The Exclusivity of Faith – Part 2
Acts 15:13-21
December 10, 2017pm
As you know, we are still discussing the doctrine of SOLA FIDE,
And even more specifically we have begun talking about
THE EXCLUSIVITY OF FAITH.
• We know faith is NECESSARY since “without faith it is impossible” to please God.
• We know faith is EFFECTIVE since “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness”
What we are examining now is that faith is also EXCLUSIVE,
Which is to say that if you try to bring God anything in addition to faith,
Then He will not save you.
You must bring Him faith and you must bring Him faith alone.
To attempt to bring faith and something else
Is what is referred to as LEGALISM.
Legalism is simply when people lean upon their own religious works as a means of appeasing God.
And it really doesn’t matter if a person does this a little or a lot,
It is all legalism.
For a person either wholly trusts in the work of God for salvation
Or they trust in God’s work and their own.
What we are learning is that legalism is never acceptable to God.
• If you try to bring God works at all as a means of justification, He will not save you. You must come by faith alone.
And in order to examine the issue we have turned to the moment when the EARLY CHURCH was forced to definitively answer this question.
• While it is true that the church exploded on the scene with Jewish converts, it
did not take long until the church was being flooded with Gentiles.
• Gentiles were leaving paganism by the boatloads and where streaming to
Christ.
• In fact, all of those letters you have in the New Testament where letters written
to Gentile converts.
The Corinthians – The Galatians – The Ephesians
The Philippians – The Colossians -The Thessalonians
Those were all predominantly Gentile congregations.
And the problem for the early church is that this influx of Gentiles
Was threatening to rob the early church of her distinct Jewish feel.
And so it didn’t take long until a certain group of individuals
Sought to put their foot down.
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.”
As we saw last week, this caused quite a stir.
• Paul and Barnabas rigorously debated them,
• But it was such a confusing issue that the church at Antioch decided that Paul
and Barnabas needed to go to Jerusalem to see Peter and James and get this matter straightened out.
• And that is what they did.
Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem
When they arrived they told everyone about these new Gentile believers.
And then we read:
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.”
They just couldn’t get past their Jewish preferences.
And as we said last week, the issue at hand is an obvious one.
You won’t see the actual words in the chapter,
But this church is about to look into the matter of SOLA FIDE.
That is really what is on the table.
Are Gentiles saved by faith alone?
Or, do Gentiles need to participate in certain works in addition to their faith?
What we said that we want to do is to listen in to some of the leading apostles of the church to find out what they have to say on the matter.
You may not care what Luther, or Calvin, or Zwingli had to say about the issue, but here we are talking about the apostles of our Lord.
Last week we listened as Peter took the floor, and we said Peter’s point was simple.
#1 ACCORDING TO PETER: LEGALISM TESTS GOD
Acts 15:6-11
Peter recounted how God had literally forced him
To go and bear witness to the Gentiles.
(We even saw how half-hearted Peter was in his efforts)
And when Peter revealed the truth of Jesus Christ in the gospel,
God did the rest and Cornelius and his companions were saved
And instantly baptized in the Holy Spirit.
This hit me this week, but Cornelius was really
The New Testament equivalent to Abraham.
It left Peter a little shocked,
But he most certainly wasn’t confused about what had happened.
Acts 10:47 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”
And so just like that, God had chosen to save Gentiles.
And Peter’s point was that God did that without having first required their circumcision or adherence to the Law.
Acts 15:8-9 “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.”
That is to say, God declared that these men were saved,
And God did this by putting the exact same seal of approval on them
That He placed upon us; namely the Holy Spirit.
And then came Peter’s big question.
Acts 15:10-11 “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 that these who were now requiring circumcision even after God had declared them saved were putting “God to the test”
That is
• They were challenging God’s ability to save.
• They were challenging God’s judgment that they were worthy of the Holy Spirit.
These people would basically determine to look at God and say, “We don’t think You should have given them the Holy Spirit. That was wrong. We don’t think these people have done enough yet to be saved, and therefore You should not have given them the Spirit.”
They were in effect questioning God’s salvation.
They were testing God.
And history is very clear that God is not ok with that.
Psalms 95:8-11 “Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”
That was another generation who questioned God’s salvation
And we see that God was not too pleased with them.
Obviously we don’t want to do that.
And so Peter’s point was a powerful one: LEGALISM TESTS GOD
If you read verse 12 you’ll find that Paul and Barnabas spoke next, recounting all the mighty deeds God had done through them in order to reach the Gentiles, but we’re going to come back to Paul’s argument.
Tonight I want to listen as James chimes in.
Now James is an important apostle to listen to on this matter
Because James is often quoted by the legalistic camp
As their chief spokesman.
Those who debate against SOLA FIDE just love to quote James.
James 2:14-26 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
They love to quote that and then argue that James is saying
That faith alone is not enough.
We actually discussed these verses a few weeks ago when in Romans 4, but James is NOT SAYING that works are required for salvation.
• James is not talking about the means of justification at all.
• James is talking about the characteristics of true faith.
If you were to ask James if man is justified by faith alone,
James would say, “Absolutely! But it must be true faith.”
But because he is often misunderstood,
People assume that James is not a proponent of SOLA FIDE.
Well, let’s listen in tonight as he chimes in here at this Jerusalem Council
About whether or not Gentiles need anything other than faith to be saved.
#2 ACCORDING TO JAMES: LEGALISM TROUBLES GENTILES
Acts 15:13-21
Which is to say, legalism runs counterproductive to God’s plan of saving Gentiles. Legalism hinders what He seeks to do.
Let’s look at what James has to say.
3 things
1) HIS OBSERVATION (13-18)
• Up until now James has just sort of sat back and listened as everyone gave their two-cents on the issue.
• But in verse 13 he chimes in, and we find that James had been carefully listening and testing everything he had heard.
(13-15) “After they had stopped speaking, James answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me. “Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. “With this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written,”
These 3 verses actually make me love James even more
Because we find that James had 1 authority on the matter.
James is a proponent of SOLA SCRIPTURA
• Sure, he listened to Peter’s testimony about going to the house of Cornelius.
• Sure, he listened to Paul talk about all the miracles God had done through him.
But neither of those ranked as high to James as God’s revealed word.
James was testing what they were saying by the Bible.
James was forcing their experiences through the filter of Scripture.
What James found was that
Scripture affirmed what these two men had been saying.
And James quotes Amos 9:11-12
(16-18) ‘AFTER THESE THINGS I will return, AND I WILL REBUILD THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID WHICH HAS FALLEN, AND I WILL REBUILD ITS RUINS, AND I WILL RESTORE IT, SO THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK THE LORD, AND ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME,’ SAYS THE LORD, WHO MAKES THESE THINGS KNOWN FROM LONG AGO.”
Now this is a very important and significant passage.
If you are familiar with Amos,
• Then you’ll realize that Amos preached a lot of judgment toward Israel in regard to their sin.
• However, in this passage Amos began to look past the judgment of Israel to the time of her restoration.
• Amos saw that after all the judgment occurred, Christ would return and would totally rebuild Israel and restore them to their rightful position.
• Of course Amos spoke of the millennial kingdom and the 1,000 year reign of Christ.
But Amos also gave a very important piece of information.
Not only would God be saving Israel,
But also “all the Gentiles who are called by My name”
What is so special about that?
The significant thing is that here we are in the millennial kingdom
And God is still referring to them as Gentiles.
If they had been circumcised, or if they had come under the Law
Then they no longer would have been referred to as Gentiles,
They would have been referred to as proselytes or even Jews.
What Amos revealed was that during the millennium
God will have saved Gentiles who never did become Jewish.
That means they never did come under the Law
And they never were circumcised.
So…
• If Amos prophesied it in the past,
• And God confirmed that it will be that way in the future,
• Then what does that say about their present argument?
Obviously circumcision and adherence to the Law is not necessary,
And Scripture affirms that.
According to Scripture,
Gentiles can be saved and will be saved apart from circumcision
(or adherence to the Law.)
It is NOT a requirement.
So, all of those people in Acts 15:1 were WRONG.
All of those people in Acts 15:5 were WRONG.
First we saw his observation
2) HIS JUDGMENT (19)
“Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles.”
Now that is a loaded statement.
James could have just said, “So we should let them in.”
But he went further.
He actually gave a rebuke to those who started this whole controversy
And that rebuke was that they “do not trouble” them anymore.
See, according to James: LEGALISM TROUBLES GENTILES
That is to say that legalism seeks to hinder the evangelistic efforts of God.
Peter said that legalism was doubting God.
James said that legalism is actually getting in His way.
I’d say that those are some pretty serious issues
That one should definitely avoid.
But let’s talk a little deeper about what James actually meant here.
“do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles.”
First, please notice that James recognized that
We actually had Gentiles here who were “turning to God”
These were people who were leaving their pagan religions
And their pagan deities to begin to worship the God of Israel.
Paul spoke of the Thessalonians like this:
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 “For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”
Or consider what occurred at Ephesus:
Acts 19:18-20 “Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.”
I mean this is remarkable.
People are leaving their entire culture and legacy and traditions behind.
I want you to imagine how difficult this must have been for so many of them.
• It is hard to go against your very own culture…
• It is hard to reject the deity of your entire city…
• It is hard to go against the god of your fathers…
THESE PEOPLE SUFFERED.
Paul said of the Thessalonians:
1 Thessalonians 2:14 “For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews,”
These people made a very difficult choice
To abandon their idols and to worship Jesus.
And yet, James notes that
Whereas the church should have been encouraging them,
The church actually did them no favors either.
Instead of welcoming these Gentiles into the fold,
The church actually caused “trouble” for them.
That is to say, the church made it even more difficult.
The word “trouble” translates PARENOCHLEO (pay-ree-nah-klay-o)
It is from two words:
PARA – which means “beside” (i.e. “parallel”)
ENOCHLEO – “to annoy” or “to crowd”
It is used in:
Luke 6:18 “who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled (enochleo) with unclean spirits were being cured.”
Hebrews 12:15 “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble (enochleo), and by it many be defiled;”
The idea is that when these Gentiles
Abandoned their pagan religions to run to Christ,
James said that the church was quick to come beside them.
But the church didn’t come beside them to help them,
The church came beside them to “crowd” them
Or to “annoy” them or to “trouble” them.
(you understand this; crowds make everything more difficult.
Just think about rush hour traffic here)
And they did so by adding more requirements to salvation than even God had required; namely circumcision and the Law.
Imagine the struggle of leaving your pagan religion
And all the persecution that accompanied it to run to Jesus,
Only to have people tell you that there was a whole lot more
You had to do than just trust Jesus or God still wouldn’t take you?
And so according to James, only faith mattered to God.
• And if you determine to add more conditions than that, then you run the risk of discouraging believers who have already done all that God required.
AND THAT IS A PROBLEM.
When we add expectations to salvation we actually work against God, who is calling sinners by faith alone.
Beyond that, one can only imagine how discouraging this must be to people who have already forsaken everything to come to Jesus.
Remember this story?
Galatians 2:11-14 “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
I don’t think it’s surprising that Paul was so angry there.
• Can you imagine how discouraging that incident must have been to these Gentiles, who despite having left their pagan religions and trusting in Jesus were still being treated like they weren’t really good enough?
Or consider the letter to the Colossians:
Colossians 2:16-19 “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day — things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.”
There again we had a group of people who were trying to make Gentiles jump through more hoops before they would consider them as pleasing to God.
Things like:
“festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day”
And Paul’s response was, “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize”
What did he mean?
He was referring to the joy of salvation.
These people had left paganism and run to Jesus
• And found forgiveness in Christ
• And access to the Father
• And the indwelling of God’s own Holy Spirit
And yet this group of Jewish legalists wouldn’t even let them enjoy it
Because they kept pointing out all of these other things they had to do.
Those are people who: SUCK THE JOY RIGHT OUT OF SALVATION!
AND THAT IS WHAT JAMES IS REFERRING TO.
God is saving these Gentiles by faith alone.
• Amos said He would
• Peter saw Him do it
• Paul has been used countless times to do it
And yet you people are determined to work against it
By requiring something God never did.
STOP MAKING IT HARDER ON THEM.
Stop troubling them!
So the point is clear.
• Not only does legalism test God.
• Legalism also troubles Gentiles
That was James’ judgment on this issue.
He NEVER was a proponent of adding works to salvation.
His observation, His judgment
3) HIS ADVICE (20-21)
“but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
I want to cover these verses, not because they add to James’ point about troubling Gentiles, but BECAUSE THEY HAVE CONFUSED many people and I want you to have a handle on the situation.
Some have been confused that
No sooner did James concur that no extra works were needed,
Than did he turn right around and give 4 commands to the Gentiles.
“that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.”
Now FIRST, you need to understand that
Some of the things on this list are sinful and some are not.
For example, Paul was very clear that meat sacrificed to idols is perfectly edible.
1 Corinthians 10:23-26 “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor. Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake; FOR THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S, AND ALL IT CONTAINS.”
There is nothing wrong with the meat.
However, Paul continues:
1 Corinthians 10:27-30 “If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake. But if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake; I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s; for why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?”
So someone would then say, “So eating the meat is not wrong unless you know that meat has been defiled by idols?”
And the answer is yes, but only because it might offend your brother,
Not because the meat is somehow tainted.
For Paul even said, “If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?”
Point being, eating the meat is not a sin in and of itself.
• Now, fornication most certainly is a sin either way.
• Beyond that, I’m not aware that Scripture forbids meat that has been strangled, or even from blood (such as in a blood transfusion, etc.)
So why would James command these Gentiles
To abstain from those things?
Isn’t he being legalistic?
NO
First of all, James didn’t add anything that these Gentiles must do.
His only command is “abstain” not “do”
Secondly, he doesn’t command this for the sake of Gentile salvation, but for the sake of church unity.
After dealing a crushing verdict to zealous Jews
Who want to keep all of their Jewish traditions,
James turns around and addresses the Gentiles
And asks for them to be considerate as well.
James tells us why he wants Gentiles to abstain from these things.
(21) “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
That is to say that there are Jewish people everywhere.
Not necessarily Jewish Christians, just Jews period.
And to those Jews these 4 issues were huge issues.
• IF I tell Jews to quit requiring circumcision so that I don’t trouble Gentiles who are being saved,
• THEN I am also going to tell Gentiles not to do things that would be detestable to Jews which would trouble them from being saved.
Could you imagine if
• The local church filled with Gentiles worshiped God in the same manner as those pagan feasts they just came out of?
• They were eating strangled meat and animals sacrificed to idols?
• Do you think those Jews are going to easily run into that church to worship Jesus?
Absolutely not!
And that is James’ point.
He is not adding requirements to Gentiles in order to be saved.
He already acknowledged their salvation and condemned any and all legalism.
He is merely asking that both sides show a little respect
With regard to the extreme differences that are seeking to come together.
It is the same thing we learned from Paul,
Who argued adamantly that Gentiles should not be circumcised.
And then in the very next chapter in Acts we read:
Acts 16:1-5 “Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe. So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.”
Paul didn’t circumcise Timothy so he would be acceptable to God.
Paul circumcised Timothy so he would be acceptable to the lost Jews he was about to preach to.
I hope you see the difference.
But none the less, the point remains.
LEGALISM BRINGS NO BENEFIT,
IT ONLY TROUBLES THOSE WHOM GOD IS SAVING.
Think again about that ridiculous statement in the beginning of Acts 15.
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.”
• Can you imagine how that statement must have sounded to God?
• God had already saved them, who were these people to say otherwise?
• God wanted them saved, who were these people to try and make it harder?
Legalism is such an offense.
Jesus, incidentally, dealt with this all the time too.
This story comes to mind:
Luke 13:10-17 “And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God. But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, ” There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him? “And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.”
Talk about a kill-joy!
Could they not see that this woman had just been healed?
But there was no rejoicing, only legalism.
This synagogue official wouldn’t even let this woman rejoice in her deliverance, he instead troubled her with guilt.
We could throw that older brother in the story of the prodigal son into that same boat; refusing to let everyone celebrate.
That is what legalism does.
It is the same thing Peter and James are arguing against here.
• Legalism tests God, which greatly angers Him.
• Legalism troubles Gentiles, which also greatly angers Him.
And so we are learning, it’s NOT JUST that God prefers faith,
IT’S THAT God doesn’t want anything in addition to faith.
God wants faith and faith alone,
When you try to add in human works to the equation
You’re going to anger God.
