a matter of irony here was Paul discipling the great number of people who came to the Lord at Antioch when it was he himself who was part of putting Stephen to death and dragging the believers off to prison that resulted in the scattering of the believers and the gospel of grace reaching Antioch.
At Antioch Paul and Barnabas had poured into the church and discipled them to the point where the Holy Spirit set Paul and Barnabas apart for their missionary journey through Cyprus and Galatia.
But the Judiazers had come and disturbed the Antioch believers. If you are not circumcised, they falsely claimed, you cannot be saved. This was a heavy load for the church to carry and Paul and Barnabas were very disturbed that this had happened, and Paul and Barnabas were in sharp dispute with these pharisaic Jews who we also call the Judaizers.
Even on the way to the Jerusalem Council Paul and Barnabas were sharing how the Gentiles had come to faith in Christ. The believers were rejoicing as they shared the news.
The Council
The first thing mentioned is Paul and Barnabas sharing what the Lord had done through the Gentiles. Following this the Pharisaic Jewish believers gave their side of the argument. It was after much discussion we have Peter giving his discourse.
Peter’s sermon to the council (Acts 15:7-10)
Peter took the floor and said you know God made it plain that He wanted Gentiles to embrace the gospel through my own words. Peter had to be referring to the Acts 10 experience where God gave him a vision three times about Gentiles coming to Christ. In his vision of the sheet he is not to call them unclean. Then at the conclusion of the vision a Gentile who had a vision of Christ calls Peter to come to his house so he could here what Peter had to say.
After Peter explained the Cornelius's story and told the group the Gentiles received the same Holy Spirit as the Jews. He added that by the grace of the Lord Jesus gentiles are saved just the same as the Jews. After Peter finished his discourse to the council there was a stunned silence.
Paul and Barnabas sermon (Acts 15:12)
When the room was quiet after Peter’s discourse reported. At that time in the stunned silence Paul and Barnabas gave their message to the council. The message is not recorded but we have all the story in Acts chapter 13-14 and how they moved their ministry to the Gentiles as recorded in Acts 13:46-48). When Paul and Barnabas finished James spoke up.
James Jerusalem council sermon (Acts 15:13-21)
He began by saying what Peter has said is in line with what we have in the prophets. James is quoting the prophet Amos chapter 9:11-12 that gentiles will bear the name of the Lord and so all of this, Gentiles receiving the grace of salvation, is in agreement with what Peter saw happen at the household of Cornelius and consistent with the Old Testament prophets. Besides this Amos passage there are many examples of the prophets foretelling the gospel reaching the gentiles and coming to the mountain of the Lord.
All of this is enough for James to give his conclusion they don't need to make it difficult for Gentiles who are turning to God. And just to give them a few simple moral guidelines and let grace continue. They should foster the grace of salvation to the gentiles and so this was the conclusion of the Jerusalem council with Peter’s discourse Paul and Barnabas’s discourse James’s discourses carrying the day and grace winning the hour.
The council letter
After James's message the council agreed unanimously, and they ask two of their trusted people Judas (he's also called Barsabbas) and Silas to go along with Paul and Barnabas carry the letter back to Antioch so they don't have to be disturbed by the Judiazers that they can be confident that you're saved by grace through faith and it's not of works. It was an encouraging message for the church at Antioch as they embraced the council letter and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
conclusion
Paul’s first letter was to the Galatians where this same legalism issue resurfaced. This is not a one-time defence of grace, but legalism is a ongoing threat. We must always be defenders of grace. Manmade traditions can unnecessarily burden the believers.
There is always a ditch on both sides of the road. There is licentiousness and immorality, like what took place in the church at Corinth. But there is another threat, it is an ongoing threat of legalism like what Paul and Barnabas worked to prevent in Antioch and even after that Jerusalem Council victory later took root in the Galatian churches.
Peter, James, and Barnabas were heroes and defenders of grace at the Jerusalem council. But at some point, even Peter, James and Barnabas were taken in by the Judiazers and joining them in their hypocrisy. That is why in his first letter written Paul says, I had to rebuke Peter to his face. (Galatians 2:11-13)
Let us remember the gospel is by grace not by works. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
We need to live by the wisdom of the Jerusalem council with the great leaders like Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and James and not make if difficult for anyone turning to the Lord. The death burial and resurrection of Jesus is available as a free gift to all who put their faith in Christ.
