The One Year Bible Club with Teaching
Commentary by Nick Boork
June 23
Acts 15:1-35
Commentary by Nick Boork
June 23
Acts 15:1-35
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June 23 ~ Acts 15:1-35
And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. 4 And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. 5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
6 Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. 7 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, 9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” 12 Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. 13 And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: 14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of 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 will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up; 17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.’ 18 “Known to God from eternity are all His works. 19 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” 22 Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. 23 They wrote this letter by them:
The apostles, the elders, and the brethren,
To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law” —to whom we gave no such commandment— 25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men 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 will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.
30 So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. 31 When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement. 32 Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. 33 And after they had stayed there for a time, they were sent back with greetings from the brethren to the apostles. 34 However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there. 35 Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
OKAY, HERE'S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
Grace + __________ = Salvation?
This was the question that the church collectively at Jerusalem needed to determine. Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel that the Gentiles or the none Jewish world could be saved through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. In contrast to this message another voice arose from Jewish believers who taught that it was required for gentile men to be circumcised and for gentile Christians to adhere to all the laws of the Old Testament that God had given to Moses. This became such a point of contention and confusion among the church at that time that Paul and Barnabas challenged those preaching this message to bring their views up to Jerusalem to the apostles, elders and church to examine and decide the correct teaching.
This is exactly what happened. The leadership of the church came to the conclusion that it was unnecessary to continue practicing the Old Testament requirement of male circumcision and the laws handed down through Moses. Why? Because we are now living under a New Covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ. The Scriptures record what The Lord Jesus Christ himself said the following when he was teaching about the New Covenant he was initiating; Matthew 26:27-28 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Jesus did not say this is my blood shed for the remission of sin plus anything equals salvation! No, according to the New Testament it’s only the blood of Jesus Christ that he shed upon the cross that provides cleansing, forgiveness and eternal salvation! This is the basis of the New Covenant that we have with God. You see, it’s not a matter of us believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord and adding anything to the finished work that he is accomplished for us on the cross. If it was, then we could earn our way to Heaven by our own self effort and this is totally contrary to the grace of God provided to us through Jesus Christ. This is why, Jesus Christ is our Savior because we couldn’t save ourselves!!!
Two other scriptures powerfully emphasize this point: Jesus on the cross: “It is finished” What was finished? The purchase of our salvation through Jesus holy blood. Also: Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
What does this really mean? By grace means a free gift. That free gift was Jesus Christ and he alone could pay for the sins of humanity because he had no sin of his own. He was in fact, the lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice to take our place, to be our substitute and pay for our sins. God accepted Jesus sacrifice and He does not accept any other sacrifice accept the sacrifice of Jesus blood. The Bible says if we believe that Christ died for our sins and rose again we are saved! Ref; 1 Cor. 15:1-4
The next part of this verse teaches us that salvation is a gift from God and not of works or our own works or self-effort. This is an area that most of us struggle with in our minds and even in our consciences because we think we have to do something to be saved and please God. If God required us to add to what He has already done for us through Jesus Christ then salvation would not be a gift and grace would not be grace! What I’m not saying and neither is the Bible that we can receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and then continue to live in sin and think that we’re okay. This is an extreme teaching of grace that is not from God. Why? Because the word of God teaches us that we are not to continue in sin after we receive the grace of God.
Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
All of us would do well to read Romans chapter 5-8 about 100 times out loud because in these chapters is the deepest doctrinal position about being saved and what it means.
Chapter 5 Reveals our justification by faith in Christ.
Chapter 6 Teaches our sanctification by dying to sin through Christ.
Chapter 7 Shows us how utterly impossible is to be saved to our own self-effort by the law.
Chapter 8 We understand that it is only by power of the Holy Spirit living in us that causes us to live in Christ!
The apostles determined that there were four things that they would encourage the Gentiles to do to help keep them on the right path in their new relationship with God. Why did they add these for areas of living? Simply to provide clarification as to moral right and wrong living. What were they?
Verse 28-29: For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.
They were not giving these new Gentile Christians authoritative commands to obey on the level of the written Word of God. No, these four things were practical areas that were particularly offensive to Jewish believers in the area of food and diet but the Gentiles were free to eat what they wanted. Why the mention about sexual immorality? Because this was such a basic area of morality that anyone believing in Christ was expected to follow. The apostle Paul writing to the believers and Thessalonica had this to say:1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;
The question is what is sexual immorality?
The short answer is any sexual relation outside of the marriage covenant. Sex before marriage is called fornication. Sex outside of marriage is called adultery. I think that the American church in particular could use a strong exhortation and teaching along these lines because it seems that there are many today that think that it is okay to violate these moral laws of God. This is why the apostles wrote and emphasized that the Gentiles that were turning to God should make sure that in their turning or in their repentance they should be sure to sincerely change their lifestyles from living in sexual sins because anyone observing them would come to a conclusion about the faith in Christ. Was it okay to live in adultery and fornication or not? The answer is NO it is not okay to live in adultery and fornication as a Christian. As we go through the New Testament we will come across several portions of Scripture where the apostle Paul needed to clarify what was acceptable and unacceptable as believers in Jesus Christ.
WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) Apostles need to confront false teaching about salvation.
2) It was determined by the apostles in Jerusalem that our salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ through grace alone and circumcision and keeping the law of Moses was not required to be saved.
3) What the apostles wrote were given to help clarify to the Gentiles turning to God what was offensive to Jewish believers in the way diet but these were not legalistic commands. The apostle Paul had to clarify these issues to the churches in his letters about eating meat sacrifice to idols and how this was offensive to Jewish believers, etc…
4) The command to abstain from immorality was given as a basic clarification that it was not okay to continue to live in fornication or adultery or any sexual perversion as a Christian.
And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. 4 And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. 5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
6 Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. 7 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, 9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” 12 Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. 13 And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: 14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of 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 will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up; 17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.’ 18 “Known to God from eternity are all His works. 19 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” 22 Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. 23 They wrote this letter by them:
The apostles, the elders, and the brethren,
To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law” —to whom we gave no such commandment— 25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men 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 will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.
30 So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. 31 When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement. 32 Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. 33 And after they had stayed there for a time, they were sent back with greetings from the brethren to the apostles. 34 However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there. 35 Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
OKAY, HERE'S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
Grace + __________ = Salvation?
This was the question that the church collectively at Jerusalem needed to determine. Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel that the Gentiles or the none Jewish world could be saved through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. In contrast to this message another voice arose from Jewish believers who taught that it was required for gentile men to be circumcised and for gentile Christians to adhere to all the laws of the Old Testament that God had given to Moses. This became such a point of contention and confusion among the church at that time that Paul and Barnabas challenged those preaching this message to bring their views up to Jerusalem to the apostles, elders and church to examine and decide the correct teaching.
This is exactly what happened. The leadership of the church came to the conclusion that it was unnecessary to continue practicing the Old Testament requirement of male circumcision and the laws handed down through Moses. Why? Because we are now living under a New Covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ. The Scriptures record what The Lord Jesus Christ himself said the following when he was teaching about the New Covenant he was initiating; Matthew 26:27-28 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Jesus did not say this is my blood shed for the remission of sin plus anything equals salvation! No, according to the New Testament it’s only the blood of Jesus Christ that he shed upon the cross that provides cleansing, forgiveness and eternal salvation! This is the basis of the New Covenant that we have with God. You see, it’s not a matter of us believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord and adding anything to the finished work that he is accomplished for us on the cross. If it was, then we could earn our way to Heaven by our own self effort and this is totally contrary to the grace of God provided to us through Jesus Christ. This is why, Jesus Christ is our Savior because we couldn’t save ourselves!!!
Two other scriptures powerfully emphasize this point: Jesus on the cross: “It is finished” What was finished? The purchase of our salvation through Jesus holy blood. Also: Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
What does this really mean? By grace means a free gift. That free gift was Jesus Christ and he alone could pay for the sins of humanity because he had no sin of his own. He was in fact, the lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice to take our place, to be our substitute and pay for our sins. God accepted Jesus sacrifice and He does not accept any other sacrifice accept the sacrifice of Jesus blood. The Bible says if we believe that Christ died for our sins and rose again we are saved! Ref; 1 Cor. 15:1-4
The next part of this verse teaches us that salvation is a gift from God and not of works or our own works or self-effort. This is an area that most of us struggle with in our minds and even in our consciences because we think we have to do something to be saved and please God. If God required us to add to what He has already done for us through Jesus Christ then salvation would not be a gift and grace would not be grace! What I’m not saying and neither is the Bible that we can receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and then continue to live in sin and think that we’re okay. This is an extreme teaching of grace that is not from God. Why? Because the word of God teaches us that we are not to continue in sin after we receive the grace of God.
Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
All of us would do well to read Romans chapter 5-8 about 100 times out loud because in these chapters is the deepest doctrinal position about being saved and what it means.
Chapter 5 Reveals our justification by faith in Christ.
Chapter 6 Teaches our sanctification by dying to sin through Christ.
Chapter 7 Shows us how utterly impossible is to be saved to our own self-effort by the law.
Chapter 8 We understand that it is only by power of the Holy Spirit living in us that causes us to live in Christ!
The apostles determined that there were four things that they would encourage the Gentiles to do to help keep them on the right path in their new relationship with God. Why did they add these for areas of living? Simply to provide clarification as to moral right and wrong living. What were they?
Verse 28-29: For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.
They were not giving these new Gentile Christians authoritative commands to obey on the level of the written Word of God. No, these four things were practical areas that were particularly offensive to Jewish believers in the area of food and diet but the Gentiles were free to eat what they wanted. Why the mention about sexual immorality? Because this was such a basic area of morality that anyone believing in Christ was expected to follow. The apostle Paul writing to the believers and Thessalonica had this to say:1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;
The question is what is sexual immorality?
The short answer is any sexual relation outside of the marriage covenant. Sex before marriage is called fornication. Sex outside of marriage is called adultery. I think that the American church in particular could use a strong exhortation and teaching along these lines because it seems that there are many today that think that it is okay to violate these moral laws of God. This is why the apostles wrote and emphasized that the Gentiles that were turning to God should make sure that in their turning or in their repentance they should be sure to sincerely change their lifestyles from living in sexual sins because anyone observing them would come to a conclusion about the faith in Christ. Was it okay to live in adultery and fornication or not? The answer is NO it is not okay to live in adultery and fornication as a Christian. As we go through the New Testament we will come across several portions of Scripture where the apostle Paul needed to clarify what was acceptable and unacceptable as believers in Jesus Christ.
WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) Apostles need to confront false teaching about salvation.
2) It was determined by the apostles in Jerusalem that our salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ through grace alone and circumcision and keeping the law of Moses was not required to be saved.
3) What the apostles wrote were given to help clarify to the Gentiles turning to God what was offensive to Jewish believers in the way diet but these were not legalistic commands. The apostle Paul had to clarify these issues to the churches in his letters about eating meat sacrifice to idols and how this was offensive to Jewish believers, etc…
4) The command to abstain from immorality was given as a basic clarification that it was not okay to continue to live in fornication or adultery or any sexual perversion as a Christian.
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll