Far Above Law

Saved through Grace

(Acts 15:1-11, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, August 5, 2012)

[15:1] 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.”

The church in Antioch was a fruitful church dedicated to the grace of God. This church had caught the Spirit's vision for missions and had set apart two of their best teachers to be sent out for the work of the kingdom. Paul and Barnabas had now returned with great accounts of the Word preached and received in Cyprus and in several towns in central Galatia. But not everyone was content with what had taken place. There were many non-Jews that had been somewhat attentive to the teachings and practices of Judaism prior to the apostolic visit. Where were they now? They had heard a Word of Jesus that they had received with joy. No longer were they looking for good news in the traditions of Judaism. The true message of the Law and the Prophets was showing to them a new door of peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

In addition to these God-fearers, the Lord had led Paul to the cities of the Lycaonians where pagans that seemed to have no attachment to Judaism at all had witnessed astounding miracles and had been taught the message of a Shalom that had come to them through Jesus alone, and not through any of the old rituals of Moses of which they were entirely ignorant. Could peace with God actually be that easy? Was it right for utter pagans to be baptized in the Triune Name without any Jewishness? Some people thought the Paul was very wrong to allow Gentiles to come to Jesus and salvation without any commitment to the old ways of the Law. Their position was plain: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” These Pharisaic voices wanted to correct Paul's theology, but there were some serious factual errors with their own statements. First, circumcision did not come through Moses, but through Abraham, 500 years before the Mosaic Law. Second, circumcision was a mark that committed the bearer to complete obedience to all the Law of God. In itself it was not a mark of merit, but a plea to God for the provision of an obedient Substitute who would Himself be cut off from the Lord for our sake, that we might be counted as having His perfect righteousness by faith. See Romans 4:11. Circumcision was never a badge of honor, but a plea for salvation and a statement of faith that God would provide. Third, all that Abraham did was prior to the giving of the Law to Moses, and was entirely flowing from the gracious promise of God to save His people.

[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.

Those who were dedicated to the traditions of the Law as requirements for salvation had not adequately grasped what God's provision of Jesus meant to the old ways of worship. They did not understand and they would not learn. It was time to take this important question to the church. A solution was necessary not only for Antioch but for Galatia and for the world. The church leaders in Antioch insisted on a solution that would be finally authoritative and powerfully unifying. They looked to God and to the mature leaders in the church in Jerusalem to settle this important question not only for there and then, but also for here and now. Was Jesus enough? Did people need to be Jews before they could be saved by Jesus? God would know.

[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. [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.

Off they went back to the mother church with the expectation that the Jesus who had died for His church would not leave them without an answer. God's Spirit could lead the way through the difficult waters of theological trouble that threatened to destroy the beginning of the gospel in the churches of Galatia. Along the way there was much refreshment for the churches in Phoenicia and Samaria. Men like Philip and Peter had brought them the good news first. Now they heard from Paul and Barnabas. The only name that could bless them forever was the Name of the man who is the Word, Jesus. It is Jesus whom Paul had preached in Cyprus and Galatia, and it was Jesus that had converted the lives of so many by the power of the Holy Spirit.

All the way from Antioch to Jerusalem, the Name of Jesus was being lifted up. Jesus is far superior to Moses. He is building His kingdom all over the world through the power of His atoning blood shed for us on the cross. Do you love the Son of God who can work miracles at a distance and who has removed the stain of your unrighteousness and credited you with perfect obedience? Do you love the resurrection King who opened a door of faith in Galatia? Many people did, and the news of what Christ had accomplished through His ambassadors had thrilled them as they considered the obvious ways in which Jesus of Nazareth was the fulfillment of all the expectations of Moses and the prophets.

[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.”Nonetheless some in the Jerusalem church were not enthusiastic with the news. They could not imagine a new order of life where circumcision and the traditions associated with the Law did not govern notions of what it meant to be clean and to live in right standing with the Lord. How can anyone ever be cleansed with ceremonial washings any more when the blood of Christ has cleansed us from all sin? How can we have peace with God through circumcision when Jesus was cut off from the body of God's people for our sake on the cross?

[6] The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. [7] 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. [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, having cleansed their hearts by faith. [10] 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? [11] But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

Peter reminded the assembly of certain facts of New Testament ministerial history. God had chosen Peter to speak to Cornelius. The word that Peter spoke to the Gentiles that day was not a word about circumcision and the Law, but the Word of the gospel of Jesus given for all people who would believe. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit had confirmed this message with His own presence in power among the uncircumcised that day, just as He had been present among the circumcised on the day of Pentecost. God cleansed their hearts through faith in the Word about Jesus that Peter had preached that day. Were the uncircumcised, who began with faith and the Holy Spirit, to be perfected by the old way of the Law that was already passing away? The Law has never been able to save anyone. But now a Savior has come. It is not through the merit of ceremonial obedience that men can be saved, but through unmerited favor lavished upon the guilty through the grace of the Sin-Bearer, the Lord Jesus. He remains our only hope.

1. What was the root of the controversy that led to the council in Jerusalem?

2. What is the weight of Peter's argument?

3. What is grace?

4. Why is the grace of God called here the grace of the Lord Jesus?

OT Passage: Genesis 12:1-3