Acts 15:1-21: The Gospel of Grace

Acts 15:1-21: The Gospel of Grace

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Acts, and today the next passage we come to is Acts 15:1-21. It says,

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.” 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. 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. 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.” 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.” 12 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, 16 “ ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, 17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.’ 19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Many of you know that this church started as a small, three-person Bible study at Becky and I’s house and that two of those three people were Becky and myself. And, typically, as you might imagine, the idea was to invite people to attend that Bible study so that it would grow in size. However, there was actually one person I had to uninvite. I might add that this is the only person I’ve ever had to directly uninvite from any meeting or study. 

The reason is that this man was actively propagating a teaching that undermines the gospel. He was actually starting his own church out near Monroeville and was very knowledgeable about the Bible and had the potential to be quite persuasive. Yet he was seeking in subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle ways to convince people in the group of a certain teaching—a teaching that might seem relatively harmless at first. It’s not like he was denying the deity of Jesus or questioning whether Jesus really rose from the dead. No, this was a teaching that might not initially seem like that big of a deal. In fact, many people might say we’re splitting hairs by even talking about it. But make no mistake: this is an issue that’s absolutely fundamental to Christianity and to the Christian gospel. In many ways, it’s a lot like that Jenga game most of us have probably played at one time or another—where you have a few dozen of those wooden rectangular blocks that you stack up in a tower and then take turns trying to remove without the tower falling over. So if you picture the gospel as one of those Jenga towers, this issue we’re going to be discussing is like that one block near the bottom of the tower that might not at first seem to be that significant. However, if you take it out, the whole tower topples over. And we see that issue right here in our main passage of Acts 15:1-21. 

To remind you of the context from the previous chapter, Paul and Barnabas have just returned from their first missionary journey and are residing in the city of Antioch. We then read this in Acts 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.’” Now the reason these men would say something like this is because the Old Testament Law—referred to here as “the custom of Moses”—required circumcision for all Jewish males. This was a ritual that actually went all the back to Abraham. God told Abraham and he and all of his male descendants needed to be circumcised as a sign that they were God’s chosen people. So circumcision was very special to the Jews because it marked them off from the rest of the world and indicated the unique relationship they had to God. Now, as we’ve been seeing in the past few chapters of Acts, Paul’s missionary efforts have resulted in a lot of Gentiles—or non-Jews—who haven’t been circumcised putting their faith in Jesus. And that was extremely disturbing to these men from Judea—because they believed quite passionately that Gentile converts first needed to be circumcised in order to be saved. Essentially, they needed to become Jews before they could become Christians. That’s why this group has subsequently earned the nickname “Judaizers.” In the minds of these Judaizers, you had to become Jewish before becoming Christian, and any short-circuiting of that process was scandalous. 

We then see Paul and Barnabas’s response to the Judaizers in verse 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.” So Paul and Barnabas recognize that this is a gospel issue and therefore one of primary importance. In fact, it’s difficult to think of anything more important than the ultimate question this issue is related to—the question of what someone needs to do in order to be saved. So, after “no small dissension and debate” with the Judaizers, Paul and Barnabas go to the apostles and church leaders in Jerusalem for some help resolving the issue. 

Then, verses 4-5: 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. 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.” So we read here that there were actually some Pharisees who had become Christians. By the way, what a powerful reminder that God’s able to saved anybody. No one’s beyond the saving power of the gospel.  

Now, as we look at this passage, it’s probably best to distinguish between the Pharisees here in verse 5 and the Judaizers in verse 1. Unlike the Judaizers, whom we should regard as heretics and not true Christians, verse 5 describes these Pharisees as “believers.” So, apparently, they had embraced the true gospel. However, they nevertheless had a distorted understanding of how Christians need to relate to the Old Testament Law. They weren’t saying that the Gentile converts needed to be circumcised or keep the Law in order to be saved, but they were saying they needed to be circumcised and keep the Law in order to be fully obedient as those who had been saved. In other words, circumcision may not be necessary for salvation, but it is necessary for obedience—or at least that’s what the believing Pharisees were claiming.

The story then continues in verse 6-9: 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.” So Peter’s referring here to the events of Acts 10 involving a Gentile named Cornelius and his household. Essentially, Peter’s argument is that if God gave the Holy Spirit to those Gentiles without the Gentiles first being circumcised, that proves circumcision isn’t necessary for salvation. God himself already settled the matter decisively with his gift of the Spirit. He had clearly accepted Cornelius and his household apart from circumcision, so who were the Judaizers to say otherwise? Who were they to require something for salvation that God himself didn’t require? 

Peter then concludes his argument in this way in verses 10-11: 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.”  That phrase “putting God to the test” is a reference to what the rebellious Israelites had done back in the day when they were forced to wander around in the desert for 40 years. Peter then refers to the Old Testament Law as “a yoke…that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear.” If you approach the Law as a means to salvation, you’ve taken on an impossible task—a “yoke” or burden that’s way too heavy for you to bear. Imagine trying to run a marathon with a 500-pound rucksack strapped your back. It doesn’t matter how strong or physically fit you are. Nobody’s able to shoulder that burden. Likewise, nobody’s able to earn God’s favor or merit eternal life by keeping the Law. Every single person who’s ever tried has, without exception, failed miserably. That approach to the Law turns the Law into “a yoke,” Peter says, “that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear.” In saying that, Peter’s also likely referring to the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30: 28 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 

And that’s essentially what Peter goes on to explain back in our main text. Again, verse 11: “But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” The key word there is “grace.” The only way anyone can ever be saved is “through the grace of the Lord Jesus.” And I’m not sure there’s ever been any concept more revolutionary than this concept of grace. To say that we’re saved by grace is the opposite of saying that we’re saved by merit. There’s nothing meritorious about it. Grace is totally and absolutely undeserved. And that’s the very heart of the gospel. 

The word “gospel” literally means “good news.” It’s the good news that Jesus has already accomplished everything that needed to be accomplished for our salvation. He bore the yoke of the Law that was exponentially beyond our ability to bear. Then after bearing that yoke in our place and living a life of perfect righteousness and obedience to the Law, Jesus died in our place—taking on himself the judgment we deserved. All of the judgment that should have been poured out on us, the Law-breakers, was instead poured out on Jesus, the Law-Keeper. He endured what we deserved and then resurrected from the dead so that we also can share in his cosmic victory over sin and death. However, in order for that to happen, we have to renounce all of our misguided attempts to earn God’s favor through our own efforts at Law-keeping and instead put our trust in Jesus as the one who did for us what we could never do for ourselves. We have to embrace this gospel of grace. 

So grace is absolutely fundamental to the gospel. It’s like the gospel’s DNA. And that’s essentially what Peter’s arguing here. Without grace, there is no gospel. And that’s actually the main thrust not only of Peter’s argument but of this entire passage. Without grace, there is no gospel. If you distort grace by claiming that Law-keeping is necessary for salvation, you’ve just lost the gospel. The entire Jenga tower collapses. It doesn’t matter if it’s just one little tiny act of Law-keeping that you’re requiring—such as circumcision. The whole tower collapses. We’re saved by grace alone and never by grace plus something else. You can mark it down as a universal truth: anyone who teaches that we’re saved by grace plus something else is actually saying that we’re not really saved by grace at all but rather by that additional requirement. The moment you add anything to grace, you lose grace and therefore lose the gospel—because, again, without grace, there is no gospel. 

Sticking with the analogy to mathematics but changing it up a little but, it’s a lot like a mathematical formula. For example, going back to high school math here, one of the most famous mathematical formulas is the Pythagorean Theorem that’s used to determine the length of the longest side of a right triangle. The theorem states that a2 + b2 = c2. See, you guys didn’t even know you were going to learn math this morning did you? I won’t even charge you extra for it—it’s completely free. a2 + b2 = c2 –where “a” is one of the shorter sides of the triangle, “b” is the other short side, and “c” the longest side. Now, if you add something to that formula, what happens? It ruins everything, right? Like if you inserted the number 3 right before the “c” or inserted a 4 right after one of the exponents, the whole formula would become totally worthless. If you add anything to the Pythagorean Theorem, you lose the Pythagorean Theorem. Likewise, the moment you add anything to grace, you lose grace and therefore lose the gospel. 

Now, maybe there are some who think I’m being a little dramatic about all of this and exaggerating things just a bit. Is requiring circumcision or some other act of obedience for salvation really such a big deal? Well, let’s look at Paul’s letter to the Galatians. These same Judaizers that Paul was dealing with in Acts 15 were actually influencing the churches of Galatia as well. So Paul writes the letter of Galatians to deal with the situation. And with the influence of the Judaizers in mind, he states in Galatians 1:6-9, 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. 

So notice the severity of Paul’s language here. Apparently, he didn’t think this was a secondary issue. He first says in verse 6 that he’s “astonished” at the situation and then accuses the Galatians of “deserting” God.  He then refers to the teaching they’ve embraced—that the Judaizers had taught them—as “a different gospel.” Not a misunderstanding of some of the details of the gospel, not a variation of the gospel, but rather “a different gospel”—which is, of course, no gospel at all, as Paul makes clear in verse 7. He then states in verse 8, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” Just imagine for a moment that an angel from heaven in all of its stunning beauty and splendor actually showed up in your home or at a Bible study you were attending and started teaching you certain things about Jesus. Like a real angel made itself visible and started teaching you things in an audible voice. Maybe it tried to persuade you that some of your interpretations of the Bible were incorrect. Wouldn’t it be tempting to listen to what that angel was saying? Yet Paul says here that even if such a thing happened and an angel from heaven tried to get us to believe that something in addition to grace is necessary for salvation, we’d have to reject it. Under no circumstances can we ever deviate from this understanding of grace that’s at the very heart of the gospel. 

The great Reformer Martin Luther once referred to the teaching that we’re justified in God’s sight by grace alone and through faith alone as “the article by which the church stands or falls”—and with good reason. Again, the moment you add anything to grace, you lose grace and therefore lose the gospel. 

Now, I don’t know about you, but I personally haven’t heard anyone today teaching what the Judaizers were teaching in Acts 15. Nobody’s ever told me that circumcision is necessary for salvation. However, there are other things that various groups like to add as a requirement for salvation. One of the most obvious examples is baptism. That’s the error that the guy who I had to kick out the Bible study was teaching. He was a part of a denomination called the Church of Christ that teaches that water baptism is necessary for salvation. Like if someone puts their faith in Jesus and then dies on the way to being baptized, they go to hell, according to the Church of Christ. 

And then, there’s also another group that teaches that baptism is necessary for salvation—a group that’s much larger and more widespread than the Church of Christ. That group is the Roman Catholic Church. According to the official Catechism of the Catholic church, published in 1992, “Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God….[I]t signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one ‘can enter the kingdom of God.’…Baptism is necessary for salvation.” Again, all of that is an exact word-for-word quote from the official Catholic Catechism. I’m not sure it could be communicated any more clearly than that. Unfortunately, however, even though it’s clear, it’s also wrong. And not just wrong but so wrong on such a critical topic that I believe we have to conclude it’s—as Galatians says—“a different gospel.” Essentially, it’s the Galatian Heresy 2.0—the same basic heresy that the Judaizers were teaching 2,000 years ago. They’ve just replaced circumcision with baptism. 

And, to be clear, I’m aware that Catholic theologians claim to still believe in salvation by grace. They’re adamant that they believe in salvation by grace. They simply believe that that grace is received through baptism. So, they claim, baptism isn’t a meritorious work but simply a channel by which grace is received. And that might sound pretty good at first. However, the problems become clear when you examine the claims of the Judaizers and the response of Paul in Galatians 1. I’m sure the Judaizers were saying the same thing. “Oh, we’re not teaching that you can earn salvation. We believe in salvation by grace—it’s just that circumcision’s this thing you have you to do in order to receive grace.” I could totally picture a Judaizer saying that. Yet Paul’s like, “Nope, what you’re teaching is a different gospel.” Listen: any time you require any act or ritual of any kind for salvation, you’ve departed from the true gospel. It doesn’t matter if you say it’s not a “work” or if you claim to still believe in grace. What you’re teaching is still a departure from the gospel. 

So the critical thing to observe in official Catholic teaching is that even though they claim to believe in salvation by grace, they won’t claim to believe in salvation by grace alone. Catholic theologians very intentionally avoid that word “alone.” And that’s a clear indication that they don’t believe in salvation by grace alone but rather by grace plus something else—in this case, grace plus baptism. And, as we know, the moment you add anything to grace, what happens? You lose grace and therefore lose the gospel. 

Now, let me be clear that I do believe there are many genuine Christians who are going to heaven who identify themselves as Catholics. So please understand that I’m not saying that all Catholics are going to hell. I’m fearful that many of them may go to hell but also hopeful that many of them won’t. Just like Baptists or Methodists or Presbyterians—it’s a mixed bag. Jesus refers to it in Matthew 13 as the wheat and the tares. However, here’s the difference: someone who identifies as a Catholic will only go to heaven in spite of official Catholic theology, not because of it. Again, someone who identifies as a Catholic will only go to heaven in spite of official Catholic theology, not because of it. I believe it’s possible for someone who’s genuinely saved to identify as Catholic and affirm various Catholic doctrinal statements but not really understand the full implications of those official teachings. And if that’s the case for someone, then, yes, I absolutely believe that they’re a genuine Christian and will go to heaven. 

However, as we talk about all of this, let’s not get so carried away with evaluating other groups that we fail to evaluate ourselves. Because the fact is that this mentality that relies on human works and human performance isn’t limited to certain denominational groups. As I alluded to a moment ago, it’s present in various forms within every denomination. And the form it most often takes is what I’ll call “moralism”—the idea that we can earn God’s favor and earn salvation through good moral behavior. In fact, I’ll even go so far as to say that moralism is our default setting. Kind of like when you purchase a new tablet or laptop and it already has certain settings loaded onto it. You don’t have to set it to have those settings. The device already has those settings by default. Similarly, our default spiritual setting is a moralistic mentality. 

Now, of course, embracing the gospel involves renouncing that mentality. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some moralistic tendences in our hearts. So, with the time we have left, let’s look a little closer at ourselves. Those of us who are Christians might not be embracing moralism in an overt way but may still have subtle tendencies toward moralism within our hearts. 

For example, have you ever been tempted to think that God loves you more on days when you’re a “good” Christian than he does on days when you struggle as a Christian? Let’s say, theoretically, that, one day, you do all of these really good things. You read the Bible, tell someone about Jesus, help out at a soup kitchen, cook dinner for your spouse, and do some other really amazing things. But then, perhaps you have another day where things go a lot differently. Let’s say you skip your Bible reading time, miss an easy opportunity to share the gospel, avoid making eye contact with the homeless person on the street corner, yell at your spouse, and at the end of the day are so frustrated that, for good measure, you kick the dog. Perhaps, after those two days, you’d be tempted to think that God loved you a little more on the first day than he did on the second. But that’s moralism. In reality, God’s love and acceptance aren’t conditioned on our performance. The wonderful and revolutionary truth of the gospel is that you don’t have to be good enough or perform well enough for God to love and accept you. He loves you simply because he loves you and accepts because of Jesus. 

Or, consider this example. When you’ve sinned—as, lamentably, we all do on a regular basis—have you ever been tempted to think a certain amount of time has to elapse before you can ask for God’s forgiveness and be restored to close fellowship with him? As if God’s keeping you at arms’ length and that you have to spend a certain amount of time in the dog house before God will really accept you again? Or maybe you’re even tempted to think that you have to somehow make up for your sin through what are sometimes called acts of penance before returning to God. That also is a form of moralism. In reality, Jesus has already paid the price for every sin you’ll ever commit and clothed you with his own righteousness. As a result, when God the Father looks at you, he sees nothing but the perfect righteousness of his Son. Yes, of course, we repent of sin on a regular basis, but we do so simply to restore our fellowship with God and not in any way to fix our standing with God. Our standing with him never fluctuates because it’s based on God’s grace and not on our performance. 

And finally, as we’re examining our hearts for tendencies toward moralism, let me ask you this: are you ever tempted to feel superior to others? Maybe you see someone living in sin in a very obvious way, and you feel superior to them. Or maybe you see someone experiencing the consequences for poor choices they’ve made, and you feel superior. Or maybe, even within this church, you see a Christian brother or sister who’s struggling in a certain area, or maybe they’re not as far along as you are in a certain area, and you feel superior. All of that is moralism—plain and simple. It’s a sign that you haven’t fully understood all of the implications of the biblical teaching of grace. As is often said, the ground is level at the foot of the cross. The strongest Christian dare not boast and the weakest Christian need not despair—because we’re all perfectly loved and accepted in Christ. 

So have you grasped that reality? Do you live it, breathe it, rest in it, and rejoice in it throughout each day? Let me tell you something: there are so many books and other resources that claim to show you how you can experience greater peace and joy in your life. They’ll suggest various practices and sometimes even outline several steps to help you get there. But in reality, there’s actually just one step to experiencing greater peace and joy in your life—and that is to swim deeper and deeper into this ocean of grace. Immerse yourself in its unfathomable depths. Be amazed by its immensity, be dazzled by its treasures, and let God’s grace become the all-consuming reality of your life.