Acts 15

Acts 15:1-41

41. THE AT Acts 15:1-41 Throughout the history of christianity there have been numerous church councils. Some have been of monumental significance, but most have been of very little consequence. Denominational churches have regular councils for the purpose of determining both doctrine and practices among the churches of the denomination. In those councils three things always take place: debate, negotiation, and compromise. In order for opposing parties to get along and function together in a united, co-operative program, there must be compromise on both sides. That is the way denominations survive.

But with men of principle and conviction there can be no compromise. The truth of God is not debatable! It is not possible for a person or a church believing the gospel to co-operate with people who do not believe the gospel in religious works and activities. The conference at Jerusalem was not that kind of religious council. The apostles and elders met at Jerusalem not to debate doctrine, but to declare the truth of God with a unified voice. In that day, as in ours, there were legalists in the church who tried to mix law and grace, trying to bring God’s elect under the yoke of legal bondage, subverting their souls. Therefore the church at Jerusalem held a conference. Many apostles, elders, and preachers attended, but only three spoke: Paul, Peter, and James. They spoke as one and the church made a unified denunciation of legalism. In Acts 15 Luke gives us the historical narrative of the conference. Paul explains the theological issues of it in Galatians 2. As stated above, the conference at Jerusalem was not a church council to debate doctrine. When Paul went up to Jerusalem his mind was already made up. He refused to budge an inch, or give any ground at all to the legalists (Galatians 2:5; Galatians 2:21). He went to Jerusalem only so that the doctrine of the believer’s absolute freedom in Christ from the law of Moses might be publicly avowed, even by those whose primary sphere of ministry was among the Jews. At the Jerusalem conference the apostles and elders, and the church as a whole, being led by the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:28), publicly denounced legalism and stripped all preachers of law and legality of all credibility. THE WITH THE (Acts 15:1-3) - There were some self-appointed, freelance preachers who came from Jerusalem to Antioch perverting the gospel, teaching salvation by the works of the law. They were Pharisees who professed faith in Christ. They claimed to believe the gospel doctrine of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But they mixed works with grace and said, “Unless you keep the law you cannot be saved.” Paul, Barnabas, and the church at Antioch, by their example, demonstrate that the doctrine and spirit of legalism must never be tolerated (Galatians 2:1-5). Paul declares the legalists to be “false brethren”. It matters not whether men teach obedience to the law as a basis of justification, the measure of sanctification, the believer’s rule of life, the motive for Christian service, or the ground of reward in heaven, all attempts to put believers under the yoke of the law are intolerably evil.

The word of God states emphatically and plainly that in Christ we are free from and no longer under the law (Romans 6:14-15; Romans 7:4; Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:24-26; Galatians 5:1-4; Colossians 2:8-23; 1 Timothy 1:5-10). Never, not even once, in the New Testament is a believer commanded to do anything on the basis of, or being motivated by the law. So far is the law from being a rule of life that Paul declares it is “the ministration of death” (2 Corinthians 3:7). Legalists say, “The preaching of the law promotes holiness.” But Paul says the law is “the strength of sin” (1 Corinthians 15:56). Let no one be confused. The issue is not godliness or ungodliness.

The issue is not what a believer does. The issue is the motive of the heart. Legalists are motivated by fear of punishment and desire for reward. Believers are motivated by love for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14). THE OF THE LEADERS (Acts 15:4-21) - There were many gifted men in the church in those days, but three stood out as men gifted of God and specifically chosen by him to be his messengers to that first generation of Christians. The first spokesman at the conference was Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 15:4-6). The second preacher was Peter, the apostle to the Jews (Acts 15:7-11). His message had two main points: (1) God purifies the hearts of men by faith in Christ (Acts 15:9); and (2) Salvation is by grace alone (Acts 15:11). In Acts 15:12 Paul rose to speak again, declaring what wonders God had done through him and Barnabas among the Gentiles. The third man to speak at the conference was James, our Lord’s half brother, pastor of the church at Jerusalem (Acts 15:13-21).

It was fitting that he bring the concluding message. He gave the opinion of the apostles, the opinion of the Holy Spirit, the opinion of the New Testament regarding the issue at hand (the relation of the law to believers in the New Testament age) in four points.

1. The calling of the Gentiles in one body with the Jews was foretold by the prophets (Acts 15:13-17; Isaiah 11:10; Amos 9:11-12).
2. The fall of Israel and the calling of the Gentiles was according to the eternal purpose of God (Acts 15:18; Romans 11:25-26).
3. Believers in the Gentile world must never be troubled with the yoke of bondage, which no man other than Jesus Christ the God-man has ever kept (Acts 15:19; Acts 15:10).
4. In matters of indifference it was recommended that the Gentile believers should abstain from those things that might hinder the preaching of the gospel and offend weaker brethren (Acts 15:20-21). NOTE: Certainly fornication is not a matter of indifference. It is a horribly evil thing. Yet, it was treated as a matter of indifference because to the Gentiles, who were uninstructed in the law of God, it was commonly looked upon as such. THE OF THE LETTER (Acts 15:22-34) - The church at Jerusalem drafted a letter to be sent to the churches in the Gentile world. To confirm the truthfulness of the letter they sent Judas and Silas back to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The letter denounced all preachers of the law as false prophets (Acts 15:24), commended Paul and Barnabas as faithful servants of God (Acts 15:25-26), and assured God’s saints that their liberty in Christ was approved of God (Acts 15:28-29). When it was read in the churches this letter was the cause of great joy among God’s saints (Acts 15:31). THE BETWEEN TWO (Acts 15:36-41) - Paul and Barnabas had labored together for a long time. They stood shoulder to shoulder in the heat of battle. They had, at least for the time being, settled the issue of legalism. But satan is a crafty foe. He could not frighten either man by persecution. He could not divide the two doctrinally.

But the old serpent found a weak point and exploited it to divide these two brethren - John Mark, Barnabas’ nephew. Perhaps Barnabas was too lenient with Mark. Perhaps Paul was too severe. We are not told. But these two friends left one another in an angry dispute. What a shame!

Yet, God providentially overruled this evil for the good of his church and the furtherance of the gospel (Psalms 76:10). Instead of one missionary team, now there were two. God blesses in spite of our failures!

Acts 15:8-9

42. GOSPEL Acts 15:8-9 Every true believer desires to worship God with a pure heart and honor him with a life of purity. According to the apostle John, the believer’s hope of eternal life in Christ inspires in him an insatiable desire for purity. “Every man that hath this hope in him,” (the hope of seeing Christ and being like Christ), “purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). But how is this purification accomplished? That is the question I want to answer in this lesson. In the Old Testament, under the types and shadows of the Mosaic dispensation, there were many forms of ceremonial purification which the children of Israel were required to meticulously obey. The instruments of service in the tabernacle and later in the temple were ceremonially purified by being washed with water and sprinkled with blood. The priests and their garments were purified by ceremonial washings. Women were required to purify themselves before marriage, after childbirth, and following every period of menstruation. And the people were required to purify themselves before observing the appointed feasts and holy ordinances of divine worship. But the first and most important means of legal, ceremonial purification was circumcision. This seal of God’s covenant with Abraham symbolically pictured the purification of God’s elect by the Holy Spirit in regeneration (Philippians 3:3; Colossians 2:11). Those Old Testament ceremonies of purification were all outward. They did nothing to purify the heart. They only pictured the purification of the heart by the grace of God. However, by the end of the legal dispensation, by the time Christ appeared, the Jews’ religion had degenerated into base idolatry, self-righteousness, and will worship. They looked upon the mere observance of outward ceremonies as the actual purifying of their hearts and made their outward religious services the basis of their acceptance with God! They thought God would accept them because they were outwardly, ceremonially clean, even though their hearts were vile (Matthew 23:25-28; Luke 16:15). Though those rituals were only temporary symbols and pictures of gospel purification, there were many in the early church who were still Pharisees. They insisted that the Gentile believers be compelled to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses (Acts 15:1; Acts 15:5). It was bad enough to have Pharisees outside the church persecuting it, but when the legalists joined the church and tried to pervert the gospel, subverting men’s souls, the evil was intolerable (Acts 15:24; Galatians 1:6-8; Galatians 2:4-5; Galatians 3:1-3; Galatians 5:2; Galatians 5:4; Galatians 5:12). Those “false brethren”, as Paul calls them, are still with us today. They are still stirring up strife and endeavoring to bring all believers into legal bondage. They make holiness and purity a matter of outward, legal obedience to the law of Moses, or (even worse) to the religious laws and customs of men.

It is the spirit and doctrine of legalism that the early church confronted and denounced at the Jerusalem conference. It is an evil that must not be tolerated. Peter plainly declares that those who preach and teach legalistic doctrine are guilty of tempting God, walking directly contrary to his revealed will (Acts 15:10; Colossians 2:16-23; 1 Timothy 4:1-5). In Acts 15:8-9 the apostle reproves the Judaizers and denounces their doctrine by reminding those present at the conference of God’s work of grace upon Cornelius and his household, all of whom were uncircumcised Gentiles (Acts 10:43-44). Speaking by the Spirit of God, Peter plainly declared two facts that many today either are ignorant of or fail to appreciate. First, IN CHRIST ALL GOD’S ELECT ARE ONE, AND BEING ONE IN CHRIST, ALL ARE EQUAL BEFORE THE LORD - “God put no difference between us and them.” There are no second class citizens in the kingdom of heaven (Ephesians 2:11-19; Ephesians 4:1-7; Colossians 3:11). Our standing and acceptance with God is determined entirely by our relation to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Substitute, not by something we do. We are complete in him (Colossians 2:10). Our experiences may vary, and our understanding of spiritual things on this earth may differ, but there is “no difference between us” in the sight of God. In Christ all true believers are LOVED with the same love (1 John 3:1)…CHOSEN by the same grace (Ephesians 1:4-6)…BLESSED with the same privileges (Ephesians 1:3)… by the same blood (1 Peter 1:18-20)… by the same Spirit (Ephesians 2:1-4)…ROBED in the same righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6)… of the same divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)…ADOPTED into the same family (Galatians 4:4-6)…BUILT upon the same foundation (Ephesians 2:20-22)… of the same Father (Matthew 6:9)… of the same Master (1 Corinthians 7:20-23)… of the same hope (Romans 8:24-25)… of the same promises (2 Corinthians 1:20)…HEIRS of the same inheritance (Romans 8:17)…and of the same Intercessor (John 17:20-26). Second, GOD THE HEARTS OF HIS PEOPLE BY FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. “God put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” By nature our hearts are defiled and filthy (Matthew 15:17-19; Romans 8:7). This defilement of the heart reaches to all the members of the body, and the faculties of the soul" (John Gill). Read Romans 3:9-19. The total depravity of the human heart is an inescapable fact.

1. The work of purifying the heart can be performed by God alone. Peter did not say, “Cornelius purified his heart,” but “God purified his heart!” Ceremonial cleansing, moral reformation, sorrowful repentance, baptism, and religious services can never purify the heart of man. Only the application of Christ’s blood to the heart by God’s almighty grace can purify it (Hebrews 9:12-14; Titus 3:4-7).
2. The means of purification is God given faith in Christ. “Faith changes the current of our love, and alters the motive which sways us: this is what is meant by purifying the heart. It makes us love that which is good and right, and moves us with motives free from self and sin. This is a great work indeed!” (C. H. Spurgeon). Faith in Christ purifies the heart by…

• Freeing us from the guilt of sin and terror of the law (Hebrews 9:14; 1 John 3:21).
• Its overwhelming realization of the love of Christ for us (2 Corinthians 5:14).
• Bringing us into intimate communion with Christ (Son 1:2; Son 2:4; Son 2:6).
• Enabling us to realize, in some measure, the manifold blessings and privileges we enjoy in Christ by the grace of God (Ephesians 1:3-14).
• Fixing our hearts upon Christ and the heavenly, eternal things promised to us in him (2 Corinthians 4:17 to 2 Corinthians 5:1; Colossians 3:1-3; 1 John 3:1-3).

3. This purification of the believer’s heart is a continual, daily exercise of divine grace (John 13:6-10). As we make our pilgrimage through this world, we are continually gathering the dirt of sin upon us. Therefore, we must continually go to the precious fountain and be washed in the blood of Christ (1 John 1:9).

Acts 15:11

43. “WE BELIEVE” Acts 15:11 Peter was an apostle of Christ. The words he spoke at the Jerusalem conference, like those which he wrote in his epistles, were inspired by God the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:28). The words of this eleventh verse, being inspired of God, are recorded for our learning and admonition. The apostle stood and said, “We believe.” He spoke with bold, unbending, unyielding, uncompromising dogmatism. Speaking as an apostle of Christ, Peter was not speaking for himself alone, but for all the apostles, all the church of God, all true gospel preachers, and all true christians. When he said, “We believe,” he was saying, “This is the truth of God.

It must be believed by all. Anything contrary to this is heresy, damnable and destructive to men’s souls. This is what all true christians believe. Those who do not believe and teach this are not christians.” This then is the doctrine of God - “We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” With regard to this gospel doctrine of salvation by grace alone we must be perfectly clear in our understanding, unhesitating in our witness, and intolerant of any deviation from the message of God’s pure, free, sovereign, effectual grace in Christ. THIS IS AN OF FAITH. Concerning less important issues God’s saints may and do differ and yet remain in essential harmony and fellowship. No one has a perfect knowledge of divine truth. But the gospel doctrine of salvation by grace alone is vital. With regard to this vital issue the doctrine of the church is stated plainly. “We believe that we shall be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, even as they.” All who deviate from this deviate from the doctrine of the apostles and deviate from Christ himself! THE OF CHRIST DID NOT BELIEVE MUCH OF WHAT IS TAUGHT TODAY ABOUT THE WAY OF . Peter’s statement is complete. It includes all that is vital to the souls of men. But some things are obviously and deliberately omitted. There is no mention of any religious ritual or ceremony. The two ordinances which Christ left us, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, are important aspects of worship and obedience. Believer’s baptism is the believer’s public confession of faith in and allegiance to Christ (Romans 6:4-6). The Lord’s Supper is the church’s celebration of redemption by Christ, a symbolic picture of the gospel, and a visible reminder of our Savior’s glorious person and work (1 Corinthians 11:24-26). No mention is made of personal obedience to the law of God. That was the issue at the Jerusalem conference.

Surely, if obedience to the law had any bearing upon salvation, sanctification, or our relationship to God, Peter would have mentioned it here. But we are not under the law and must never attempt to put any believer under the yoke of bondage (Acts 15:10). There is no mention of personal righteousness. The creed of the world is, “Do the best you can and God will accept you.” To deny that creed is treason against human pride. Every child of Adam is born a Pharisee. Self-righteousness is bred in us.

It will manifest itself in time. But those who promote self-righteousness are treasonous toward God. “Perish all thoughts of human pride, let God alone be magnified!” And no mention is made of man’s freewill. It is true that all believers choose Christ, trust Christ, and come to Christ. But it is heretical to assert that man’s freewill is the cause of God’s saving grace (John 1:11-13; Romans 9:15-18; 2 Timothy 1:9). PETER’S IS THE OF GRACE. He tells us that salvation is from beginning to end, all of grace. This is the doctrine of Christ and his apostles. This is the doctrine of the Bible. Any denial of the doctrine of salvation by grace alone is a denial of the gospel of Christ. All attempts to mix grace and works is antichrist. Seven things are implied and taught in Peter’s words.

1. THE OF GOD’S GRACE - He tells us that saving grace belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. He gives it to whom he will (John 5:21; John 17:2).
2. THE TOTAL OF MAN- When Peter speaks of people being “saved”, the implication is that they do not have the ability to save themselves (Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3).
3. GOD’S - It is true, Peter does not mention the word election in this passage. But it must be remembered that his mind had not been corrupted by freewill, works religion. To Peter and the rest of the apostles the word “grace” always included election. They understood that the grace of God is eternal, unmerited, and immutable (1 Peter 1:2-5).
4. CHRIST’S LIMITED - When Peter speaks of “grace”, he is referring to that grace which comes flowing to sinners from the wounds of the crucified Christ, that grace which was effectually obtained for God’s elect when Christ died as their Substitute and obtained eternal salvation for them (Hebrews 9:12; 1 Peter 1:18-21; 1 Peter 2:24). There are two points about the redemptive work of Christ upon which we must be clear. First, redemption was obtained for a particular people (Isaiah 53:8; John 10:11; John 10:15; John 10:26). Second, it was effectually accomplished when Christ died (Hebrews 9:10; Isaiah 53:10-12). Anyone who fails to see the fulness and efficacy of Christ’s redemptive work cannot see any other gospel truth clearly.
5. GOD’S GRACE - Peter said, “We shall be saved.” He does not speak of God’s saving grace as a possibility, but as a matter of certainty. Salvation is not something God hopes to do. It is something God does (Psalms 65:4; Psalms 110:3).
6. THE FINAL OF THE SAINTS - Peter was not in a fog about what he believed. He knew that salvation is God’s work. He knew that it was forever (Ecclesiastes 3:14). He knew that God’s promise (John 10:27-29), his power (1 Peter 1:5), and his immutability (Malachi 3:6) demand the absolute, infallible, eternal security of his elect.
7. THE OF ALL - When Peter said, “We shall be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, even as they,” he seems to imply that the Jewish believers have no preference over the Gentile believers. In Christ all are one! All are saved by grace alone (Colossians 3:11). THIS IS THE OF EVERY TRUE . All who are saved are saved by grace alone and gladly acknowledge it (1 Corinthians 15:10). Self-righteous moralists, religious ritualists, and profligate sinners must all be saved the same way. Grace is unconditional! It is not attracted by good works, and it is not repelled by the lack of good works. Grace washes all believers in the blood of Christ, robes all in the righteousness of Christ, and makes all accepted in Christ. Some are more gifted than others, but none are more accepted. Some are more faithful than others, but none are more favored. Some are more confident than others, but none are more beloved, and none are more secure. This is our doctrine - “WE BELIEVE THAT THROUGH THE GRACE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WE SHALL BE SAVED, EVEN AS THEY.”