Acts 15 - Legalism is a Trap!

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The Council at Jerusalem

Up to this point there was little to no structure in the church. Last chapter we saw that Paul appointed "elders" in every city. When certain Jews came from Judea to Antioch, they tried to get the Greek converts to be circumcised according to Jewish Law. In fact, they said unless they were circumcised they could not be saved. 

If the Pharisees believed anything, they believed one could be justified before God by keeping the law. For a Pharisee to really be a Christian, it would take more than an acknowledgment that Jesus was Messiah; he would have to forsake his attempts to justify himself by the keeping of the law and accept the work of Jesus as the basis of his justification. - Guzik

Paul and Barnabas were against it and debated them. They knew this had the potential to become a huge problem in the church, so they went to the church in Jerusalem to meet with the elders. On their way home, they met with believers in Phoenicia and Samaria telling them how the Gentiles were coming to Christ. 

When the elders and the apostles met, Peter spoke saying that when he preached to Gentiles (like Cornelius), they accepted the Good News. God had clearly told him that what He had declared clean no human should declare unclean. And the most telling aspect of this was that the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit just like the believing Jews did. 

Importantly Peter asked why they were trying to put a yoke back on them that they or their ancestors could never carry. It was not like the Law had worked before. Their hearts were still as "black as coal". This is why the law was so antithetical to the gospel. If someone could be justified before God by keeping the Law, then Christ died for nothing. Paul summarizes the Good News of Jesus by saying, 

 "No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

There were two things the Jews and Gentiles had in common. They were both sinners and could not be saved by observing the Law. They were justified by only by faith in Jesus Christ. The same holds true for us today. 

The questions we have to continually ask are, "How do we keep from falling back into the trap of legalism? How are we tempted to think being made right with God by doing enough good works to make the curve?  

James stood up and affirmed what Peter said and also quotes the prophet Amos who said, 

"The rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name."

James offers a compromise saying that they should not keep the Gentiles from coming to faith but only forbid them from eating food offered to idols, sexual immorality, the meat from strangled animals, and blood. 

"To abstain from things polluted by idols… from things strangled, and from blood: These three commands had to do with the eating habits of Gentile Christians. Though they were not bound under the Law of Moses, they were bound under the Law of Love. The Law of Love told them, “Don’t unnecessarily antagonize your Jewish neighbors, both in and out of the church.”

"Gentile Christians had the “right” to eat meat sacrificed to idols, to continue their marriage practices, and to eat food without a kosher bleeding, because these were aspects of the Mosaic Law they definitely were not under. However, they were encouraged (required?) to lay down their rights in these matters as a display of love to their Jewish brethren." - Guzik

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

The Council then sent a letter addressing these issues for Paul and Barnabbas to take back to Antioch. They chose Judas and Silas to join them. The men went back to Antioch and delivered the letter to the believers. Judas and Silas were also both prophets and said much to encourage the believers. Then they went back to Jerusalem, while Paul and Barnabbas continued to build up the church. 

We can imagine how these Gentile Christians felt, wondering how the decision might come forth. Would the council in Jerusalem decide that they really were not saved after all because they had not submitted to circumcision and the Law of Moses?

When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement: How relieved they were to see that the principle of grace had been preserved! They heard that they were saved and right with God after all.

Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas

Paul wanted to go back to visit all the towns where they had done their previous missionary work, and Barnabbas suggested they also take John Mark. Paul was adamantly opposed to this, because John Mark had deserted them on an earlier trip. We do not know the reason John Mark did this, but obviously it did not sit well with Paul. 

The disagreememt was not resolved and Barnabbas ended up joining forces with John Mark and going to Cyprus. Meanwhile, Paul took Silas and went back to Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches there. 

There is no doubt God used this division; but this can never be casually used as an excuse for carnal division. God can redeem good out of evil, yet we are all held accountable for the evil we do, even if God ends up bringing good out of the evil. Either Paul or Barnabas – probably both – had to get this right with God and each other. - Guzik

“But this example of God’s providence may not be used as an excuse for Christian quarreling.” (Stott)

Later, Paul came to minister with John Mark and to value his contributions to the work of God (Colossians 4:10; Philemon 1:24; 2 Timothy 4:11). We don’t know if it was Mark who changed or Paul who changed. Probably God had a work to do in both of them! - Guzik