Lechem Panim #182 “A Dangerous Wedge” (Acts 15:2-9) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome to Lechem Panim! You know, it’s interesting how, whenever God is doing a new thing, there almost always arises a small group of persons who want to kind of rob people of the joy of what is happening. Well, that even happened in the Early Church. You will remember that last week in our story of Acts chapter 15 that after a massive number of Gentiles in Antioch were coming to faith in Jesus, a group of legalistic Jewish men decided to go to Antioch and tell these new Gentile converts that they need to become circumcised if they wanted to share in God’s salvation. In other words, they were saying they had to have an actual physical operation in order to be a Christian.

Works, Faith, & Salvation— And last week we began to explore the mindset of these legalists and why they were saying what they were saying. They thought that these new Gentiles were getting in on very easy terms when they themselves (as Jews) had lived very strict, self-denying and self-righteous lives. And of course there was a lot of pride involved here. They wanted to get the credit for their good works. And if they could get these Gentiles to become as they are, then that would validate them and imply that they themselves had a higher status with God because of their works. But the reality is that none of us can tip the scales of eternity at all in our favor due to the magnitude of our sin. It is grace and grace alone that can redeem us. That is what Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant clearly demonstrated. Every one of us owed a sum we could never pay on our own by our own works. We needed forgiveness. Now are works are an important part of the redeemed life? Of course. Both Paul and James taught that works and faith must go hand in hand in the life of the believer. But the question is not what the Christian ought to do to live a God-pleasing life. The question is, “What must a person do to be saved?” And that is the question the Church had to answer once and for all, which they do here in Acts 15. It says…

Acts 15:2 (ESV)— 2 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.

The Wedge—  Now in all honesty, this controversy had the explosive fire power to split the Church. The Judaizers were declaring these Gentiles unsaved, which must have devastated them; and they no doubt refused to eat with them (which also meant not sharing in the Lord’s Supper with them). And so they were rebuilding the wall between Jews and Gentiles that Jesus had torn down through His work on the cross (Eph. 2:14-16). And so Paul and Barnabas rally to the Gentiles’ defense and begin to fight for the Gospel and against the wedge that was once again driving apart Jew and Gentile, seeking to preserve the unity of the Church around the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone. And they, along with a group of others (which we read in Galatians 2:1,3 also included Titus), are sent by the Church in Antioch to Jerusalem to settle this debate); and they leave with that unity-preserving mindset. And they employ a bit of strategy along they way. It says in…

Acts 15:3 (ESV)— 3 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.

Phoenicia & Samaria— Now Phoenicia and Samaria were both regions that were highly populated with Hellenistic Jews and Samaritans, who were [more open to the salvation of Gentiles than the Palestinian Jews were.] And when they heard the good news of the salvation of the Gentiles, they rejoiced. Now keep in mind that these were the spiritual children of Stephen, Philip, Peter, and John; and because of that they did not share the views of the Judaizers that were then troubling those in Antioch. And so what Paul and Barnabas are doing is they are building support as they are journeying towards Jerusalem. And eventually, they arrive at Jerusalem. And it says…

Acts 15:4 (ESV)— 4 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.

A God Thing— Now notice where they put the focus; not on themselves, but on God. Their report is all about what God had done with them. They want to show that their ministry to the Gentiles and the amazing response was a God thing and not something they just thought up as some kind of man-made, man-motivated thing. And it must have been amazing to hear of all God had brought them through and done through them. Yet despite that, it says in…

Acts 15:5 (ESV)— 5 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.”

A Different Group— Now this is not the same group as in verse 1. The Jews who came to Antioch were described as “some men”, whereas this group is described as “some believers”. The first were clearly not Christians, since they taught that circumcision was necessary for salvation. But these men were believers and accepted the doctrine of salvation by faith alone. And so it is important to note that this group of men within the Jerusalem council, though they were of the legalistic party of the Pharisees, were not arguing circumcision and the keeping of the law as being necessary for salvation. They were simply saying that believers are still obligated to keep the law following salvation. Obedience to the law (in their minds) was necessary after salvation. And that is a very important distinction. These Pharisees were salvation by faith alone Christians, but as Pharisees they were still deeply committed to the ceremonial law, not realizing the liberating truth that the ceremonial law had actually been fulfilled in Jesus Christ; and we are no longer bound to the rituals of the Old Covenant but are “under the law of Christ” (1 Cor. 9:21). Now after receiving the men from Antioch, it says…

Acts 15:6-7a (ESV)— 6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. {Note that it is not the full congregation, but only the leaders and elders.} 7 And after there had been much debate,

The Church’s Magna Carta— Now Luke does not give us the minutes of the meeting. I’m sure we would love to read them. I’m sure it would have been amazing to hear these mighty men of God arguing their positions with passion, fervor, and deep Biblical insight. But Luke skips forward to when the entire congregation has gathered to hear what the leaders have decided. And this decision is announced through a series of speeches delivered by Peter, Paul and Barnabas, and then James, each of whom expounds the truth that salvation is by grace alone through faith, and is something wholly set apart from any kind of ritual or law-keeping. And this series of speeches contain what has been called the Magna Carta of the Christian Church. And collectively they present six proofs that salvation is by grace and grace alone. The first proof is past revelation, the second is the gift of the Spirit, the third is the cleansing from sin, the fourth is the inability of the law to save, the fifth is the fact of miracles, and the sixth is prophetic promise. And Peter, as the one to whom Jesus gave the key to the kingdom, is allowed to speak first. And he begins with the proof of past revelation. It says in…

Acts 15:7 (ESV)— 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.

Already Divinely Settled— And Peter is of course talking about the salvation of Cornelius and his household, years ago. And Peter argues that God saved them apart from circumcision, law-keeping, or any kind of ritual (Acts 10:44-48). And Peter’s point is clear. If God had not required these things of Gentile believers, what right did they have to require it? Did they know something that God didn’t. Obviously not. Peter was saying that this matter has already been divinely settled years ago. And then he proceeds to the second proof, which was God’s confirmation of the salvation of Cornelius and his household. He says in…

Acts 15:8-9a (ESV)— 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them,

Confirmed By The Spirit— Now here Peter very skillfully anticipates and refutes a possible objection to his first point. The Judaizers could have argued that because Cornelius and his household didn’t meet the necessary legalistic requirements for salvation, then they were not really saved. But Peter shatters that argument by pointing out that God (knowing the heart) bore witness of the genuiness of their salvation by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He had done for the Jewish Christians on Pentecost, making no distinction, which was evidenced by the fact that Cornelius and his household were allowed by God to speak in tongues to confirm that the same kind and level of blessing had been given also to them. And this is powerful evidence, because everyone knew that the Holy Spirit was for believers and believers alone (Rom 8:9, 1 Cor 6:19, 12:13, Gal 3:14, 4:6). And so Peter’s argument is that God was saving Gentiles through faith and then confirming that salvation by giving them the Holy Spirit. And then he moves on to the third proof, which is that God did something else. He (verse 9)…

Acts 15:9b (ESV)— having cleansed their hearts by faith.

​Our Mark— And this of course is connected with proof number 2, because the Holy Spirit always brings with Him radical change and transformation. It is His role to make us like Christ. He is really the Holy Making Spirit. And these converts had in their lives that unmistakable transformation that proved they must have the Holy Spirit; and if they have the Holy Spirit, then they must have Christ. Now that ought to say something to us about how the world will know that we are truly saved? It won’t chiefly be because our doctrine sounds nice (it probably won’t, at least at first). No, it will be the living doctrine enfleshed in the transformation they see in your life and in mine. In us people will encounter Jesus. And so let us make sure that in every way, we also are living out this signature marks of every believer. Let’s do so. Amen.