ACTS CHAPTER 15:13-35, “The
By
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our previous study, we
looked at the first part of chapter 15 of Acts which introduces what brought about
what is know as ‘the Jerusalem Council’, and my message was titled, “Salvation
Is By Faith In Jesus, Plus Nothing”
1.1.1.
We saw how that the
Jerusalem Council came about as a result of some Judaisers who came
unsanctioned from the church in Jerusalem, and that they told the brethren that
in addition to believing in Christ for salvation that they also had to be
circumcised (i.e. keep the Law of Moses) if they were to be saved
1.1.1.1.This was the first church council to occur in the early church, and as
time went on this council set the precedent for other church councils which
followed in the first few centuries of the church. All of the apostles and leaders of the church
were gathered in
1.1.2.
As a result of the debate
that ensued from these Judaisers’ claims, the church in
1.1.3.
We saw how this council
brought up the whole issue of what is really necessary for a person to do in
order to be saved, as well as whether or not a person is saved by faith in
Christ, or by his works, or as a result of a combination of both faith and
works
1.1.4.
We noticed also how that so
many church groups and cults in the world today are also teaching that there is
something subsequent to salvation that a person has to do in order to be saved
1.1.4.1.Some groups say that you
have to be baptized in order to be saved, with some even going to the extent of
saying that you have to be baptized and have the correct words recited at your
baptism in order for you to be saved
1.1.4.2.Some groups say that you
have to join their church to be saved.
1.1.4.3.Some groups say that you
must keep some or all of the Old Testament Laws in addition to believing in
Christ to be saved (just as the Judaisers taught in our study today).
1.1.4.4.Some groups say that you
have to have hands laid on you by their church leaders in order to be
saved.
1.1.4.5.Some groups say that you
have to manifest some spiritual gift (in particular “tongues”) in order to be
sure that you are saved.
1.1.4.6.Some groups say that there
are certain sacraments or rites that must be observed in order to be saved.
1.1.4.7.Some groups say that their
church has the only correct doctrine or ‘church name’, or that their church is
the only one that can be traced back to the early church, and thus in order to
be saved you have to join their church, and theirs alone.
1.1.4.8.Some cults likewise teach
that you must work your way to heaven and that salvation is by works, not by
faith in Christ
1.1.5.
We saw how that the scripture so clearly
teaches that salvation is by faith in Christ, plus nothing
1.1.6.
We saw how that the Lord had
revealed that the Gentiles had their hearts cleansed by faith
1.1.6.1.We saw how with the Lord leading Peter to the house of Cornelius, and
the subsequent salvation of Cornelius’ household, that the Lord accepted
Gentiles unto salvation without requiring that they first live as a Jew
according to the ceremonial Laws of Moses
1.1.6.2.We saw how that all that God had done through the preaching and
ministry of Paul and Barnabas to the Gentiles (including providing signs and
wonders) revealed that God did not require the Gentiles to live according to
the ceremonial Laws of Moses
1.2.
Today, we are going to look
at the second part of chapter 15 which deals with the judgments arrived at by
the
1.2.1.
To begin though, I want to
make sure that I make clear some things about what ‘faith in Christ’ entails:
1.2.1.1.The ‘faith in Christ’ that we are referring to throughout is not ‘mere
intellectual assent’ to some body of Biblical truth, but rather it is a living
relationship of trust in Christ where a believer places his entire life into
the hands of Christ
1.2.1.2.Having ‘faith in Christ’ for salvation means that I am not trusting in
anything that I might do of myself to make myself one iota worthy of deserving
salvation or any good thing from the Lord
1.2.1.3.There is no salvation apart from repentence, for though no external
work is required for a person to have eternal life, a person has to submit
himself to the Lordship of Christ and respond to Jesus as his only Lord and
Master
1.2.1.3.1.In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus taught that a person must ‘do’ God’s will in
his life if he is to be saved, “21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord,
Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father
who is in heaven. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name
perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you;
depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”
1.2.2.
In the Old Testament Law, in
addition to the 10 Commandments there were some 619 ordinances and regulations
which a person had to perform if he were to live under the Law. However, the Pharisees, a religious sect of
the Jews which had begun during the captivity, had spent 400 years adding many
hundreds of their own interpretations of the Law and additional laws, and these
were contained in their commentaries and commentaries of commentaries, so that
now if a person in Israel were to try to live under the Law he would be
required to not only keep the 619 laws but also the many hundreds of laws added
by the Pharisees. You see, the Judaisers
in the early church not only believed that a Christian must keep the Law of
Moses, they also believed that a Christian must keep the laws of the Pharisees.
1.2.2.1.Thus, we can relate even more so to the heavy burden, or yoke that was
required of anyone who wanted to live under the Old Testament Law, the yoke
which earlier in the chapter Peter said that neither they nor their fathers
were able to bear.
1.2.3.
In verse 11 of the chapter
we saw that after Peter had explained how it came about that the Lord had moved
in a powerful way in bringing to salvation the house of Cornelius when he had
gone to them and preached about Christ and the salvation He procured, he told
them that they (the apostles and leaders of the church) believed that the Jews
had been saved in the same way as the Gentiles were.
1.2.3.1.This brought to light the fact that though the apostles at the church
in Jerusalem had continued to live under the law after coming to salvation
through Christ, they did not teach that anything besides faith in Christ was
necessary for salvation.
1.2.3.1.1.I believe the apostles lived under the Law primarily in order that they
might be able to win the more Jews to salvation, not because it was a
requirement to be saved.
1.2.3.2.In the book of Romans, Paul establishes what constitutes the gospel of
Christ, or what is needed for salvation, and several things that he teaches in
that book teach us that salvation has to be through faith in Christ, plus
nothing.
1.2.3.2.1.In Rom. 3:19-20, Paul writes that the Law was given to reveal our
sinfulness and thus shut every mouth from boasting of a person’s righteousness,
and thus no one could ever be made righteous through the keeping of the Law
since no one can keep the Law perfectly, “19 Now we know that whatever the
Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be
closed, and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the
works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law
comes the knowledge of sin.”
1.2.3.2.2.In Rom. 3:21-23, Paul writes about the fact that salvation in Christ
now comes to us through our faith in Christ which gives us the righteousness
that we need in order to be saved, since in ourselves we all have sinned and
fallen short of the glory of God, “21 But now apart from the Law the
righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the
Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for
all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God.”
1.2.3.2.2.1.The ‘distinction’ mentioned here means distinction between Jew and
Gentile, male and female, etc., for no person can our could ever be justified
before God based upon his works.
1.2.3.2.3.In Rom. 3:28, Paul writes that we are ‘justified’ by our faith in
Christ, apart from the works of the law, “28 For we maintain that a man is
justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”
1.2.3.3.In the book of Galatians, Gal. 5:2-4, Paul writes that the person who
gets ‘circumcised’ (in other words does anything according to the Law in order
to be justified before God) has been severed from Christ, since salvation is
either by grace or it is by works (with no possibility of a combination) and
that person who does this is then under obligation to keep all of the Law, “2 Behold
I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no
benefit to you. 3 And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision,
that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. 4 You have been severed from
Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”
1.2.3.4.To those who had come to faith in Christ but were trying to go now and
keep the Law and be justified before God based upon that, Paul wrote in Gal.
3:3 that they were foolish now trying to perfect themselves in the flesh after
they had originally begun by the Spirit through faith in Christ, “3 Are you
so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the
flesh?”
1.2.3.4.1.You see, living in a legalistic way, however it may come about, is to
try in your flesh to perfect yourself.
1.2.4.
As I mentioned last week,
however, many times Christians begin to get the mentality that they are to be a
rule-keeper or record-keeper in doing their good deeds, and thus they begin to
again live under legalism.
1.2.4.1.I received an email a few months ago from a friend which basically was
one of those emails that was denouncing the watching of television or movies,
and how that if we value doing that sort of activity that our priorities were
all wrong, and knowing the individual involved and their legalistic bent and
considering that at all of the emails I had ever received from him were very
similar in nature to this one, I decided to respond to his email and deal with
the legalism that he was really generating.
What I basically said was that the Pharisees were a group who were the
most zealous of being righteous based upon the external things that they did
and didn’t do, however Jesus told them that the really important things they
had neglected, namely to have love, and show justice, have mercy on
others. When the Pharisee’s Messiah came
to the earth, they neither recognized Him, nor He them.
1.2.4.2.So often in the church, I’ve seen Christians legalistically judging
other Christians because of their possessions or things they do or do not
do. Often it is about some of the
silliest things. Some criticize others
because of the music they listen to, TV programs they watch, watching TV at
all, the cars they drive, etc. The Word
of God though teaches us that we are to concentrate upon fixing our eyes upon
Jesus and thus being pleasing ourselves in His sight, and if we just
concentrated on doing that we wouldn’t have the time to judge others.
1.2.4.2.1.We Christians need to decide what things God wants us to allow into our
lives and our children’s lives, for this is an important activity since these
things affect us greatly, however having done that we must not then begin to
judge others who don’t follow the standards we allow. This is how we become legalistic.
1.2.4.3.We Christians need to constantly take a check of our lives, are we
displaying the fruit of the Spirit, namely ‘love, joy, the peace of God’, and
we must realize that if these things are not in our lives that even though we
may be being zealous for the Lord, we are probably being legalistic, and again
living according to the Law.
1.2.4.3.1.When these fruits are in our lives, then we will be used greatly by the
Lord, and we will truly come to know and experience the grace of God in our
lives.
2.
VS 15:13-18 - “13
And after they had stopped speaking, James answered, saying, “Brethren, listen
to me. 14 “Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from
among the Gentiles a people for His name. 15 “And with this the words of the
Prophets agree, just as it is written, 16 ‘After these things I will return, And I will rebuild the
tabernacle of David which has fallen, And I will rebuild its ruins, And I will
restore it, 17 In order that the rest of
mankind may seek the Lord, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,’ 18 Says the Lord, who makes these things
known from of old.” - James stands
up and begins to relate how the Lord has gone about calling the Gentiles to
Himself
2.1.
This is not
the prophet Simeon mentioned in chapter 13 of Acts, nor the man who was in the
temple with Anna when Jesus was presented for circumcision as a baby. James calls Peter ‘Simeon’, which is a
variation of his name ‘Simon’ which he had prior to the Lord renaming him,
‘Peter’.
2.2.
The James of
these verses is believed to be the half-brother of the Lord Jesus.
2.2.1.
He did not
come to believe in Jesus until after Jesus had risen from the dead, thus his
salvation probably occurred when Jesus appeared to him after His resurrection
(see 1 Cor. 15:7).
2.2.2.
He was the
pastor of the church in
2.2.3.
Tradition has
it that James was a man who was so dedicated to prayer that his knees looked
like camel’s knees.
2.2.4.
Tradition also has it that James was martyred when he refused to deny
Jesus Christ as his Lord and then was pushed off of the pinnacle of the
temple. He didn’t die from the fall, so
they crushed his skull with a Fuller’s Paddle.
2.3.
It is
interesting in the book of Acts when we get just a vague glimpse of the
structure and how the early church operated, and here in this chapter we see
that the early church was not run as a democracy (as we Americans would like to
see things run), nor was there a committee or a board which had to come to a
decision or vote over a decision. Rather,
we see here in this account in Acts 15 that James spoke as the “ultimate
authority” presiding over this council, and though in His judgment he
pronounced what the group had come to in ‘unanimity’, it is clear that he was
looked upon as the ultimate authority over the early church, its practices, and
its judgments.
2.3.1.
In the Bible,
we never see the Lord appoint a committee or board when He begins a new
work. Rather, He always calls a
man. God called Noah to build an ark, He
didn’t form a committee to preside over global flooding issues. After the flood, when God sought to call out
a nation for Himself, He called Abraham to go to the place He would call him,
He didn’t appoint a committee for populace relocation. When God wanted to call His people out of
slavery in
2.4.
I want to
just address one thing here concerning being in submission to the authorities
that the Lord has placed over our lives, especially within the church.
2.4.1.
This is a
concept that is foreign to many in the church today.
2.4.2.
When Paul and
Barnabas heard from the Judaisers which came to the church in
2.4.2.1.We in the church today need to pray for our leaders
and trust that the Lord will guide them in the things that they do and their
decisions, and we need to learn to be in submission to the leaders in the
church as were Paul and Barnabas.
2.4.2.2.In Hebrews 13:17, the author of the book wrote
that we are to obey and submit to our leaders in the church, “17 Obey
your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those
who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for
this would be unprofitable for you.”
2.5.
James says
that Peter had related how it came about that the Lord had acted to accept and
bring the Gentiles to know Him, as He had created a ‘people for Himself ‘ among
them.
2.5.1.
Then, James
goes on to say that the prophet Amos (see Amos chapter 9) had already foretold that this would happen
in the first place.
2.5.2.
In saying
this, James is saying that experientially the Lord has revealed His will in
saving the Gentiles through faith in Christ, and not only so, but His word
reveals that it has always been His will to do this in the first place.
2.5.3.
Being very
responsible and Biblical, i.e. James says that their experience is backed up by
the word of God.
2.5.4.
Following
James’ example, all of us as Christians must always be careful to judge our
experiences based upon what God’s word says, and never judge what God’s word
says based upon our experiences.
3.
VS 15:19-21 - “19
“Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to
God from among the Gentiles, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain
from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is
strangled and from blood. 21 “For Moses from ancient generations has in every
city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.””
- James makes the judgment that the
Gentiles should not be required to do anything besides have faith in Christ in
order to be saved
3.1.
James’s judgment is two-fold:
3.1.1.
First of all, he tells everyone that they should ‘not
trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles’.
3.1.1.1.That is to say, there is no requirement necessary for
salvation for anyone except to repent and trust in Jesus Christ for
salvation.
3.1.2.
Secondly, there were some things that they are asking
or ordering the Gentile Christians to do,
things which are already revealed as outside God’s will for His people, as well
as things which will help the church to live together in peace, as Jews and
Gentiles.
3.1.2.1.Some of these things were temporary in nature and were
calculated to reduce the friction between their Jewish brethren.
3.1.2.2.James orders the Gentile believers to do some things
that will make it much easier for Jew and Gentile brethren to be able to have
fellowship and get along. These things
required the Gentiles to give up some of their freedoms in love for the sake of
their believing Jewish brethren.
3.2.
They were asked or ordered to:
3.2.1.
A) Abstain
‘from things contaminated by idols’
3.2.1.1.{ Paul told the Corinthians in chapter 8 to abstain
from this because the eating of food sacrificed to idols could cause their
weaker brother who had been saved out of idol worship to stumble as a result of
seeing your actions },
3.2.2.
B) Abstain
‘from fornication’
3.2.2.1.{ Paul wrote in many of his epistles that
‘fornication’, that is sex outside of monogamous marriage, was sin <see 1
Cor. 5 > },
3.2.3.
C) Abstain from
things ‘strangled and from blood’
3.2.3.1.{ The Old Testament taught that the “life is in the
blood” and therefore people were not to eat blood. Therefore, there were several Old Testament
laws which related to which animals one could eat and which ones he could not
eat. }.
3.3.
Finally,
James gives the reason for the things which he asks or commands that they do,
the things which will not affect their salvation in any way.
3.3.1.
The Gentiles
must show great respect for the Jews who have been brought up in the law of
Moses and who even have the law read to them every Sabbath.
3.3.2.
They must
bear with the weaknesses of these brethren whom God is slowly revealing His
perfect will to.
3.3.2.1.This the same principle that Paul taught the
Corinthians in 1 Cor. 8 about not abusing the “liberty” we have in
Christ, and thus doing nothing that would cause a weaker brother or sister to
stumble.
3.3.2.2.Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:16, that we must
never use our liberty in Christ as an excuse for sinning.
3.4.
In these
judgments which reflect the mind of the apostles and leaders of the church in
Jerusalem, we Christians must see here that there is nothing that we must do
besides yield our lives to God and trust in Jesus as our Lord and our Savior in
order to have salvation, for salvation is by grace through faith, and not on
the basis of works.
4.
VS 15:22 - “22Then
pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men
of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed
Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:” - The church in Jerusalem sends some of their
leaders to return back to the church in Antioch and confirm to the church the
apostle’s decision
4.1.
The
leadership having come together unto unity and unanimity, the church decided to
send Judas (Barsabas) and Silas, whom were ‘chief men among the brethren’ in
the church in Jerusalem, along with Paul and Barnabas for delivering the letter
with the decision of the council to the church in Antioch of Syria.
5.
VS 15:23-29 - “23
and they sent this letter by them, “The apostles and the brethren who are
elders, to the brethren in
5.1.
Notice the
following things about the letter that was drafted to be sent to the gentile
churches:
5.1.1.
It was to the
churches in
5.1.2.
The brethren
distanced themselves from the Judaisers who had caused the problem in the first
place, ‘they gave no instruction’ to them
5.1.3.
They say that
they all had ‘become of one mind’ - A tremendous testimony to what the Holy
Spirit can do in the church in all ages!
5.1.4.
They show
their support of Paul and Barnabas, calling them ‘our beloved’, and saying of
them that they were ‘men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ’
5.1.5.
They say they
are sending Judas and Silas who will report the same things as the letter says,
only ‘by word of mouth’
5.1.6.
The decision
was not the decision of men, it was arrived at since ‘it seemed good to the
Holy Spirit and to us’
5.1.7.
They list the
decision spoken by James:
5.1.7.1.Nothing is necessary for salvation except to believe
in Jesus Christ.
5.1.7.2.They ask, or command, the brethren to abstain from
‘things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from
fornication’
5.1.8.
They are told
that if they abstain from the four things, they will ‘do well’.
6.
VS
15:30-31 - “30 So,
when they were sent away, they went down to
6.1.
The result of
the reading of the decision of the council at
6.2.
The freedom
that we who have come to salvation through Christ have in Him should cause all
of us to rejoice in the Lord.
7.
VS 15:32 - “32
And Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and
strengthened the brethren with a lengthy message.” - Judas and Silas encouraged the brethren
7.1.
Judas and
Silas were ‘prophets’, however notice that their spiritual gift of prophesy was
used for forthtelling the Word of God in a sermon, and notice also that their
gift produced exhortation and encouragement, and thus they were used by the
Lord to strengthen the brethren.
8.
VS 15:33-34 - “33
And after they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brethren in
peace to those who had sent them out. 34
[But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.]” - Judas returned to
8.1.
These men ‘spent some time’ with the brethren which probably means that
they spent a few days with them before Judas returned home.
8.2.
Silas ends up being a helper to
Paul in his missionary journeys as we see here that the Holy Spirit called him
to stay with Paul and the church in Antioch of Syria.
9.
VS 15:35 - “35
But Paul and Barnabas stayed in
9.1.
Paul and
Barnabas stayed in