Peter and
the Council At Jerusalem
[Acts
chapter 15, verses 1-12]
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Last
week when we concluded part 2 of chapter 14, Paul and Barnabas had
just returned to Antioch from Iconium, Lystra and Derbe on their
first missionary journey together. Their evangelistic crusade had
been a rousing success, despite the fact that Paul had nearly been
stoned to death at one point in that journey. Many souls had been won
for Christ, and that was compensation enough for them both. This week
as we move on to chapter 15, we find conflict and dissent taking
place within the early Church at Antioch, due primarily to a
distortion of the Scriptures by some Jewish converts. So let's begin
at verse one:
“1)
Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the
believers: 'Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom
taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.' 2) This brought Paul and
Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and
Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to
Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3) The
church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia
and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news
made all the believers very glad. 4) When they came to Jerusalem,
they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom
they reported everything God had done through them. 5)
Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees
stood up and said, 'The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to
keep the law of Moses.'”
(Acts 15: 1-5)
These first five
verses are an argument as old as the Church itself, and it was
originally inserted into Christianity by agents of the Sanhedrin as a
means to divide the church and start arguments within congregations.
This false teaching lives on today, principally in two forms: Jewish
congregations who hold dearly to these beliefs call themselves
“Messianic Jews”, while Gentile – and almost exclusively
Protestant – congregations call themselves “Messianic
Christians”, or “Christian Messianic” and other similar
variations. Back in 1993, a few months after I first gave my heart to
Christ, I joined one of these churches due to an opportunity to be
their keyboard player. I've been a piano player all my life, so
naturally I eagerly accepted the opportunity. For the next 3 ½
years, I played keys every Sunday morning there, but I also
celebrated Passover with Easter, Hanukkah at Christmastime, the Feast
of Tabernacles a few weeks before each Halloween, not to mention Yom
Kippur and a couple of others.
But I also noticed
that I was one of the few who actually read their Bible regularly
(Some Christians don't even own one! Shame on you!). It was only when
I got to Acts chapter 15 that I began having questions about what was
being taught. I
ultimately left that congregation after concluding that what they
were teaching was incorrect. Like Paul and Barnabas, I too came into
sharp dispute with that pastor – who I will decline to name – and
moved on to another church. If any of you ever finds yourselves in a
similar church, get out of there and find a better one. “So
Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to
go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this
question. The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled
through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been
converted. This news made all the believers very glad.”
Unlike
ourselves, the apostles had no written Word at the time of the early
Church, and so the “teaching” of the agents of the Sanhedrin was
without precedent at that time. There was so much consternation
regarding this issue among Jews as well as Gentiles that Paul and
Barnabas decided to go to Jerusalem and ask the Twelve this question.
“When
they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the
apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done
through them. Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of
the Pharisees stood up and said, 'The Gentiles must be circumcised
and required to keep the law of Moses.”
Everyone was ecstatic at the news of the rousing success of the
missionary trip taken by Paul and Barnabas, but not so much
concerning this then-new assertion of the Pharisees. In the course of
converting so many souls, they had drawn a whole lot of new believers
into the Church, and a few of them were there for the wrong reasons.
It was at this point that the entire group began to grapple with this
issue, as we will see in part two of this week's study, beginning at
verse 6.
“6)
The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7) After much
discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: 'Brothers, you know that
some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might
hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8) God, who
knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy
Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9) He did not discriminate
between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10) Now
then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles
a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11)
No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are
saved, just as they are.' 12)
The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and
Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the
Gentiles through them.”
(Acts 15: 6-12)
In
verse 7, Peter is referring to Acts chapter 2, or the Day of
Pentecost, when a crowd of about 3,000 first heard and embraced the
Word of the Lord regarding eternal salvation that can only be found
in Christ. There were a lot more Gentiles in that crowd than Jews on
that fateful day. Peter, who was what we call an Orthodox Jew today,
had some second thoughts about taking the Gospel of Christ to anyone
except other Jews like himself. By today's standards, we could say
Peter was prejudiced against non-Jews, but political correctness has
no place in the Gospel of Jesus. Peter, knowing this, continued on so
as to make his point very clear. “8)
God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the
Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9) He did not discriminate
between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.”
There you have it straight from Peter's mouth. One thing Jew and
Gentile, Arab and Jew or Black and white have in common, is that the
same Almighty God has made us all. Which is exactly why Peter turns
on these phony “teachers” in the very next sentence.
“10)
Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of
Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to
bear? 11) No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus
that we are saved, just as they are.'”
Whether a man has been circumcised or not, a tradition dating back to
the days of Abraham (see Genesis 17: 10), is completely besides the
point. I'm also quite sure that Peter, remembering the words of
Christ at the Sermon on the Mount, reminded them all that Jesus “did
not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it”. Peter was telling
his Jewish brethren that there was no need for them to continue to
honor the Law of Moses. The life, death and resurrection of Christ
Jesus has already done all that. All further discussion about whether
Christian and Jewish males needing circumcision – or not – was
moot at this point.
But
more than that, Peter was calling out his Jewish brethren for
imposing Jewish laws and customs on Christians when it was
unnecessary, not to mention being contrary to the teachings of Christ
(see Matt. 5: 17). If Jews and Christians are to be united in their
faith in the salvation of Christ, then that faith must be practiced
the same way on both sides. Let Jew and Christian continue to
self-identify as such, provided they remain united in their faith.
Jesus walked the earth as a Jewish man. Yet the set of beliefs he
left behind, which first and foremost is that of the cross, comprises
what we call Christianity today. The reason it's not called Judaism
is because of Judaism's rejection of the deity of Christ. That's why
the two faiths remain separate to this day, and they will remain so
until Christ's return for his Church.
Peter
related this very sentiment as he witnessed to them all about what
Jesus had done. “The
whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul
telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles
through them.”
If God has done this for the Gentiles through his Son Jesus, Peter
preached, then anyone who calls upon his name as they ask for His
salvation will be saved. This was radical stuff back in the first
century AD. The entire concept of equality between Jew and Gentile,
as well as gender equality (Mary Magdalene is my favorite Scriptural
example), was unheard of prior to this point in history. And so this
discussion continues as we move on to verse 13, which I think will be
a good place to close out this week's study for brevity's sake. Be
sure and come back next week for part 2 of Acts chapter 15.
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