Does Trust in Jesus + Doing for Jesus = the Gospel?

This week we are looking at a story in which a man named Paul becomes involved in a disagreement so significant that it almost destroyed this new community called the church. Yesterday, we discovered that this controversy and debate over the message of the gospel was so heated that the members of the church at Antioch decided to send Paul and Barnabas, along with other members of the church, who would serve as witnesses to what had happened, to Jerusalem so the leaders of the church at Jerusalem could hear this controversy and render their decision as to who was right. So Paul, Barnabas and the others traveled to Jerusalem to attend what would become the first church council. Luke records for us what happens next, beginning in verse 4:

When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. 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."

After arriving in Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were warmly welcomed by the Apostles, who were Jesus closest followers while He was here on earth, and the leaders of the church at Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas began sharing all that God had done through them during their mission trip to southern Turkey. They shared how they were able to use the spiritual sign gifts that they had received from the Holy Spirit to do the miraculous, which served to confirm and authenticate that the message of the gospel was in fact from God and not simply made up by man.

They shared how the Gentiles had responded to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. They shared how these Gentile followers of Jesus were living lives that were controlled, influenced, equipped and empowered by the Holy Spirit to reveal and reflect Christ to others.

However, some Jewish followers of Jesus who had previously been involved in the Jewish religious system as Pharisee’s stood up and objected to what they were hearing. Their objection was straightforward and to the point: "It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses." The Law here refers to the first five books that are recorded for us in our Bibles today, which the Jewish people referred to as the Law or Torah. These books contained a list of commands that they Jewish people believed that they needed to follow in order to be right with God. And one of those commands was circumcision.

If their objection was communicated in the language we use today, their objection would have sounded something like this: “no that’s not right, these Gentiles need to not only believe, trust, and follow Jesus; they also need to follow the commandments of the Law. They need to identify themselves with us Jews by being circumcised. They need to become like us Jews, in order to be considered Christians. To be followers of Jesus, they need to have faith plus works, they need to not only trust in what God has done through Jesus, they need to do for Jesus”.

Maybe you can relate to what the Jewish followers of Jesus are saying. Maybe you are wondering if forgiveness and a right relationship with God is based on what you do for God. Maybe you are wondering if forgiveness and a right relationship with God is based on faith in Jesus plus works. Maybe you find it hard to believe that Paul and Barnabas are right, that forgiveness and a right relationship with God is solely based on trusting in what God has done through Jesus. If I have just described you,I just want to let you know that those are great questions to be wrestling with. And fortunately for us, Luke records for us how this council wrestled and answered these significant questions. So let’s look at it together, beginning in Acts 15:6:

The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. "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. "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." All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

After a lengthy discussion, Peter, who was the leader of these earliest followers of Jesus, shared the story of his encounter as a Jewish man with Gentiles. Luke records this story for us in Acts 10-12. Peter shared the story of how God led him to share the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel with Gentile named Cornelius, who was a commander in the Roman Army who lived in northern Israel. Peter shared the story of how, as he shared the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel to these Cornelius and his family and friends, that they received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. Peter shared the story of how the speaking in tongues served as a sign to Peter and to the other Jewish followers of Jesus with him that God’s co:mission was a mission to the Gentiles and that Gentiles were to be a part of this new community called the church. Peter shared the story of how he and other Jewish followers of Jesus responded to God’s transformational intervention and activity in the lives of these Gentile followers of Jesus by baptizing them.

Peter then asked a question that served to provide clarity to the controversy and debate over the core message of the gospel: "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?” In other words, “why are you attempting to test God in order to discover whether God could really rescue Gentiles? Why are you testing God by saying “well, if God had really rescued the Gentiles, then they should be willing to be circumcised and follow the Law? How did that work for us anyway? How well did we do as Jewish people when it came to keeping all the commandments of the Law? We failed miserably, so why would you even think to place the Gentiles in a similar position under the same requirements that we failed to keep?”

As far as Peter and the other closest followers of Jesus were concerned, God clearly made no distinction between Jew and Gentile. Both Jew and Gentile were to be rescued from selfishness and rebellion the same way. And that way was by placing one’s confident trust in God’s transformational intervention and activity through Jesus life, death, and resurrection. However, there was still another person’s opinion yet to be heard on this issue; an opinion that carried great weight.

Tomorrow, we will see Luke introduce us to this person and his opinion...