Well
if any of you have ever sat around and wondered what the first meeting of a
presbytery or general assembly was like, here it is in the form of the
Jerusalem Council. I’ll explain that
statement in just a moment, but first I want to catch all of us up with where
we are in the narrative of Acts. You
see, now that we’re jumping around the book of Acts, I’m going to very quickly
bridge the gaps between where we leave off one week and where we pick up the
next. In essence, what we skipped over
since last Sunday is Paul’s first missionary journey. We saw him start it by going to Cyprus and
encounter Bar-Jesus, but we ended after the governor of Cyprus believed in
Christ as the Messiah. Well, from there
Paul went to Antioch in Pisidia (a different Antioch than the one we’ve seen,
that one is Antioch in Syria). While
there, he preached, he told the people the story of God’s people from Moses to
Jesus. And in his preaching, he gained
much attention, which angered the Jews.
So, the Jews there drove out Paul and Barnabas. They escaped to Iconium, where after
preaching the gospel, both Jews and Gentiles tried to stone him and Barnabas,
so they fled from there as well. They
made their way to Lystra. While there,
Paul healed a lame man who believed in Jesus, but the people interpreted it as
if the Greek gods had done it. They
mistook Barnabas and Paul for Zeus and Hermes in human disguise. While Paul was trying to make them see
otherwise, Jews from Antioch and Iconium (the two places they had already fled
from) came and stirred up people to stone Paul, and they did. They stoned him and drug him outside of the
city and left him for the vultures and buzzards to finish. However, Paul survived and went on his way
with Barnabas to Derbe, where they continued to preach. After their time there, they went back to
Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra and encouraged the Christians that were there. They even appointed elders to care for the
spiritual welfare of the churches in Paul’s absence. Finally, Paul and Barnabas were summoned to
Jerusalem for a meeting. Now, it’s
somewhere either on the way to and/or in the context of this meeting when Paul
penned his first epistle, his letter to the Galatians (14:27). His returning to Jerusalem marked the end of
his first missionary journey.
So,
that all happened in the jump that we made between our text last Sunday and our
text today, and it all took place in somewhere between 1½ to 2 years. Then there’s the Jerusalem Council, as we
Presbyterians like to call it, the first General Assembly. Our Baptist brothers and sisters refer to
this as the first Convention. Either
way, this is the first recorded meeting of the church as a whole. Council meetings just like this very much
would shape the early church and were (relatively speaking) quite common
between the 4th and 7th centuries. By common, I mean that there were a handful
of them over a 400 year period. What
these meetings or councils were were gatherings of the leaders (as well as
others) within the church in order to discuss and decide a very crucial issue
in the life of the church. Now, this
isn’t a meeting to decide what time worship was to be held or anything like
that. This particular council, the
Jerusalem Council, wasn’t even a meeting about something like women ordination
or infant baptism, something that we might view as a bit weightier matter. No, those are matters for smaller branches of
church government to decide. These councils
dealt primarily with issues of heresy (or the potential for it); things that
had to do with who God is or how we are to view Him and His governing of the
world and all who dwell in it. This
particular council was faced with the issue of whether or not it was absolutely
essential for a person to be circumcised in order to be saved. The larger context was that there was a
disagreement amongst the Christian brethren as to the need to adhere to the
Mosaic Law as it is found in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old
Testament. In essence, was there
something else that was needed in addition to faith in order for a person to be
saved? For an expanded view of this
issue, you can look to Paul’s letter to the Galatians that he wrote during this
time. For additional clarity, Tim Keller
has written a book titled Galatians for
You that I have found to be of help in cutting to the heart of the issue in
the church of Galatia. It’s very apparent
from that particular Pauline epistle that this was an issue that caused great
disruption in the Galatian church, as well as the Church around the world.
However,
when you think about the growth of the Church during this time, something like
this was bound to happen. After all, the
Church was really growing. It was
growing in different regions and it was growing amongst different people groups. However, with these different regions and
different peoples came certain differences in traditions, ideas, and
practices. Most notably, the Jews and
their notion of circumcision being THE sign and seal of the covenant that God
made with Abraham. Remember, they’ve only
just recently come to accept (at least somewhat) that the promises of God to
Abraham are even open to the Gentiles.
However, the view of many Jewish Christians was that these promises were
open to them as long as they converted to Jewish traditions. They had to convert from being Gentiles to
Jews and then they could convert to Christianity. In other words, the only barrier that had
seemingly been removed in the eyes of the Jews for the Gentiles was one of
nationality. The rites and practices of
the Jews were still seen as being essential as far as they were concerned. Obviously, those who were counted among the
Gentiles (i.e. not national Israel) were of a different mindset. They viewed circumcision to not be essential
for salvation, which we will see why in just a second.
So
we’ve got this blending of all different types of opinions and beliefs within
the Church, and they’re making it work, but there’s still this major issue that
hung over them. You see, there were
those in some regions who were teaching that all that was needed for salvation
was faith. Paul was one of these to be
exact. He taught that we are saved by
grace alone. “For by grace you have been
saved through faith. And this is not
your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one
may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9). And you
see, if circumcision were absolutely necessary for salvation then what Paul had
taught would have been erroneous and heretical.
If salvation was and is truly accomplished by grace alone (i.e.
unmerited favor) from God, then there is nothing that we can add to it. Well, if you have to be circumcised and
follow the Mosaic Law as the Jews suggested, well then the whole notion of
being saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is dead in the
water. As Paul says in Philippians 3
when speaking of Christ’s followers, “For we are the circumcision, who worship
the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the
flesh.” He makes similar remarks in
Colossians 2 as well. You see, Paul was
teaching that it wasn’t about the physical acts that we see in the Old
Testament, but it was about the spiritual act of faith in Christ.
Another
reason why circumcision and the keeping of the law of Moses couldn’t be a must
for salvation was that if it was essential, then that would imply that faith
simply wasn’t enough by itself. Now at
first that seems like I’m arguing the same thing twice. On one hand, I suppose that is true, but on
the other, it’s a very different argument.
You see, salvation doesn’t work off of a faith+ system. When we all became Christians, it wasn’t as
if we started some salvation meter that keeps running like a cab drivers
meter. We don’t have some combination of
faith and good deeds that builds up to grant us entrance into heaven. No, it is by our faith and faith alone that
the righteousness of Christ is imparted to us.
The good works are the products, the fruit, the outward expressions of
our love and gratitude to God for the salvation that He has given us in His
Son. In addition to this, the words of
both Romans 4 and Galatians 3 speak that Abraham (the very one whom the
promises were originally made to) was saved by faith and faith alone. If there were something else required for
salvation, then both Abraham and all those who came prior to and after the
council who didn’t adhere to the Mosaic Law would find themselves outside of
God’s kingdom. That would include
us. I don’t know about y’all, but I know
that I don’t keep the Mosaic Law as it’s found in the Old Testament. I’m not even completely certain I could tell
you everything that it pertains to either.
I know where it’s found and some of what it commands, but I don’t know
it by heart. And I most certainly don’t
offer repentance for my failure to meet all of it.
You
see, for me, this entire debate hinged upon Jesus and what he came to do. I want you think back with me to the
beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, to his famous Sermon on the Mount in
Matthew’s gospel. Shortly after he began
and gave us what are known as the Beatitudes, in 5:17 Jesus said, “Do not think
that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish
them but to fulfill them.” You see, part
of our being united with Christ in his death and resurrection is that his life,
that life-lived-to-perfection, that life completely in line with the will of
the Father, that life is counted towards us.
In one sense, it’s credited to our salvation account. You see, we are not bound by the Law of Moses
(i.e. all of the laws in the Pentateuch) because we have already fulfilled them
in Jesus Christ. Now, don’t let me give
the impression that they can be ignored or that we are freed from obedience
because we’re not. However, what we have
been freed from is the sacrificial system for the forgiveness and repentance of
sins that was in place as atonement for breaking the Law. As far as the Law itself is concerned, Jesus
not only fulfilled the law, but in many cases expanded the law. We saw that during our look at the Ten
Commandments at the beginning of this year.
When
we look at the passage before us, what we ought to come away with is two
things. First, there was and is a system
for handling issues within the church.
We see that no one person (not even Paul) exerted dominance over the
rest of the group. We see that not even
Peter (whom supposedly according to Catholic tradition had already been
declared the first pope) exerted any type of power or status dominance over
anyone else. When there was a problem,
the discussion was entered into by all, with the primary goal being to seek the
will of God. The second thing that we
ought to take away from this passage is this, grace is the answer. As the council conveyed to the Gentiles in
the letter that composes the second half of our text, it’s not about some
strict adherence to the law. Jesus had
already fulfilled the law for all those given to him by the Father. One of the most (if not the most) debate
topic in all of Christianity is the nature by which we are saved. What role does works play in it? Well, I’m going to say this, “The only work
that matters is the work that is represented on the table before us today.” The only work that matters is the work, the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf.
That’s the only work that counts for anything when it comes to our
salvation.
As
I said earlier, our good works, the things that we do in service of God and our
fellow men and women, are the right responses to the good news that we are
saved through the work of Jesus Christ. The things that the council called the
Gentiles to do (abstain from what had been sacrificed to idols, and from blood
and what had been strangled, to abstain from sexual immorality), weren’t
requirements of salvation. These were
right responses to the salvation that is found in Christ Jesus. I’ll close by making this comparison. I got a thank you letter in the mail the
other day from a donation from a charity organization that Amy and I gave some
money to. Now, that thank you note
wasn’t sent because we would withdraw our money if they didn’t send it. No, it was sent simply in appreciation for
what we had given them. God wants our
thank you letters, he wants our prayers of thanks, but he also wants our good
works. They are the thank you letters
and right responses to the salvation that we find in Christ. But the fact that we are saved has nothing to
do with our work or our keeping of the Law, but the work of Jesus that is
applied to us by the Holy Spirit. Glory
be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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