The Jerusalem Confession – part 2
Acts 15:10-11
December 2, 2012
Last time we met we started studying what I have called
“The Jerusalem Confession”
I take that term based on the various creeds or confessions
That have been written throughout the history of Christianity.
It’s no surprise that at times God’s people can read the same Bible
And yet come to a different consensus as to what it is saying.
That does not mean the Bible is promoting some sort of dual message.
I do believe and have always believed that there is but one truth
And one meaning of Scripture.
However, we as fallen man don’t always
Immediately come to the right conclusion.
And so we can even disagree
As to what Scripture may in fact command us to do.
Now, in that list certainly there are some issues
That are of minor importance and not worth fighting over.
For example,
• I don’t care if you think the Bible says you can or can’t dance.
• I’m not overly concerned if you think instruments are allowed or not.
• I’m not fighting over if you think the church should meet on Sunday night.
Those issues really are minor and in the end
They boil down to the condition of the heart.
But there are issues that really are non-negotiable.
• The person and nature of Christ.
• The role and relevance of Scripture.
• The means of salvation.
Issues like that matter because they affect salvation.
The church may differ on whether or not Christian women can wear makeup, but in matters relating to salvation,
We cannot be wrong.
Whatever the labor required,
Whatever the length of study,
Whatever the time needed,
We must involve ourselves in it until we find
What Scripture unequivocally teaches in regard to salvation.
And throughout the years the church has embarked in such endeavors.
From the council of Nicea to Constinopole, to Chalcedone and so on.
Debating things such as
• Whether Jesus was in fact equal with the Father.
• Whether Christ was fully God and fully man.
• Whether Christ had a divine will and a human will.
And in all of these issues the Holy Spirit was SOUGHT,
The Scripture was SEARCHED,
And Spirit-filled men were SUMMONED to find the truth.
The rulings became the basis for orthodox Christian doctrine.
Well, often overlooked in the list of church ecumenical counsels
Is the first ever, and that one occurred in Jerusalem,
And the apostles themselves actually attended it.
The question of the day?
Circumcision
More specifically; Does a Gentile have to be circumcised to be saved?
Acts 15:1 “Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
And because the argument was so intense and the split was so even,
It was time for God’s will in the issue to be found at all cost.
So Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem to meet with James and Peter
And the other apostles to clear up this matter.
Their decision is what I call “The Jerusalem Confession”
Last week we saw Paul and Barnabas arrive and begin to testify to all that God had done with them on their missionary journey.
But as Paul shared his opponents could no longer contain themselves.
Acts 15:5 “But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”
And so the council was convened.
Acts 15:6 “The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter.”
It wasn’t left up to chance…
It wasn’t left up to local autonomy…
This was an issue that had to be settled.
Truth and error had to be clearly defined and so the debate was on.
And while there was much debate that we have no record of,
Luke does allow us to hear what Peter had to say.
Acts 15:7-9 “After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.”
And without rehashing it too much you will remember that
Peter basically insinuated that requiring Gentiles to be circumcised
Completely ignored what God had already done in their lives.
• God had chosen the Gentiles
• God had consecrated the Gentiles by giving them His Spirit
• God had cleansed the Gentiles from their pagan way of life
God had already done that without them having been circumcised.
Peter’s insinuation was that to now require circumcision
Would be to ignore all that God had already accomplished.
What more could you want for them, than to have them be God’s chosen, Spirit-filled, and holy people?
What is circumcision going to accomplish that God hadn’t already done?
And then last week we covered verses 10 and 11 rather quickly,
But I really want to spend a little more time in them this evening
And make sure we fully understand the issue and Peter’s argument.
I told you last week that according to verse 10 Peter was saying that CIRCUMCISION TESTS GOD
(10) “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?”
And we said that this legalistic requirement tests God,
Because it questions the validity or effectiveness of His salvation.
Very similar to the way the Israelites questions God’s provision when demanding water.
And then in verse 11 we said that Peter revealed that
CIRCUMCISION MINIMIZES GOD
(11) “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”
If works are required for salvation, then what good is grace?
And that was really the heart of Peter’s argument.
• Requiring Circumcision Ignores God
• Requiring Circumcision Tests God
• Requiring Circumcision Minimizes God
But before we move on to Paul and James
I want us to dive into the issue here a little more deeply
And seek to fully understand the point that Peter is making.
In verse 10 Peter asked a very important question.
“Why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?”
We talked about the testing part earlier,
But I want to zoom here a little more on this notion of an unbearable yoke.
You know what a yoke was.
It was the device that was thrown over the neck of an ox
To make it possible for him to pull a plow or a cart.
The very presence of yoke indicated work.
And Peter said that the yoke Israel carried
Was a yoke they were not able to bear.
WHAT WAS THIS YOKE?
It was the Law, and more specifically it was the requirements of the Law in order to be saved.
For those Jews who sought to earn or deserve their salvation
Through their adherence of the written command,
The attempt was literally exhausting.
There were so many commands and so many requirements that the daily grind of trying to keep up with it all would have literally exhausted a person.
Keeping the entire Law was really impossible.
It was a yoke they could not bear.
And certainly this mentality was the one of the things Jesus appealed to.
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
That was Jesus saying that He could accomplish for them
What they could not accomplish on their own.
It was similar to the statement He made in the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”
He didn’t come to nullify God’s standard, He simply came to make a way
For mankind to achieve God’s standard.
Abigail can’t make a basket on her basketball goal,
But I’m not going to take the goal down. Instead I raise her.
That is similar to what Christ came to do.
Jews carried an enormous burden with an impossible standard
Christ came to relieve the burden and achieve the standard.
And while people really couldn’t see that during His life on earth,
It was a point that finally became clear at Pentecost.
After Peter preached,
You can still hear the “works-based” mentality of Israel.
Acts 2:37 “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ” Brethren, what shall we do?”
There were still curious about what the requirement was.
But Peter helped them to see the work of Christ on their behalf.
Acts 2:38-39 “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
On that day Jews finally realized
That Jesus could achieve what they never could.
He could save them.
He could make them right with God.
And so by grace, through faith, the Jews that day
Were relieved of their burden and finally found rest for their souls.
And Peter even referenced that in verse 11.
(11) “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus…”
But that still left a tremendous amount of confusion
In regard to some of their practical areas.
We know the path the Jews took to salvation.
• They were chosen of God, and entered into a covenant with Him.
• They then broke that covenant repeatedly.
• Christ then came and purchased their pardon.
That was their path to salvation.
But now we have these Gentiles coming to Christ
From a seemingly different path.
They didn’t get circumcised…
They didn’t accept the Law…
They bypassed all of that and came straight to Christ
And that was very confusing to the Jews.
And that is the basis for the issue regarding circumcision.
NO, THEY HAVE TO DO IT LIKE WE DID
And when we read that there was much debate, I’m sure that was true.
There are plenty of Scriptures in the Old Testament
That clearly command circumcision.
Genesis 17:9-14 “God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. “This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. “And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. “A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. “But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
In fact years later as God has called Moses back to Egypt
God nearly killed Moses simply because he had not circumcised his son.
Exodus 4:24-26 “Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.”So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood” — because of the circumcision.”
In fact, not being circumcised was really a statement of being Godless.
Remember David’s reproach of Goliath?
1 Samuel 17:26 “Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?”
Circumcision was literally “THE” sign
Of being in a covenant relationship with God.
It wasn’t just the physical part, but what it symbolized about your heart.
Deuteronomy 30:6 “Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.”
Jeremiah 4:3-4 “For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.”
Even Paul would tell the Romans:
Romans 2:28-29 “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”
So circumcision was an outward picture of an inward reality
And according to Scripture it was the most important symbol.
I mean a man could even be cut off from his people if he didn’t do it.
And this is just a few of the Scriptures that could have been quoted during this debate.
And I think you can see how this would have been a confusing issue.
(And really we could have the same debate over keeping the Sabbath or dietary restrictions, or anything else Jewish)
So let me ask you:
If the Old Testament is that clear on circumcision,
Why do we say Gentiles don’t have to do it?
(Now you could answer, “because the New Testament says we don’t have to”
But at the time of the council they didn’t have a New Testament)
Well, let me give you the simple answer.
CIRCUMCISION WAS THE SIGN OF ISRAEL’S COVENANT WITH GOD
TURN TO: Romans 4:9-12
Paul is here making the argument that Abraham was saved or justified
Before he was ever circumcised.
Therefore circumcision could not have been what saved him.
Yet, God still required him to do it even though he was already saved.
The reason is because it was the sign of His covenant with God.
And therefore as Abraham’s descendants all Hebrews or Jews
Were therefore commanded to be circumcised.
So why not Gentiles?
Because we are not a part of that covenant.
Now we read the Law because it is the Law of God,
But we aren’t under the Law like the Jews were.
We read the Ten Commandments because they are of God,
But we were never under that covenant.
WE WERE SAVED APART FROM THE LAW.
Remember when Paul spoke of being all things to all men?
1 Corinthians 9:19-21 “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law.”
Notice Paul referred to Gentiles as those “without Law”
Romans 2:14 “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,”
Gentiles were never under the Law, never under those covenants
And therefore never required to be circumcised.
The question then is: DON’T YOU THINK THOUGH IT IS A GOOD IDEA FOR THEM TO GO AHEAD AND GET UNDER THE LAW?
The answer?
NO, not if they have already come to Christ.
The whole purpose of the Law was to lead Israel to Christ.
Galatians 3:24 “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”
And so once a Jew found Christ, he no longer needed the Law.
• That doesn’t make the Law wrong
• That doesn’t make the Law bad
• That doesn’t make the Law without value
But when a person finds Christ they no longer need the Law.
Romans 10:4 “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
What we have here is Gentiles who managed to find Christ
Without ever having the luxury of the Law.
That is really miraculous when you think about it.
It is a testimony to the sovereign election of God.
But the question is, if Gentiles have already found Christ, which is the goal of the Law, then what is the point of making them now go back to the Law?
There is none.
That’s why circumcision is an O.T. command that we don’t keep.
We aren’t under that command.
Just like we aren’t under any of the Law.
Doesn’t make the Law wrong,
Doesn’t mean there is no value in studying it,
There’s just no need for coming under it when we already have Christ.
Now this leads me to the next thing that is so important.
Look at what Peter said here in Acts.
(10-11) “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”
Peter said we couldn’t bear the burden of the Law,
Christ had to take that burden from us.
And as a result “we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”
And that is the other statement I want you to recognize tonight.
We aren’t saved by adhering to the Law, even Jews couldn’t do that.
We are saved “through the grace of the Lord Jesus”
But I think it is very important that we understand this grace better.
Now, I’m not going to be able to fully satisfy
Your heart’s curiosity in regard to grace.
I can’t fully explain it to you.
There are some aspects of grace that we will literally spend all of eternity learning about.
Ephesians 2:5-7 “even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
We will learn about grace “in the ages to come”
So I’m not going to pretend to fully explain it to you.
But there is a part of grace that we can grasp
And it is important that we understand the best we can.
Now the best way to look at grace is to examine our lives before grace,
And then to examine our lives after grace.
So let’s take a pre-grace evaluation of our lives.
Titus 3:3 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.”
Ephesians 2:12 “remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”
Ephesians 4:17-19 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.”
Romans 8:5-8 “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
And those verses give us a very clear picture of a “grace-less” life.
FOOLISH – DECEIVED – ENSLAVED – EXCLUDED – STRANGERS – DARKENED
– CALLOUS – HOSTILE – CANNOT PLEASE GOD
What you may not realize is that this is the very best
That humanity can hope for.
My parents have a song they love called “Where it not for grace”
“Where it not for grace, I can tell you were I’d be. Wondering down some pointless road to nowhere, with my salvation up to me. I know how that would go, the battles I would face, forever running, but losing the race, where it not for grace.”
Human Ability, human Wisdom, human Effort,
Human Ingenuity can only take a human so far.
The problem is that the human limit is well short of God’s requirement.
But let’s take a look at that same life after grace.
Titus 3:3-7 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Ephesians 2:12-13 “remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
And now the picture begins to emerge.
Now let me see if I can accurately describe grace for you.
For years grace has been defined as “God’s unmerited favor”
And that is certainly true,
But that definition has always seemed a little incomplete.
It certainly explains God’s propensity to be merciful to sinners who don’t deserve it,
But it still seems to leave off much of what grace accomplishes.
So in regard to grace, let me describe it like this.
GRACE COMPENSATES FOR HUMAN WEAKNESS IN EVERY WAY
Now that is probably the most clearly seen in:
Romans 5:20 “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,”
But there is still more that can be understood.
Grace compensates for human weakness in every way.
It compensates for human weakness in regard to RIGHTEOUSNESS
(we would call this salvation)
Mankind needs righteousness to be pleasing to God,
But in his own ability and by his own merit he cannot produce it.
Grace supplies it.
Romans 3:23-24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”
Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace”
And that part we are probably most familiar with.
It is the grace of God to forgive a sinner and bestow righteousness on him
It compensates for human weakness in regard to ABILITY
Now this is more than salvation.
And this by the way is why a Christian
Should always recognize the necessity of grace.
You may have been forgiven,
But how are you going to serve God the way He deserves?
We are beset with failure and weakness and futility.
Our ministry is powerless on our own.
We can in reality accomplish so little for God in our own strength.
Where does the ability or the strength to serve come from?
Grace
1 Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”
Hebrews 12:28 (NKJV) “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”
It is the grace of God that strengthens you and allows you to serve.
Apart from grace you cannot serve God in an acceptable manner.
See grace is more than just favor, it is also power.
It compensates for human weakness in regard to PERSEVERANCE
On your own, you do not have the ability to push forward,
You could not carry on through trials, tribulations, persecutions, hardships or discouragements.
Humanity is too weak to carry on.
Where does he get his strength to endure?
Grace
2 Corinthians 12:8-10 “Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
It isn’t the strength of man that allows him to endure, man is too weak.
It is grace that allows him to endure.
It compensates for human weakness in regard to RESOURCES
Many times we want to serve, and may even have grace to serve,
But still lack the resources.
Where do the resources come from?
Grace
2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;”
Now I’m not pretending that that is a comprehensive list,
But I think it sets us in the right direction.
GRACE COMPENSATES FOR HUMAN WEAKNESS IN EVERY WAY
• Where humans are too weak to achieve righteousness, grace intervenes.
• Where humans are too weak to serve acceptably, grace intervenes.
• Where humans are too weak to endure, grace intervenes.
• Where humans are too weak in regard to resources, grace intervenes.
Grace is the divine answer to human weakness.
AND GRACE IS ALWAYS ENOUGH.
Now here is the point that needs to be made tonight,
And the one that Peter was making in his speech.
• If the problem is human weakness…
• If grace is the answer to human weakness…
WHAT SENSE DOES IT MAKE TO PROMOTE HUMAN EFFORT WHILE DISREGARDING GRACE?
And the answer is that it makes no sense at all.
And that is the argument that Peter has been making.
• It’s not that circumcision wasn’t commanded…
• It’s not that the Law is bad…
It’s just that all of those things focused on human effort
And humans were too weak to succeed in that regard.
But now grace has come,
And it has compensated for our weakness in every single way,
So why would we now try to go back to human effort?
And why would expect others to go back where we failed?
That is in essence what Peter said:
(10-11) “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”
And I hope that now you not only understand why circumcision wasn’t important, but also why grace is important.
Furthermore I hope you are filled with a desire
To no longer seek to walk in human strength,
But that you set your mind to walk according to grace.
Grace is the divine answer to your weakness
In every way and at every turn.
2 Timothy 2:1 “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
