We continue our series on Why the Reformation matters today by looking at the importance of faith. One of the critical pieces that came out of the Reformation was the belief that Faith Alone makes me acceptable to God. We will return back to Sean’s story a little later today.
500 years after Luther nailed his protest to the door of his local church in Wittenburg, the principles that shaped the Reformation still matter. This monk, with a mallet, changed the conversation and led a time when people everywhere rediscovered the gospel. In a summer of 2017, Pew Research Center survey, 46% of individuals believe faith alone is all that is needed to get to heaven. Leaving around half of American Christians believing it is both good deeds and faith that get you into heaven.1 When I see this, I say, “Uh Oh!”
Acts 15
God sent the Holy Spirit to 120 believers after His resurrection. Peter had preached the first sermon on the Day of Pentecost. 3,000 people were saved in 1 day, and the church was off to the races. Jesus had promised that when the Holy Spirit came on the believers, they would be His witnesses: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). It was a breathtaking prediction and commandment. Jesus was asking His Jewish followers to take the gospel which is the message of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to people of no religion and people of different religions. It was to be for all cultures, all races, and all generations. The gospel is to be taken everywhere and the gospel is to be shared with everybody. Repeat: The gospel is to be taken everywhere and the gospel is to be shared with everybody. People were hearing for the first time that salvation is not earned by being good, doing your best, keeping the rules, or practicing religion, but rather salvation is a gift of grace gained by faith.
Today’s Scripture
But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell” (Acts 15:1–11, 22-29).
Acts 15 is usually not something we spend time on. I’ll tell you one of the reasons why: It’s a long, long theological debate. For us modern people, a theological debate is b-o-r-i-n-g. Who cares how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? This story tells about a debate that wasn’t a polite conversation over drinks and appetizers. This was a heated, emotional debate over heaven and hell and how to please God. The issue that split Protestants and Catholics during the Reformation was disagreement over whether Christians attain salvation in heaven through faith in God alone, or through a combination of faith and good works. Martin Luther and other Protestant reformers in the 16th century rediscovered the belief that salvation is attained only through faith in Jesus and his atoning sacrifice on the cross. You will hear this referred to as FAITH ALONE (sola fide).
I want to show you four tracks of progress you can travel when you believe the gospel by faith alone.
1. Gospel Precision vs. Just Being Nice2
Before we go too deep into any of this, how important is it to be precise with the Bible’s message? How important is it to have an accurate grasp of the gospel? Or, aren’t Christians simply supposed to nice? Does it matter what a person believes as long as they’re good and nice? We all know precision is important for brain surgery and when you’re defusing nuclear bombs, but precision with the Bible? There are so many gospel versions trotting around America & we tolerate a wide variety of beliefs.
Acts 15 is a pivotal chapter in the book of Acts. It’s a watershed moment in the history of Christianity. Paul had just ended the first of three missionary journeys in which he had traveled over 1,400 miles by boat, by donkey, and by foot going all over Asia Minor (Acts 13:1-14:28). For the first time, the Gospel was going out, not just to Jews, but now to everyone else (Gentiles). Christianity is for everybody. This was not a Jerusalem thing or a Jewish thing, but this was a God thing.
Yet, a serious question is raised in verse 1: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1b). In one corner are Christian believers from a Jewish background who felt it was important that all new believers to the church should also be circumcised and keep the Old Testament laws. In the other corner are Paul and Barnabas. The issue of debate with the essence of the gospel itself. Just how important is it to be accurate with the gospel? The gospel is a message and the word “gospel” means “good news.” We are concerned about fake news in our political landscape, but it is even more important to distinguish fake news from the good news of the gospel. Police officers regularly qualify with their service weapons. Accuracy is critical because an officer must shoot at the right person and stop the assailant quickly.3
If you have installed cabinets into your kitchen and you find yourself off in your measurements by only a few inches, you’ll discover your refrigerator will not fit. The gospel is a message of how God delivered us from danger. The gospel is the good news that God has accomplished our salvation for us through Christ in order to bring us into a right relationship with Him and eventually to destroy all the results of sin in the world.4
1. Gospel Precision vs. Just Being Nice
2. Gospel Freedom vs. Religious Burdens
The message of faith alone is spiritual freedom. It’s the equivalent of driving a Porsche 911 convertible along Highway 1 off the California coast. Let me show you why.
Opinions were running deep on this issue and the meeting probably went over several days. We are told a little more about those who raise the question: “But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses” (Acts 15:5). Paul was in a city called “Antioch” a Gentile city about 250 miles north of Jerusalem. Paul had settled there with another teacher named Barnabas. Together, they were offering God’s gift of grace, and these Gentiles were eagerly receiving it. Reports began to filter back into Jerusalem that all these Gentiles were becoming Christians, but they were not becoming Jewish. As a male, in order to become Jewish, you had to undergo surgery to be circumcised. These new gentile believers were being baptized but not circumcised. Here was the question before everyone: Can you have faith in Christ without obeying the Law of Moses? Here is the question before us: Can you attain heaven by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone? And there’s a lot at stake here because twice the apostles warn that if the message is wrong, then the burden will be heavy.
“Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10)
“For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements…” (Acts 15:28).
There is widespread confusion among Christians on this important issue. Three Counterfeit Gospels In the next few moments, identify the one that your heart drifts towards most easily. For the next few moments, I want everyone to be really quiet and don’t get up to go anywhere. The light bulbs are going to come on for some people around you (and perhaps even you). The Gospel of Accomplishment: “You must believe and live right to be saved.” “I obey and because I obey, I’m accepted by God.” You could also call this, “The Performance Gospel.” The Performance Gospel leads to the Performance Trap – “I must meet certain standards to feel good about myself.”5 This is really close to what was happening in our story: “But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses” (Acts 17:5). Essentially, they had two demands: 1) Everyone was to be circumcised, and 2) everyone was to keep all the laws of Moses (Old Testament). “This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised” (Genesis 17:10).4 Along with circumcision came all the clean laws and all the ceremonial laws. There were so many things too numerous to count. You can read it in the book of Leviticus, and there are other places too in the Old Testament. There were all sorts of things you could eat, and you couldn’t eat, you could wear, and you couldn’t wear, you could do, and you couldn’t do, you could touch, and you couldn’t touch.
Are you trusting in your own abilities to earn acceptance with God?
The Gospel of Accomplishment: “You must believe and live right to be saved.”
Here’s the second counterfeit gospel: The Gospel of Approval: “I’m defined by what other people think about me.” Maybe you come from a traditional culture where your parent’s approval really matters. This leads you to be Approval Addict - “I must be approved by certain others to feel good about myself.” If you combine these first two counterfeit gospels, you’ll find yourself in this equation. My self-worth = My Performance + Others’ Opinions. The American version of this ancient counterfeit gospel runs like this: When you’re little, you’re told, “You decide what you want to be.” And so, you write down your goals of having a gold medal in women’s gymnastics by the time you’re 15. Or, you want to play for the NFL or a fashion model. But after a few years in school, you’re busy crossing off the list: “Well, I cannot do that, and I’ll never be able to do this.”
The Gospel of Accomplishment: “You must believe and live right to be saved.”
The Gospel of Approval: “I’m defined by what other people think about me.”
Here’s our third counterfeit gospel: The Gospel of Self-Management - “You can change. Look inside you for the power to change.” This is really close to the first counterfeit gospel above, but I felt it needed another twist on it to grab your attention.
Self-help books drive this gospel: “You can change. Look inside you for the power to change.” “Reach back into your childhood and overcome your shame.” Soon, the people who attempt to fix themselves by self-management find they lack the power to do so. Shame says, “I am what I am. I cannot change. I am hopeless.” The voices of shame arrive and tell us we have failed, and we are unworthy of love. The truth is counterfeits gospels will lay a heavy burden on you. Almost all the world’s religions will put burdens on you.
1. Gospel Precision vs. Just Being Nice
2. Gospel Freedom vs. Religious Burdens
3. Gospel Friends vs. “I’m Fine By Myself”
Do you know why believing friends are important? There was a dispute. There was a long debate. “Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church…” (Acts 15:22a). “We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden… (Acts 15:27-28a). How did they know what the Holy Spirit wanted? Did they sit and listen for a voice? No. What did they do? They studied the Bible together in community. When they agreed on what the Bible taught, they said, “That’s what the Holy Spirit is saying.” When you come together and study the Bible together, you can have more confidence that you’re reading the Bible rightly. Why? Because everybody has their prejudices and their biases.
Verse 29 lists the four provisions that James originally proposed back in verse 20. Everyone heard the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures that faith alone in Jesus alone saves. These four were something different. These four items listed were concessions to their Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ, so the church could be one.
1. Gospel Precision vs. Just Being Nice
2. Gospel Freedom vs. Religious Burdens
3. Gospel Friends vs. “I’m Fine By Myself”
4. Gospel Acceptance vs. Isolation
“[God] made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:9). The gospel did a great thing here: it brought gentiles and Jews together. All their lives, Jews were told the gentiles were unclean. I’m saved through faith alone in Christ alone by God’s grace alone.
Conclusion
Martin Luther wrote a book in 1520 entitled The Freedom of a Christian, and inside its pages, he tells a story. Luther tells the story of a king who marries a prostitute. When the two marry, the prostitute becomes, by status, a queen. It is not that her behavior has changed. She was not made a queen by her queenly behavior, and so won the right to the king’s hand. No, she was and is a wicked harlot through and through. However, when the king made his marriage vow, the prostitute’s status changed. When a sinner accepts God’s promise in the gospel, a marriage happens between King Jesus and the sinner.7 Thus, she is, simultaneously a prostitute at heart and a queen by status. When we come to accept the promises of the gospel by faith, a great exchange takes place: all my sin goes over to King Jesus while all His goodness comes over to me, a harlot.
EndNotes
1 http://www.pewforum.org/2017/08/31/u-s-protestants-are-not-defined-by-reformation-era-controversies-500-years-later/; accessed October 29, 2017.
2 I was helped by Timothy Keller’s outline, “Clarifying the Gospel, April 14, 2014, sermon transcript, Logos.
3 http://coldcasechristianity.com/2013/when-your-lifes-on-the-line-accuracy-is-more-important-than-sincerity/; accessed October 24, 2017.
4 Timothy Keller, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 31.
5 Robert McGee, The Search for Significance, 2003.
6 The full account of the command is here: “You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” (Genesis 17:10–14)
7 Michael Reeves, The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2009), 50.
