No Greater Burden (Acts 15)

Sometimes we have a vision in our minds of how things should be. Maybe that vision is there because of our life experiences. Maybe it's there because of our hopes and dreams. But how often do our visions include someone else doing something challenging? You husbands and fathers, do you envision a clean house, your meal completed just as you walk in the door, with obedient and respectful children? Maybe there is an expectation that your wife would have a full-time job and do all of that. It's easy to envision that, but don't those expectations burden your wife? Wives and mothers, do you envision a husband who can work full time, help clean the house, clean the yard with beautiful landscape, and knock off a couple of hundred honey-dos every week? Do you envision your children rising to call you blessed, picking up their clothes, cleaning up their toys, having perfect school work, and staying out of trouble? How is it going to get that way? Our dreams often fall on other people's backs; sometimes, those dreams aren't even realistic. Sometimes they go beyond what an ordinary person can accomplish.

What about our vision of the church? I'm not talking about the four walls. I'm talking about our vision of God's people who worship here. What do we expect from them? Do we place a lot of expectations on others that aren't realistic? Next year, we will look at the excellent vision we should have as a church. But today, our text is Acts 15. Here we learn about this very struggle of putting enormous burdens on the backs of others. This is the struggle of Jewish Christians who used to be Pharisees.

Distorting The Gospel

Acts 15:1 (ESV) --- 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 first thing we see is men coming down to Antioch, where Paul and Barnabas have been teaching Gentiles and declaring that none of these Gentiles are saved. They have not been circumcised and kept the Law of Moses. Can you imagine someone coming in here and claiming this? We might roll our eyes at some people like this today. But consider how deflating this would be in the first century. They spent all this time sacrificing for their brethren and Christ, but they aren't God's people because they aren't circumcised and keeping all of the ceremonial laws given to the Jews.‌

Do you think it was hard for these men to come into this church and say this? I imagine it was invigorating for them. They have already all been circumcised and devoted themselves to keeping the Law. Now, they are the ones who get to set the Gentiles straight and make them do what they have done. They are saving the Gentiles' souls by telling them the "truth." overall, the sense of power and authority in this teaching would make them feel noble.

But if it's not true, they are hurting their brethren, not helping them.

Defending The Gospel

Acts 15:2--3 (ESV) --- 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.

Paul and Barnabas argue with these men. They could not disagree more. The text tells us that they "had no small dissension and debate with them." In the past few months, we have studied texts like the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. How is it that someone can have a debate or dispute that is large and still maintain the fruit of the Spirit? How can we be gentle, loving, patient, and maintain self-control while telling someone we believe they are wrong? I have to say that this is one of the hardest things to do. It's so complex that I often refuse to engage with someone I disagree with, but Paul and Barnabas must say something about this. They cannot allow these men to distort the gospel of Christ.

So they argue with them until the church agrees to send these men back to Jerusalem, along with Paul and Barnabas. Returning to Jerusalem would allow everyone to know what is being taught, and it would allow them to address these false doctrines formally.

Defining The Gospel

Acts 15:4--11 (ESV) --- 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.”

After Paul reveals how much God has done through the work of him and Barnabas, these false teachers reveal their false beliefs. The root of the problem is the Pharisees who claimed to submit to Christ. They appear focused on obeying and submitting to the will of God, but they do not understand that salvation has nothing to do with circumcision and the Law of Moses. So Peter stands up and says, "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." Peter points back to Acts 10 and the conversion of Cornelius. God chose to save the Gentiles through Peter's preaching. He bore witness to the Gentiles' salvation without distinguishing between Gentiles and Jews. He never indicated that he wanted the Gentiles to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses.

Then, Peter says something that condemns them. He says, "Why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on their necks that we cannot bear?" They refuse to believe God's statement. God was silent. Why won't they be silent? Speaking on behalf of God when God is silent tests God's patience. We don't get to say who is saved and who is not. Once God tells us one way or the other, we are obligated to believe and submit regardless of whether or not it seems fair to us. These men had sacrificed a lot in their lives. They were still making tremendous sacrifices that had nothing to do with Gentile salvation. Peter says, "In all your sacrifices, you cannot bear the yoke of the law."

The gospel means that we don't have to bear the yoke of the law, which we cannot do. Salvation happens through the grace of Jesus, not through the law. No one in heaven will point to their obedience and say, "Look at how good I was." Our hope must be in God's grace, not our ability. After Peter says this, everyone gets silent. This rebuke is the death blow to their arguments.

After Peter says this, there is silence. Then, Paul and Barnabas reinforce what he says by telling the Jews all God is doing through the Gentiles. They perform the same miraculous spiritual gifts as the Jews. God is with them without requiring circumcision. Then, James, the brother of Jesus, also speaks up. He points to Amos' prophecy to say, "God wants to save all of mankind regardless of their nationality. Gentiles do not have to become Jews to be saved."

These men are wrong. They have distorted the gospel by adding their own opinions.

Directing Believers

Acts 15:22--29 (ESV) --- 22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

The news is being sent back to Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Notice what they say, "Some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions." They set the record straight. God has not inspired these men; they did not get their information from the apostles. Why do men feel that they have the authority to do such things? Isn't this a sad testimony? They are troubling and unsettling children of God. That's not loving their neighbor as themselves. That's jealousy and envy.

Then, we read further directions. They aren't supposed to be circumcised or keep the Law of Moses, but they do need to follow four laws. They must abstain from food offered to idols, drinking blood, eating strangled animals, and sexual immorality. As a twenty-first-century reader, this list makes little difference to me. Sexual immorality is the one thing that I feel I can relate to. Yes, Christians are not supposed to engage in sexual immorality. We must not engage in homosexuality, transgenderism, sex before marriage, adulterous relationships, or pornography. All of these are emphasized as clearly against God's will as he tells us the marriage bed is undefiled (Heb 13:4), and marriage is defined as the joining together of one man and one woman (Matthew 19:5).

But what about all the others? These (idolatry, blood, and things strangled) refer to culturally acceptable practices in which the Gentiles would engage. Even before Moses gave the law, God had clarified that these practices were abominable in his sight. Our goal is to do what is pleasing to God. We aren't blessed so that we can live like the world. We are blessed to shine a light of true righteousness in the world. So, the goal of these Gentile Christians is to be different and uphold what is truly good. They must stop worrying about the Law of Moses and focus on living a pure and holy life. Living like the world and keeping up with the Joneses is not okay. God is not pleased.

Meaning and Application

So, what does all of this mean to us? Notice that this text tells us the gospel is worth defending. It's difficult to argue without losing your temper and becoming harsh. But Paul and Barnabas engaged in this argument to prevent their brothers from being oppressed. They don't let the victims continue suffering at false teachers' hands. They speak out what is true. They even go with them back to Jerusalem to prove that what they say is false and not approved by God. Are we willing to stand up to bullies and say what needs to be said?

We learn from this not to be bullies. We might desire praise and glory for a "special revelation" to save all sinners. But in this text, we learn about the moralism that is opposed to Christ. We have to stop pushing that on our brethren. Adding to God's message is testing God. We must believe what he says without trying to adjust it. The scriptures harmonize, but it's not our job to pick and choose texts out of context to come up with God's will. That's not God's will. That's man's wisdom. If we cause one of God's children to stumble, it would be better for a millstone to be hung around our necks and for us to be thrown into the sea.

Ultimately, the truth comes from what the Holy Spirit has revealed. We don't want to change that at all. We want to make sense of it and unite on our response like the disciples did in this chapter. Notice that they didn't ask God for further revelation. God has explained everything he needed to explain. They don't go to God and ask for his advice. He showed Peter that he accepts the Gentiles. Then, they look to scripture to clarify what God has promised. After that, everyone submits to it, or at least they should have submitted it. These false teachers seem to pop up again, leading Paul to write Galatians.

Finally, we see some tremendous encouragement in this text. God wants us to know that he loves and accepts men, not based on their ceremonial cleanness, ability to keep the OT Law, or what they look like. He doesn't care about all they have done to obey him in the past. The grace of God is open for everyone willing to turn away from the world and seek the Lord. God is gracious and open to receive us even though we have not devoted our lives to the Law of Moses.

Conclusion

We do not need to justify ourselves. Life is not about me doing all the right things. God has provided a sacrifice that makes me pure and holy in his sight. Now I want to do all the right things, and that begins with me separating from the evil of this world. But my salvation is 100% dependent on the grace of God through my Lord Jesus. How about you?